Happy Birthday to my Mami & her Guacamole recipe

My Mom just got internet access two days ago and since then, her and my little brother have been browsing through the blog and reading all my archives. My little brother is a bit sad that I haven't spoken about him much. Let me tell you about the little tyke. He is 11 years old, his short name is Edi and around this house the kids love to call him "Uncle Edi" which they think its quite funny as he is almost their size. When he comes to visit, my children love it, they have a playmate that can go outside with them all the time. Even the little neighbor kids come under his wing and he "is in charge" of all the kiddos--which is something my little brother loves. He is a smart kiddo too, he recently got a scholarship to attend a private school. But he is in a bit of trouble lately, it appears that he goes to the library to "study" and instead he plays with his friends, thus the reason of acquiring the internet at home--my Mom can supervise him there and make sure he does his homework. He is my little brother and I love him dearly--eventhough he arrived on my 18th birthday thus throwing out the window my big bash party, tsk, tsk, tsk. I am planning to celebrate his 18th birthday with him...maybe I should have a baby that day and make him spend the day at the hospital like I did when he came--that should be good payback.

Today is my Mommy's birthday and as always, I get a kick out of sending her flowers. Every year I send her a few bouquets for different occasions and each time she gets so excited. I order them from 1800Flowers and they are always so nice, although the balloon options are in English, they usually change them to Spanish just for her. She is at work today and I am hoping the florist waits til about 4pm EST to deliver them.

I would like to dedicate today's post to my Momma or as I usually call her Mami. She is a great Mom, a wonderful friend, and the bestest Abuelita. She is young enough to play hard with my kids and they love that...they love being able to go out and ride bikes, run, jump and dance. We love you Mom!

To celebrate her birthday, I would like to share her Guacamole recipe with you. We love to have guacamole with chips, or with tacos. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Ingredients:

• Avocado
• 1 medium size Roma tomato
• 1/4 of onion (or less if you would like)
• 1/4 of jalapeno or serrano pepper (optional)
• 3 or 4 little sprigs of Cilantro
• 1/4 of a juicy lime
• pinch of salt
• pinch of black pepper
• pinch of cayenne pepper powder (optional)--we use Pico de Gallo

Serves 2, in our house it will serve 1.

Step 1: Cut the Avocado in half, not lengthwise but widthwise. Cut all around so you have two halves. Once they are cut, insert a spoon between the skin and the inside of the avocado. Place your avocado above the bowl where you will stir the ingredients so the inside falls in it. Run the spoon around the skin of the avocado, kind of scraping the skin.

Before repeating with the other side, squeeze out the seed by simply squeezing the avocado, it should pop right off. If it is stubborn, take it off with the spoon. (If you are not going to eat the guacamole right away, save the seed to place in the guacomole dish--placing the seed in there supposedly helps in keeping the guacamole from turning black--I don't know if it is true, but I don't tempt fate, I just leave it there) Repeat the spoon procedure with the other half.

Step 2: Once the avocado is in the bowl, with your knife cut it into small pieces. Now get a smasher. I don't have anything for this purpose so I use a cup that has a flat bottom. Hold the cup and smash away. The avocado needs to be in a mooshy consistency.

Step 3: Chop all the other ingredients: tomato, 1/4 of onion, 1/4 of jalapeno pepper and cilantro sprigs. With a spoon, mix the chopped ingredients with the avocado.

Step 4: Add a pinch of salt (or to taste), pinch of cayenne pepper powder,  and a pinch of black pepper (or to taste). Mix.

Step 5: Squeeze the lime into the mixture. Ta-dah! It is ready. Serve it with chips at Superbowl time--be sure to add lots of jalapenos for the guys. Chill in the refrigerator if you are not going to eat it right away and put that seed in the mixture--you never know, best not tempt the fates.

How to choose an  avocado: One of the hardest things that I have had to learn is how to choose fruits and vegetables. I still don't know how to choose a good watermelon or canteloupe or pineapple. But, I can definitely point you to the right avocado. Choose one that feels soft and yet firm to the touch. You don't want to choose one that is overly soft--those are too ripe and may have lots of black spots inside. The black spots sometimes are due to bruising but when the black spots are by the core of the avocado then the black spots indicate over ripeness. Do not get avocadoes that are hard, those are not ready. Place the hard avocadoes in a brown paper bag, away from the sun and allow them to ripe.

Comments

[Toni]

Thank you so much for your recipe for the Avacado mix.. I have always wanted to try it I always order it when I go to my fav Mexican resturant Carlo's O'Kelly's yummy but they charge so much for a small two tablespoon dish of it I wanted to make my own , now you got me wanting to go to the store and buy one and give it a try .. thanks for the tip on buying one also so now I know what to look for .. and feliz cumpleaños to your Mom.. I am just learning spanish at age 55 im hoping to get it down by the end of the year.. You have a good day..
Toni

[Zonda]

Happy Birthday to your Mami! Yummy, I don't normally like guacamole, but your Mami's...um I think I'll make an exception! Thanks for that recipe!

[Andrea Kaye Hunter]

Happy Birthday to your mom and thanks for sharing her recipe. I love the step by step pictures. Now maybe I can take my time and make Guacamole like it's should be made.

[Lisa Fitz.]

Happy B-day Iselas' Mom. Im sure you are so proud of your girl. Gonna try that guac. recipe too! On to knitting, Isela I am waiting for my ajal. I am buying it to make my grandkids socks. I have only mastered the sock pattern from the KK site, can you recommend another pattern that I might try? I would say my knitting skills are almost intermediate. Thanks

[Becky]

Belated Happy Birthday to Isela's Mami! I hope everyone had a wonderful day!

[Patricia]

My favorite snack. I have a recipe that i love but am always in the market for a new one. The cake is lovely. I would rather see real flowers than those sugary ones. Less calories!

[Kristy]

I am always inspired by what you make and do. My hubby seen you guacamole recipe and now I have to make that also. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOh befor I forget My daughter says thanks for the help he slippers came out nice. now she wants a pair of fingerless gloves. what can I do she is the princess( I have 2 boys besides her). I hope you mami has a wonderful birthday.

[Mary]

Happy Birthday to your Mami! I got internet access not long ago too. That's a fun time. Thanks for sharing her recipe. It looks delicious!

[Amy]

Felice cumplianos Mami!

(I probably spelled that wrong)

Amy

[Jeannie]

Happy Birthday Isela's Mami! The Flower Cake is so cute.

I LOVE Guacamole! Thanks for the recipe with all the lovely pictures of each step. I am going to make it this weekend. : )

Huggz!

[Marisol]

Happy, Happy birthday to your Mami! Wow that Guacamole looks yummy---I think I'm getting hungry:)

[Isabelle]

Thank you for the recipe! Your blog exudes warmth and happiness, I love it. :) Thank you :)

[Julie]

Many happy returns of the day to your mom!

Thanks for the recipe, it looks fab and there's nothing I like better than a new recipe to try out. Yum!

[Kim]

MMMmmmm, guacamole.

And wow, that flower cake is to die for!

P.S. Guess who's coming to Utah in two weeks. ;)

[Stacey]

Thank you for sharing that wonderful recipe. I can't wait to try it.

Happy Birthday Mami!

[Denise]

You forgot something!!! You forgot to say how beautiful she is!!! I still think she is your sister!! Happy Birthday Mama!!!
And Edi Be good!!!You are good what am I saying!! You are a nice boy my kids still talk about when they met you!