Guacamole!

It's summer out!  How lucky am I, my previous prayers were answered... I bet you are thinking, "Summer in March??"  That's right! Gotta love the Bay Area!

If you are in the mood to hold a get together due to this amazing weather, guacamole is always a great go to entertainment food to make.  It's easy, it's tasty, and it's cheap.  Although avocado season is typically in spring, many markets, especially big supermarkets, will have avocados available all year round.  Go buy your favorite type of tortilla chips and sit out in the sun with this great snack!

Guacamole

Ingredients
- 2 large ripe avocado
- 1/4 cup of red onion, finely minced
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 1 jalapeño, seeds removed and finely minced
- juice of a lime
- juice of half an orange
- 1 tomato, juices disgarded and diced
- salt and pepper to taste

Steps
1. Carefully cut open the avocado by going around the seed and pry it open.  The seed will stay in one of the halves of the avocado.  The seed is slippery, so using your fingers will not help much.  Use a knife and gently hit the seed so that the seed clings to the knife, and then wiggle and remove seed.  You may need to try it a couple of more times to get the seed out.  This is the tricky part of the process.

2. Using a spoon, scoop out the avocado and into a mixing bowl.  Add red onions, garlic, jalapeño, lime juice, and orange juice.  Mix well using a fork.  Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Prior to serving, add diced tomatoes.

Makes 2-3 cups.

A few tips...
...to find the best ripe avocado, ensure it is semi-soft to touch and the skin is darker than usual.  Green-skinned avocados are not ripe!  If the avocado is too soft, then that means it's much too ripe.
...save the avocado seeds to place in the guac.  This will allow the guac to stay in a pretty bright green color, instead of oxidizing and turning brown quickly.
...I do not recommend saving guac for the next day or so, because it will turn brown eventually as it continues to oxidize.  Eat it all (it will be hard not to)!!
...if you want some heat, save some jalapeño seeds and add to the mix.  Careful when working with jalapeño seeds.  The oil from the seeds can stay on your skin if not washed with soap.  If you rub any part of your body with oil-stained fingers, you may feel heat in places you don't want to feel!