Author: Spence's Girl

Chunky Guacamole

~ Spence's Girl ~ 4 Comments

Guacamole is one of my favorite foods and I’ve enjoyed it countless times – both at restaurants and my own. Yesterday realizing that I had everything I needed to make up a batch, I made (possibly the best) chunky guacamole I’ve ever had. Seriously, it was so good that I wrote down EXACTLY what I’d done with the hopes of capturing the magic in the future.

Chunky Guacamole

  • 3 ripe avocados 
  • 2 plum tomatoes
  • 1 large or 2 small jalapeños
  • 1 large or 2 medium/small garlic cloves
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 2 limes, juiced
  • 1 shallot
  • 1-1 1/2 T chopped fresh cilantro
  • 3-4 t sea salt

Halve avocados, remove pits setting them aside for later, scoop each avocado half into a large bowl. Halve the tomatoes, seed and then coarsely chop them – place into a second bowl. To that bowl add the jalapeño first removing the seeds and ribs and finely chopping. Mince the garlic and add to the second bowl with the shallot after dicing it.  Add the sea salt to the second bowl and toss the mixture together.  Add second bowl to the avocados, followed by the lemon juice and half the lime juice. Used a hand chopper, do a coarse chop over all ingredients and stir to blend. Chop again until it’s the chunkiness you desire.  Add chopped cilantro, stir to blend.  

Now for the tip:  In the bowl which you are using to serve or store, push the avocado pits into the guacamole. Drizzle the last of the lime juice over the top and press plastic wrap over the guacamole, touching it to the surface rather than the bowl.  Remove the pits just before serving. These steps keep the guacamole from turning brown, I deliberately waited 24 hours to take the photos and it’s still a vibrant green.   

A perfect light meal of Chunky Guacamole, warm corn tortilla chips and a hearty red wine. Living the dream!

Herb Garden

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When you have a passion for cooking and gardening, a robust herb garden is a natural fit.

This year’s garden includes chives, garlic chives, flat leaf parsley, cilantro, dill, oregano, two types of basil and rosemary, three varieties of thyme and four varieties of sage. A few are perennial and the sage that is now on year five is flowering for the first time, sporting the prettiest lavender blossoms. The chives are blooming as well, adding to the beauty of my herb garden.

Scenes from Las Vegas – Springs Preserve

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from Wikipedia: Las Vegas Springs Preserve consists of 180 acres dedicated to nature walks and displays and is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Valley Water District. The Preserve is located approximately three miles west of downtown Las Vegas.

My recent trip to Nevada included a family reunion which in and of itself was filled with a lot of laughter, simultaneous conversations and catching up on each others lives. That would have been more than enough but my sister, a new Nevada resident, had researched area attractions that would appeal to our gang. Not only was Springs Preserve a huge hit, it was much more than we could’ve anticipated. We availed ourselves two of the many offerings, the Butterfly Habitat and the Botanical Gardens.


Baking Bread

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I have often said that I could live on bread, cheese and wine (if need be). I’ve been hesitant about baking bread, in particular because I’ve had little experience with yeast.

During the bitter cold, windy and icy winter days, I spent time on Pinterest and discovered several recipes that looked interesting. Today I gathered all the ingredients and decided to go for it. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? If it’s inedible, I can throw it out…..

Using this recipe, https://bakerbettie.com/easy-no-knead-skillet-bread/ I added garlic powder and poppy seeds to the top just before baking. The rosemary called for in the recipe was easy as I grow and dry it at the end of each summer. While Bettie’s recipe used a round cast iron skillet, mine is square and I went in the direction of a foccacia. The whole house was filled with the aroma of baking bread – reward enough for my effort.

  • Ready to bake
  • Just out of the oven
  • Onto my cutting board
  • Just look at that rosemary baked into this delicious bread.
    The most difficult thing in this whole process?
    Waiting until it cooled enough to cut through the crunchy outer crust, slicing off a chunk and slathering butter on it. In the end, it was even better than I anticipated!
    I can now add bread baking to my cooking resume!