Guacamole

Summer wouldn't be complete without making guacamole.  I'm not talking about a green paste you squeeze out of a bag, or scoop out of a tub, or mix with a powder.  This is the real thing.  Fresh ingredients, lovinginly (or at least carefully) hand-chopped that make something so delicious you will never be able to truly enjoy something from a bag or tub again.  I warn you: if you don't want to stop eating guacamole from a powder mix, then don't try this recipe.

My grandfather has been making this recipe for as long as I can remember.  He likes things spicy, so he adds about 5 or 6 extra jalapenos (okay, maybe not that many) when us wimpy kids aren't around. My dad has also become a master guacamole maker, so I ask him for tips as I am learning to perfect the recipe.  It's a bit of a taste-it-and-add-a-little-more-of-this-or-that-to-suit-your-tastes type of recipe, so feel free to tweek it - especially when it comes to how spicy you like it!

If you would like to do the prep work a day ahead of time, all the ingredients can be chopped and mixed together and covered the day before you plan to serve the guacamole except the avocado and tomatoes.  The day of, just dice up the avocado and tomatoes and add them to the vegetable mix and you're ready to go! 



Guacamole
4-5 ripe avocados
2 seeded and finely diced plum tomatoes
3 green onions, finely sliced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 anaheim peppers, seeded and veined, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and veined, minced
1/2 serrano pepper, seeded and veined, minced
3/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
juice of 2-3 limes
salt to taste, about 1/2 - 1 tsp.

1.  Dice and seed the tomatoes. It's important to seed the tomatoes or the guacamole will be runny. Put in a medium size bowl.

2.  Finely slice the the green onions and mince the garlic. Add all to the bowl.

3.  Vein, seed and finely dice all peppers, making sure to finely dice the serrano (a little bit spicier than a jalapeno) and the jalapeno - they are spicy and you don't want someone to get too big of a piece in their guacamole!  The anaheim peppers are not spicy, just flavorful! Add all peppers to the bowl.

4.  Before chopping cilantro, use the blade of the knife to roughly slice the leaves off the stems as much as possible.  Take off about 3/4 of the leaves off the bunch, and then finely chop the leaves. Add to the bowl.

5.  Dice the avocados and add to the bowl.  It's important to do this at the end so they maintain their bright green color. Avocados can brown easily once sliced; the lime juice, added next, will help them stay bright green.

6.  Juice 3 limes.  Pour 2/3 of the juice into the bowl.  Add a dash or two of salt and mix all ingredients together.  Taste the guacamole and add more lime juice and salt if necessary until it reaches the desired taste (careful not to add so much lime juice as to make the guacamole too runny!). You may find that you'd also like to add more spice - feel free to dice up some more serrano or jalapeno to do this!

I like to enjoy guacamole with chips - but it is also tasty with burgers, pita chips, or just about anything, really.  It also pairs most deliciously with a margarita, another summer essential.

Makes about 4 cups of guacamole.  Enjoy!

Coconut Cake

Coconut is, without question, one of God's gifts to man. Cake is, without question, one of man's gifts to man. Combined, you come about as close as possible to heaven on earth. I love coconut cake. I have made my fair share of coconut cakes over the past few years. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure every single one has been for a birthday, whether for mine or for someone else. Coconut cake just looks festive. This time around, I hit the jackpot. It was the best coconut cake I've ever had - including cakes made by me and cakes made by others.

The frosting is an heirloom recipe passed down from my grandmother and it is great for just about anything you want to frost. I'd highly recommend copying it down and adding it to your frosting repertoire. I'm sure you'll love it - you can always add in a drop or two of almond, orange or mint extract to switch up the flavor depending on the baked good with which it is being paired.

Coconut Cake

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
2 T vanilla extract
3/4 sweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a bundt cake pan.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.

3. Mix the dry ingredients together. Then add to the butter mixture, mixing well. Add the sour cream and mix well; then mix in the vanilla. Last, mix in the coconut until just incorporated. Batter will be thick.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40 - 45 minutes, or until golden. Let pan cool on wire rack for 5 minues, then turn cake out of pan. Leave the cake to cool on rack completely. Frost with vanilla buttercream frosting (recipe below) and sprinkle generously all sides with more coconut until completely covered (it's a messy job, but someone's gotta do it).

Grammy's Buttercream Frosting

1 stick butter, must be room temperature
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 T milk

You'll need an electric mixer for this one - it's far too strenuous to do by hand! Start out by beating the butter.  Add half of the sugar. Keep beating it. Add the vanilla extract and a few drops of the milk.  Add in the rest of the sugar.  Dribble in the milk, a few drops at a time, until it reaches the right consistency. The frosting only gets creamier and better the longer you beat it; my mom even recommends walking away from the mixer for five minutes. Remember: you can always add more milk to thin it out, but you can't remove milk once it's in! It's always good to have a little extra powdered sugar on hand just in case you add to much milk - that's how to fix it if it gets too thin!

Enjoy!