1 Maybe try Texas Guacamole? I saved this awhile ago, but admit I've never made it, because I just eat the ripe avocados with a spoon.

2 Try this recipe but add garlic powder.

3 Bah! Pre-canned tomatoes and salsas! Good guacamole is FRESH quacamole, and it isn't that hard. You'll need:

2 large ripe avocados
1 tomato, small dice
1 small sweet yellow onion, small dice
1 tablespoons chopped cilantro
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 jalapeno peppers, fine dice (depending on how brave you are)
juice of 2 limes
salt
pepper

The secret's in using 2 avocados. Good guacamole has large chumks od avocado left in it, but has plenty of avocado creaminess too. Here's how you accomplish that:

Cut one of the avocados into medium-sized chunks. Place in a non-reactive bowl (stainless or glass), sprinkle with 1 teaspoon lime juice, mix well.

Ad in the garlic, tomato, onions, cilantro, and jalapeno, stirring each one in one at a time. By the end of this process, the avocado will be well-creamed. At this point add the second avocado, cut into slightly larger chunks than the first one. Add more lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.

The last step is important: Place one of the avocado pits in the moddle of the guacamole, cover, and refrigerate. The lime jucie and the avocado pit will keep the guacamole from turning brown. This is important, because good guacamole needs time to marinate -- at least a couple of hours, ideally either overnight (if you're serving it in the morning), or all day (if you make it in the morning and serve it in the evening) -- in order to taste its best.

Oh, yeah, sealing it properly is also vital, because avocado is high in fat and fat absorbs the flavors of refrigerator funk.

4 Simple But Succulent Guacamole

2 Avocados - slice, mash one fine, one coarse.
1 small tomato. Slice finely, mash with avocado.
1 tiny onion, chop into miniscule pieces.
2 Thai chillis, slice very finely, add to mix when mashing. You can use 1 mexican chilli instead, Jalapeno or Habanjero, but be careful to test the heat before adding, as some will be far hotter than others. You may need more or less.

That's it. No other ingredients.

5 I think I've still got some "secret spice mix" around here somewhere. Email me the address to send it to, if you want it.

6 I posted a non-standard recipe a while back. Note that what looks like a ketchup dispenser on our kitchen table actually contains sriracha.

Anyway, what you can extrapolate from my recipe is the importance of ripe avocados.

7 If I was going all out, I like the way the recipe of Boy Named Sous looks. But usually I'm not so motivated.

My usual guac would be avocados, salsa [usually Pace medium], garlic [needs to be pretty fine if you're using cloves], and lime juice.