Tracy Phillips

A week or so ago after I mentioned on Facebook that nothing was better than fresh homemade guacamole, I got several requests for my recipe and I thought I would share it by posting it on the ole’ blog.

It just so happens that we live only a few miles down the road from Fallbrook, California, the self proclaimed avocado capitol of the world. We have (really, really) fresh avocados most of the year.

Here is what you will need:

• 4 Medium Ripe Avocados – I prefer the Hass variety.
• 1/2 Medium Yellow Onion, finely minced
• 1 Heaping TSP Salt
• 1 Lime, hand squeezed, or 1/2 if you use any type of juicer
• 2 small Tomatoes, diced
• 2 TSP minced Garlic
• 1 TSP finely chopped Cilantro
• 1 Serrano or Jalapeno Pepper, finely diced – I throw in seeds and all

Take the avocado flesh out of it’s skin but cutting the avocado length-wise and twist the two halves to separate. Take the blade of your knife and kind of chop it down into the seed and twist it to extract the seed. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Put it into a bowl and mash it with a fork until it is at the desired consistency for you.

Take the rest of the ingredients above, dump them into your bowl and mix everything together.

I usually try to let it sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes so the flavors of the ingredients will mix. I say try because sometimes we just like to dive right in.

Tip: To keep your guac from browning, throw in a few avocado seeds into the bowl after you have everything mixed up.

Renee and I thought we would try something different this year for our New Years Dinner. I had been wanting to try a recipe from my favorite cookbook, “Joy of Cooking”, for quite some time, so we decided to make U.S. Senate Bean Soup.

There is good reason this soup has been on the menu in the U.S. Senate’s restaurant every day since 1901. There are several stories about the origin of that mandate, but none has been corroborated.

According to one story, the Senate’s bean soup tradition began early in the 20th-century at the request of Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho. Another story attributes the request to Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota, who expressed his fondness for the soup in 1903.

Here is what you will need for about 6 cups of soup:

1 1/4 cups dried white beans
1 small ham hock
7 cups cold water

Bring the water to a boil, reduce and simmer until the beans are tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the ham hock, discard the bone, skin and fat; dice the meat and return it to the pot.

Add:

1 large onion diced
3 medium celery ribs chopped
1 large potato, peeled and finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Simmer until the potato pieces are tender, which will take from 20 to 30 minutes.

The recipe in “Joy of Cooking” recommends that you take a potato masher and mash until the soup is creamy, we didn’t do that step.

That’s all there is to it and the results were yummmmy. This one is a keeper.