Happy Cinco de Mayo my Foodie Friends! When my son John was 11 he loved it when  Paula would make Guacamole!  He was influenced by the Austin Powers movie and would walk around the house exclaiming: Mom is making Holy Moley, Guacamoley, moley, moley!!! Among the world’s oldest culinary tools, volcanic rock mortars and pestles like these have been used by great cooks for thousands of years. Our molcajete (mortar) and tejolete (pestle) are hand carved from a single piece of basalt rock, so every piece is unique. In addition to being a great prep tool, the molcajete makes an impressive serving dish for guacamole and other party favorites.

• Perfect for crushing whole spices and making spice blends.

• Ideal for blending and serving guacamole—or for making pesto and other rustic sauces.

• Line with lettuce leaves to use as an all-purpose serving bowl.

• Rough interior texture of mortar helps crush and grind ingredients.

• Heavy pestle does the work for you, ensuring efficient grinding, blending and mixing.

Guacamole, a dip made from avocados, is originally from Mexico. The name is derived from two Aztec Nahuatl words—ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (sauce).

All you really need to make guacamole is ripe avocados and salt. After that, a little lime or lemon juice—a splash of acidity to balance the richness of the avocado. Then comes chopped cilantro, chiles, onion, and tomato, if you want.

The trick to making perfect guacamole is using good, ripe avocados. Check for ripeness by gently pressing the outside of the avocado. If there is no give, the avocado is not ripe yet and will not taste good. If there is a little give, the avocado is ripe. If there is a lot of give, the avocado may be past ripe and not good. In this case, taste test first before using.

Guocamole de
Molcajete recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 large garlic clove

• 12 leaves cilantro

• 1 large ripe but firm Haas avocado

• 12 crystals rock salt

• 1 tablespoon Mexican lime juice

• 1/3 cup peeled, deseeded, finely chopped and drained cucumbers

• Freshly ground mixed peppercorns (black, green, white, pink, Szechuan)

• Round tortilla chips

• Grated cotija, as an accompaniment

Directions

Mash the garlic in the bottom of the molcajete (lava-stone mortar) using the rejolote (lava-stone pestle). Then crush the cilantro leaves. Mix in pulp from avocado and follow with a scattering of the rock crystals. Pour in lime juice, add cucumbers, and give a few good twists of pepper.

Stir together and serve from the molcajete (or any mixing bowl). Place a sampling onto round tortilla chips and top with a sprinkle of cotija (a white Mexican cow’s milk cheese somewhat similar to Parmesan in texture).

So my Foodie Friends you are ready and if you see my 26 year old son around town just say Holy Guacamole, moley,  moley and he’ll know what you mean!

   Happy Cinco de Mayo! “Life Happens in the Kitchen!”

Take care, John and Paula