Guacamole

It's a staple of life here in Southern California, but I can't discount the origin of my love of this great stuff...the many greasy (more like grimy) spoons, dives, and stands of Chicago.
My mom first gave me a fork, some over ripe avocados, and access to the spice cabinet when I was five and I've been experimenting every since. I'm sharing my (current) favorite recipe for this green treat.

Ingredients:
3 Hass Avocados 1 Clove of Garlic 1 Clove of a Shallot 1 or 2 Limes 2 Roma Tomatoes Cilantro (chopped) Cracked Black Pepper Kosher Salt *Other great ingredients are ground cumin, ground coriander, onion powder, sour cream or creme fresche, and even finely chopped jalapenos.

Peel and mash your avocados to a nice pulp with a fork or pestle. After you have released all pent up anxiety, stress, and anger by the prior step in this process, take a cleansing breath and make sure that your utensil, er weapon, is still in the bowl and not lodged in any innocent bystander's eye. Then, crush your garlic and finely chop your shallot and add to the mix. Add your tomatoes, cilantro and salt and pepper and stir. I like to add the lime last. Sometimes you only need a quarter of a lime and sometimes you might need the whole thing. It depends on the consistency of your guacamole. If you are adding sour cream, you'll need less lime...you're making a dip after all, not a soup.

My favorite way to enjoy this (that is in fact that the guacamole has sustained the mixing process and managed to escape my eating the whole bowl) is to put this into fresh corn tacos, topped with shredded lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes!