Avocado "butter"

It just may be my new favorite "condiment"!

Recently paired with grilled spice-rubbed steak
(and farro salad with fresh corn and garden-grown basil) - YUM!
Oh, and a velvety smooth Zinfandel, by none other than Rombauer Vineyards.

Avocado butter is also amazing on a whole grain toast
topped with a fabulously yolky fried egg.
Or, as a snack on 3-seed crispbread crackers...

How to make it?

Mash 1 avocado with:
Juice of 1 lime
2 scallions
Dash of white wine vinegar
Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper

INSANELY simple and delicious.

I have been slowly getting back into the kitchen
and creating some delicious dishes
after my post-partum, sleep-deprived hiatus of casseroles.
I love hitting up the Farmers' Markets and Whole Foods
for fresh, local, seasonal ingredients (most often organic)
to make for my family.
Cheers to our health!

Here was our grilled Tandoori chicken thighs with fresh pineapple and Farmers' Market spinach and mushrooms.  So good - even as leftovers!

I have been strapping the little man in his Moby wrap,
so that he can enjoy physical contact while joining me in the kitchen.
I love explaining to him in detail what I'm doing and making!

Please excuse my hideous appearance.
(That nappy ass hair!! The sweats!!  Lack of make-up on that pasty skin!! )

But I'm just keepin' it realsies.
Although I like to think I look like this everyday...

(Only on special days.
Read:  When someone outside my husband might actually see me.
And I can somehow squeeze in a shower before Daddy leaves for work.)

Anyhoo...
I really hope my kids enjoy helping me in the kitchen someday!
Mixing meatballs with their little hands, etc. :)
I can still remember making "yucky pies" with my mom and brother,
and cooking with my Grandma Arline...
Even though it was probably 25+ (yikes!) years ago,
I can vividly remember making apple pies in her blue Lansing kitchen...
stirring flour into cut apples and cinnamon sugar to thicken their sweet juices
and poking fork hole steam vents and crimping the pie crust.
I remember learning how to sear pork chops for that yummy crust,
then deglazing the pan to make a flavorful gravy,
thickening it with a cornstarch slurry.
She was so patient and let me do so much!
Hopefully Munchie Bean and I can create some food memories, too.
Ah, I digress....

Bottom line:  Make the avocado "butter".
Good for you, and even better tasting!!

Bon apetit!

~photos by b~