Rick’s Rants and Raves

If I do say so my self, this is the best Guacamole recipe. Ever. Inspired by (ok, nearly stolen from) Jeff Smith, the Grumpy Gourmet. The ingredients are his, the quantities are mine, from memory.

• 2 Ripe avocados. Do not buy 2 ripe avocados. Buy 2 hard avocados, and wait 2-4 days until they are ripe. You will have one day in which they are perfect. When they are perfect, do not delay. If you buy ripe avocados, they’ll be half-brown from all the bruising they took in the store.
• 2-4 green onions, sliced crosswise, thin
• Juice of half a lime (1 tablespoon)
• 1/2 to 1 tsp of salt
• 1 to 2 tsp of ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons of fresh salsa. The quality of the salsa will directly impact the quality of your guacamole. First preference: your own fresh salsa, made yesterday. Second preference: store bought fresh salsa that was in a refrigerator case. If the avocados are ripe, and you have no other choice, use your favorite jar salsa. Don’t blame me if your guacamole is only so-so.
• 1-3 tablespoons cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

Combine everything in a bowl and mash with forks or fists until you are happy with the results.

I found this on a box of Kraft Mac N Cheese once a couple years ago. Almost immediately, they took it off. The conspiracy theorist in me said “If people knew it was this easy to make microwave mac n cheese, they wouldn’t buy the high priced ‘Microwave Mac N Cheese’, so they had to take it off.” Whatever the motivation, I’ve never seen this anywhere else. This has worked with every brand of “standard” mac & cheese–the kind with the powdered cheese.

No-Drain Microwave Macaroni and Cheese
1 7oz box of Mac & Cheese mix
1 3/4 cup HOT tap water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter

Put macaroni in a 2 qt bowl with HOT tap water. If you can’t use HOT water, adjust cooking time accordingly.
Cook in microwave for 9 to 9 1/2 minutes, stirring once or twice. All the water should be absorbed and macaroni tender. Stir again after it is finished.
Add cheese mix, milk and butter, stirring until butter is melted and cheese powder is cheesy.

I’m adding a new category to my blog–recipes.

I know it doesn’t fit with a “technology” blog, so I’m going to change my tag line as well. Lately I’ve been writing personal and commentary posts, so it’s probably time to change the tag line.

I’ve struggled with the idea of posting recipes. I can think of three right of the bat that I’ll post for various reasons. Primarily, I’ll post long time favorites. Most of these I don’t need a recipe for–I just do it my memory and feel. In some cases I don’t even measure anymore. So, here come some recipes. Enjoy.