SERVING SUGGESTIONS AVOCADOS

Tired of that same old guacamole made from those ready-prepared spice packages that you simply mix into mashed avocado?

Ventura resident Emily Thomson Beedy would like you to try her award-winning recipe.

She recently took second place in the “Great Guacamole” cook-off at the Escondido Avocado Festival.

“It’s something I’ve always made and just kind of threw together without following a recipe,” she said. “So when I entered, I had to sit down and actually write one out.”

And what makes hers special?

“I guess the secret to the recipe is the cilantro and Tabasco sauce that I use.”

Beedy’s Famous

5 large ripe avocados (her recipe calls for the Hass variety)

1 medium garlic clove, pressed

1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) Tabasco sauce

Mash ripe avocados with pastry blender or fork. Add remaining ingredients and mix. Serve garnished with additional cilantro if desired.

Proven far more versatile than just for guacamole or slivered for salad, avocados can also be used to make a pie?

“Sure, it’s real easy and tastes great,” Beedy said.

Here’s another Beedy suggestion:

Avocado Lime Pie

2 large ripe avocados

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

rind of one lime

1/2 cup lime juice

2 egg yolks

dash of salt

1 9-inch graham cracker crust

1 pint whipping cream

Mash the avocado (should be about 2 cups). Mix milk, rind, juice, yolks and salt. Stir until it thickens. Fold in avocado. Fill shell and chill several hours. Whip the cream and top the pie.