Memories: Guacamole at the graduation party

I'm at home in New York, listening to Jonathan Schwartz's radio tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, who died earlier this week. A little "Chorus Line," a little nobody-does-it-better Carly Simon, and of course Barbra singing "The Way We Were."

For some reason, I'm reminded of avocado. When you grow up in Southern California, as I did, there are a lot of avocados in your recollections. I'm thinking this time of guacamole, which I think we consumed by the gallon in high school, at a graduation party which was hosted by one of my classmates, David Liebling, at the Malibu beach home of his uncle, who happened to be Marvin Hamlisch. I recall a rather clique-fractured class coming together in a beautiful location, and playing games on the beach for a late afternoon and evening, before we went off on our ways in the world.

When I first moved to New York City in the last millennium, it was hard to find a good avocado; now it's no problem.  I like them in the morning spread on toast instead of butter. (So does Tom Colicchio, for those keeping track of the Smart Chefs connection here...)  And I still love guacamole. Here's my own recipe:

3 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and roughly smashed

1 medium red onion, very finely chopped

1/2 tsp. chili powder (or to taste)

juice of 2 limes (or 1 lemon)Photo: "Live, Eat, Run"

hot sauce to taste (Tabasco works great)

generous sprinkle of sea salt

Combine everything, stirring until uniform, but still chunky. Taste and adjust seasoning and heat. Serve with raw vegetables -- red pepper strips, carrot sticks, jicama, etc. --  for dipping. 

(Yes, you can serve with chips, of course. But dipping vegetables is a way to keep this favorite in my life without making it a calorie explosion; plus I'm always looking for ways to get more vegetables into a meal or snack.)