Oh looks like dissent in the ranks @mig
Nothing is as good as it was 20 years ago. #agingout
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I discovered by trial and error that my favorite guac contains little or no lime or garlic. A little onion, tomato, cilantro, and lots of salt work for me.
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That’s possible! I don’t follow the celebs much these days (other than their obituaries).
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My friend David’s new tee shirt.
I’ve found that keeping my expectations low is key & try to apply a similar attitude in general.
Most all #stupidbowl commercials hold no water to the Cannes Lions awardees 
Yep. I had pretty discerning folks over for dinner right before the pandemic-and there was a metric crap-ton of chips in the house (Utz bulk order). I had sour cream in the fridge, and lo and behold a packet of onion soup. I laughingly made the dip - can I even explain how fast it vanished???
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I watched the Puppy Bowl! 
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We had two people over for a Bills game about a month ago. I put out 8oz of onion dip made with Lipton Golden Onion soup mix and Trader Joe’s sour cream. 20:00 later, I had to make more. Of course, now I have leftover dip in the fridge from yesterday, and I’m contemplating the best re-purposing ideas. I used to mix it into mashed potatoes and use it as a pierogi filling, but I’m pretending to be low-carb now.
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Fool me once, Serious Eats, shame on you!
This debacle cost them a lot of their cred with me. It’s one thing to crap all over a standby, e.g., commercial ranch dressing, but if you’re going to sell clicks bashing it by publishing a “better” way, you better bring the varsity, and you damn better win.
My lesson learned here is that onion dip is more like canned pumpkin than it appears–homemade isn’t likely to be worth any effort.
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These have a hallowed place in Wahine’s family holiday and sports gatherings. My relationship with them is Love-Hate in equal measure, although my GI tract is not on the Love side…
I like the little smokies immersed in grape jelly.
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If I had time for low/slow bake of them (or hours in the crock pot) the grape jelly treatment would have been my first choice.
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Portion control (for digestive comfort) was enforced by making only a dozen Little Smokies - 6 per person felt like a generous amount but didn’t offer the temptation to continuously snack on them.
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I am pretty sure I have never had a Smokie of any size.
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How I do guacamole depends on the context I am going to use it - dip or condiment/what else am I serving, etc.
I don’t use a recipe, but start with a base of two ripe avocados (which is always its own adventure at this point with grocery store quality. Even buying them unripe and waiting can lead to unevenly ripe, bland fruit. There are certainly threads about it here on HO.). Those get diced in the skins and scooped into a bowl. Then I start with the juice of half a lime (or 1/4-1/3 lemon if that what I have) and a pinch of salt and mash everything up. Then diced onion, scallion, or shallot (again depending on what is in the house) gets mixed in. I like heat, so diced, seeds left in chile peppers (at least 1 serrano or Fresno, but then taste and see if it needs more). Finally, cilantro, if I have it. Tomato is optional, but not unwelcome. Check to see if it needs more acid or salt and then serve.
Sometimes, we add crab or shrimp. Sometimes, I like to add a blue cheese, in the style of Nigella’s Roquamole. I remembered that Michael Symon also had a similar bacon/blue cheese version and found these variations.
Something else that is also fun is making a basic guac and then drizzling it with salsa macha or chile crisp before serving.
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Guac is one of those things that, while (or maybe bc) it’s pretty basic it’s so easy to tweak to one’s personal preference. I like tart flavors a lot, so you’ll taste the lime that goes in.
Some like their guac all smooth like baby food, whereas I prefer mine to be on the chunkier side. I thought seeding the tomatoes as per the NTY recipe was nice touch - providing a hint of tomato without the pesky skins, and smashing up the diced onion (tho it never reached real paste consistency) integrated them well. Extra heat and extra cilantro is always welcome 
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Now this is worth writing about!
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I don’t like guac the next day so I usually use one large avocado for just me. While it has been a while since I have found a perfectly ripe, flavorful one, this is what I do when I have one…
1.) Dice it up and put it in a bowl.
2.) In the Vitamix** add (in order) 1 whole quartered peeled lime, a jigger of V8, one half large quartered jalapeno, 6-8 halved cherry tomatoes, one half quartered white onion, and a solid handful of cilantro. Pulse the VM a few times, then use the tamper to push the onions and cilantro down while pulsing a few more times.
3.) Add the bender contents to the bowl and stir together with a large fork while lightly mashing things together. Season with kosher salt and refrigerate for a least one hour.
I really like the almost pureed texture of the lime/jalapeno/V8/tomato, along with the coarser onion and cilantro. Bacon is a welcome addition… I just fry it up until very crispy and crumble it on top with my hand.
**Note: my VM has a small jar. If you only have a large jar (low profile or not) you’ll need to at least double batch this.
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As I read this, it sounded like the many personal additions we make to mashed or baked potatoes.
And yet, it doesn’t contradict that basic mashed potatoes with just butter, salt, and pepper started out delicious
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