Happy Cino de Mayo!

Barefoot Contessa’s Guacamole

INGREDIENTS

4 ripe Haas avocados
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
8 dashes hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup small-diced red onion (1 small onion)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium tomato, seeded, and small-diced

DIRECTIONS

Cut the avocados in 1/2, remove the pits, and scoop the flesh out of their shells into a large bowl. (I use my hands.) Immediately add the lemon juice, hot pepper sauce, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper and toss well. Using a sharp knife, slice through the avocados in the bowl until they are finely diced. Add the tomatoes. Mix well and taste for salt and pepper.

(via)

Prickly Pear Margarita at Fonda San Miguel
This drink is a celebration in a glass. Here’s the recipe:

2 large, fresh, ripe red prickly pear fruit, peeled
6-8 oz. blanco or reposado tequila
3-4 oz. fresh lime juice
4 oz. homemade jalapeno syrup
Mexican chile seasoned salt to rim glass.

Puree prickly pear in a blender. Add tequila, then strain mixture through a fine sieve to remove hard seeds, using a wooden spoon to press out all of the nectar. Stir in lime juice and syrup to taste. Chill or freeze before serving. Pour over ice into a glass rimmed with Mexican Chile Seasoned Salt. Garnish with a slice of unpeeled prickly pear or a lime wedge.

Serves 4. Note: Use commercial frozen purees when prickly pears not available.
Jalapeno Syrup: 2 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 2 or more jalapenos (or serranos for more heat) halved and seeded. In a heavy one-quart saucepan, bring sugar and water to a slow boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add peppers and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool. Pour, un-strained, into a bottle, and refrigerate for two weeks.

or you can do like me….