You haven't heard as much about Weston up to this point because he's not as food-obsessed as his 11-year-old brother Emery. But he definitely has his likes (roast chicken, Caesar salad with homemade croutons, lettuce soup, bacon and cheese quesadillas, banana chocolate chip muffins) and his dislikes (chopping onions, anything spicy, my lovely salmon with mustard and tarragon, and most of what I've made for dinner in the past year).
What's more, Weston is a great sous-chef. He can saute, stir, whisk and flip. He doesn't rhapsodize about food the way his brother does, but in the kitchen, he gets stuff done. He knows he doesn't like chopping onions because one afternoon he chopped five pounds of onions for a stew we were making. After the first pound, when his eyes were tearing and his nose was running and he was clearly miserable, I offered to take over. He insisted on finishing. When he commits, he commits.
Our avocado tree bore more fruit than usual this year, and Weston, ever the daredevil, followed a climber friend up its branches a few weeks ago and picked a few dozen at once. The glut of ripe avocados five days later inspired Emery's spring scrambled eggs, about which I wrote recently. But still there were more. Unasked, Weston took on the task of making a daily guacamole to use up the avocados he had picked.
About the same time, Weston got his first email account. He emails his friends about Pokemon, his grandparents little love notes, me scheduling requests ("Can we go see the Percy Jackson movie this weekend?").
Unbeknownst to me, he also used his new email account to send most of the people in his address book his first written recipe - for guacamole. He didn't send it to me. Maybe he assumed I knew it by heart, as I'd seen him make it so many times. You'll notice it's very simple, very unadorned; don't let that put you off. It's delicious. Here it is, unedited:
Weston's guacamole
ingredients
1.avocado
2.lemon
3.salt
4.pepper
Put the avocado in a bowl mash it 'till it's mushy then squeeze lemon into the bowl.(no seeds)put salt and pepper in 'till you think it's good enough.
Enjoy!!!!
10 comments:
That's me!
I like simple guacamole. I prefer lime to lemon, though. I make about four of five different kinds of guacamole from simple avocado and lime juice to a kind with three different chiles.
But simple guacamole like this is wonderful. You can put it on tacos, eat it with chips, spread it on toast or a pan fried tortilla. And it's surprisingly filling.
Ooooh, to have an avocado tree...Weston, this looks like a great recipe! I'll have to give it a try the next time I get my hands on some good avocados.
Weston, you have a home and a job in Palo Alto whenever you'd like to take a little break from Santa Monica. I need a reliable, committed sous-chef and you would fit the bill perfectly. Plus I am a guacamole addict. Name the date.
I love this story and I love this recipe. Weston, I'm with you. I like to keep my guacamole simple. Though I do have an asian guacamole recipe that people love. I put a bit of cumin in but also sesame seeds and soy sauce and lime. YUM! Curious to know if it passes the kid test.
Your son is so cute and your glut of avocados makes me jealous. Did you get a new camera? Your pics are great!
@Lynne - thank you for the compliment on my son - I adore him, of course. I did get a new camera (Canon G11, which I'm still learning to use) but the photo above of him was taken with my old P&S. If the light is right, the pictures are great.
@Sarah - Asian guacamole? I'm skeptical.
I hope you don't mind I re-posted your blog to our Facebook page. I cook with my 6 year old and my 4 year old is just getting into it so this hits home for me.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rouxbe/116260036489
Do I mind? I'm thrilled! Thanks Steve!
Thanks for all the nice comments about me!
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