Today let’s talk about two things: how to make guacamole, and a Mystery Meet dinner next week.

First, guacamole. Avocados are one of my very favorite foods. I love it sliced in sandwiches, chopped in salads, scrambled with eggs and cheese, mixed with mayonnaise in tuna salad, churned into sweet ice cream, topped with condensed milk, made into smoothies, spread on top of toast, and of course: mashed in guacamole.

I love the act of scooping out the tender flesh from the skin, of chopping fresh garlic and jalapenos into itty-bitty cubes, of mashing the avocados with a fork into a smooth yet chunky mixture. Guacamole can be made easily, so easily in fact that when I showed up at a potluck party last week hosted by my friend Megan,  I whipped it up on the spot – because guacamole is always best served as fresh as possible.

so today I’m sharing an easy, no-fuss guacamole recipe

you only need four ingredients! (plus salt and pepper)

Bianca’s Basic Guacamole Recipe

4 avocados
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 jalapeno, with seeds removed and chopped
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh onto a big bowl, then mash with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine well. That’s it!

This served eight hungry food bloggers so if you’re making this, I would suggest using one avocado per two people (and one garlic clove per avocado). This is also my favorite guacamole recipe because it is very easy to customize. You can play with it by adding any (or all) of the following:

– cilantro
– red onions
– chopped tomato
– red pepper flakes
– cayenne pepper
– cumin
– chipotle peppers
– even pureed chickpeas, making it a guacamole-hummus hybrid

group shot: me, Christine and Michelle standing, and Elizabeth, Megan, Alicia, and Meghan sitting, with Megan’s dog Gunner in the foreground

My friends brought some great nibbles for the potluck too, which was actually a tortilla party because Megan received a box of fresh uncooked tortillas from Tortilla Land. She made some fried tortilla chips, chicken chimichangas and a margarita cake (!), Meghan made a grilled corn salad (which was featured on Boston.com during the 4th of July holiday weekend since it is the perfect BBQ side), Michelle brought a bottle of Skinnygirl Margarita and her spicy roasted salsa, Elizabeth brought a salad and was Megan’s sous chef for the day, Emily (who missed the group shot) brought some fudge from Maine – and her cute dog Sadie who played with Gunner, Alicia (who I’ve been wanting to meet for months!) brought some veggies for veggie quesadillas, and Christine played bartender and concocted some guava margaritas. It was a very fun afternoon filled with great food and even better company. I’m also proud to say that my guacamole was very well received by the ladies, so I urge you to try my simple recipe because it is a proven crowd-pleaser ;)

Now that we’ve covered guacamole, let’s talk about Mystery Meet . If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I am a big fan of this Boston event, which is a monthly gathering for foodies to get together for dinner at a secret location. The dinner happens every Tuesday of each month, and tickets go on sale a week before, but the location of the dinner is only revealed the night before the actual event.

I went to my first every Mystery Meet almost a year ago, at Myers + Chang. I also attended the special Hell Night at East Coast Grill. Mystery Meet has hosted other dinners like food trucks, a pig roast, and even Dining in the Dark. It is such a great way to meet other people who are passionate about food (take note that Mystery Meet is open to everyone) and to discover new restaurants. It’s also fun to figure out the clues each month.

tea smoked spareribs from Myers + Chang

wings of mass destruction from East Coast Grill

So I was ecstatic when I was approached by Seth, who is Mystery Meet’s founder, to host this month’s dinner. I knew immediately that I wanted the dinner to be at a restaurant that I’ve already tried and loved, but also a place that isn’t as popular or well known as the others, because I do want it to still be a novel experience for the attendees (I don’t want people saying, “been there, done that”). The restaurant I chose serves very good food, and the people there are so warm and inviting. And best of all, it features my very favorite cuisine of all time: Italian. Some of the clues are already up on the website.

The July event is next week, on Tuesday, July 12th at 7:30 pm. The dinner costs $40 per person (for the meal, tax and tip – you have to pay for your own drinks).  Tickets will go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, July 6th at noon (food blogger tickets go on sale today, Tuesday, July 5th). You can buy them online.  If you’re in Boston and are free that night, come and (mystery) meet with us!