Winter Guacamole

    I know.  I get it.  You don't want to hear ANYTHING about ANYTHING that has to do with winter anymore this year.  Give me a chance with this recipe, though, and I promise any cold, gray, heavy-clouded day will be instantly brighter.

   As I am sitting here typing this, I am watching the snow pour down on my little Tennessee yard and listening the forecast of several more inches by morning.  We don't often get snows of this depth here, so my family and I are all prepared to enjoy a good old-fashioned sledding and snowman construction party tomorrow!

   Yesterday as I was making my snowy forecast grocery list, I had to laugh at myself a little bit given that the chances anyone would be fighting me over the items I had written down were pretty slim.  Snow days for me mean lots of baking and cooking, especially things I often don't have time to prepare.  This time I had the recipe for winter guacamole on my mind and I was in search of pomegranates.

  I attended a party at a friend's house last Sunday night and was so happy to see that my daughter's teacher, Carolyn, was one of the guests. She truly is the life of any party and I always have so much fun when I get to hang out with her.  Right now, my 8 year-old loves it that I am friends with her teacher . . . let's see how she feels about that when she gets a little older!  I was even happier still to discover the fantastic appetizer Carolyn had brought to the party.  From the beginning of the year, I have been sending Carolyn baked goodies and had no idea what a fabulous cook she herself is.  After trying her guacamole, I can't wait to get my hands on some of her other recipes.  I also couldn't wait to make this one right away.

  Back to the pomegranates.  To me, these are what make this recipe really special.  Not only does the slight tartness add such great flavor to the dip, but the color of the little arils brightens it up, too.  Look at me with my fancy knowledge of what pomegranate innards are called!  Now, go forth and impress your own friends with this word.

   Actually, let's talk about those little arils for a moment.  Ideally, you want to do what Carolyn does and just buy a container of the arils which have been removed from the skin.  She buys them at Trader Joe's but our local Publix carries them as well.  I couldn't find them in my part of town, so I ended up buying the whole pomegranate and pulling the arils out.  I found directions on several websites that suggested separating the arils in a bowl filled with water.  This worked great for me and afterwards, I just placed them in a colander and let them dry really well.

   Carolyn found this recipe in a fabulous Jr. League of Houston cookbook entitled Peace Meals.

Winter Guacamole (click on title for a printable version)

4 ripe avocados
3 T. fresh lime juice
1 t. coarse salt (I use Kosher)
1/3 cup minced onion (I use red onion)
3 minced serrano peppers (including seeds)
1 C. red grapes, halved
1 C. finely diced, fresh pear (I use a green d'anjou)
1/2 C. pomegranate arils plus a few to sprinkle on the top


Peel and cut avocados.  Mash slightly with a pastry blender or a fork being careful not to mash all the chunks out.  Mix in lime juice and salt.  Add onion, serrano pepper, grapes, pear, and pomegranate arils.  Sprinkle arils on top and serve with tortilla chips.