Irene, avocados and resolutions.

Let me tell you about my friend Irene.

She was the very first friend that I made in New Mexico. I am so very thankful that our paths ran side by side for a little while. Our husbands worked together in NM. She helped me to ease into life in NM, the unpredictability of our husbands jobs and the new life we had chosen. One week after our vehicle pulled into NM, she was introducing me to her friends. There are few people to whom I feel as though I owe as much to, as her. She, btw, is my friend from my favorite friend moment. Had it not been for her, I imagine that my life in NM would have been immensely different. Lonelier.

One of the most important things I learned from her was the beauty of an avocado. To know Irene is to know that she thinks she is a horrendous cook. She claims she once burnt mac & cheese. It's not like I don't believe that- I once burnt hard boiled eggs. (Put them boiling and left them until all the water evaporated, plus another couple minutes. Oops.) It's just that she was born and raised in Mexico. And, apparently, their food needs to be tended to and needs to to cook slooooooowwwwwwly to be "real food". I'm sure it's amazing. But the amount of time it takes to makes something doesn't equate to how good it tastes, necessarily. If in doubt, refer back to my boiled eggs story.

So, long story short: lies. She knows her way around a kitchen. I don't have to know what kind of legal shortcuts she took to make whatever it is she is serving. Truth is, I probably know. Because she always invited you over well before the meal was served. Being the fabulous hostess she was, she'd have some kind of food to munch on as you chatted and watched her (slowly) prepare your food. I really think she has a complex about time and food prep. (Am I right, Amy and Aimee?) Anywho. She introduced me to some of my favorite foods to date: pinto beans. Tostadas. And AVOCADOS.

Yum. So simple, but amazing. She made me a cheese quesadilla from this delicious and perfectly melty mexican cheese that I have only found at one store in my life. It's a white cheese. Asadero. But, not the asadero that other stores sell. This stuff was in a class of it's own. As the quesadillas cooked, she cut an avocado in half, removed the pit, and slowly mashed the avocado in it's skin. And then she smeared the quesadilla with the avocado. And told me to sprinkle it with salt. That's it. Three ingredients, with salt to season. And it rocked my freakin' world. It was so simple, but it let the avocado shine. My life has not been the same since.

Why all of this? Well, I made that for myself for lunch today, so it's on my mind. You need to try it. It's okay if you can't find the same cheese, you want the avocado to take center stage. It's a must try. And avocados are so good for you, to boot. So it's a win, win.

I've been looking around and I realized that my News Years post was a little generic. And so are my resolutions. I am going to compile more and put them up on my wall so that I can see and remember them all year.

And introducing this family to foods (mostly produce) that I don't normally put on the table is going to be one of them. Yesterday we tried Starfruit. Interesting. What do you suggest and how do you eat it?