Avocadoooooo

I love avocados!

Avocados are great as guacamole, in salads, alone with a little salt and pepper, in sandwhiches, etc. Here are some avocado facts:

1) Avocados are a fruit, not a vegetable, belonging to the genus Persea in the Lauraceae family.
2) Avocados are sodium- and cholesterol-free and have only five grams of fat per serving, most of it the monounsaturated kind.
3) Brazilians add avocados to ice cream
4) Filipinos puree avocados with sugar and milk for a dessert drink.
5) Avocado is a corruption of the Spanish word aguacate, which is in turn a corruption of the Aztec word ahuacatl.

Some tips on selecting a ripe avocado:
*The best way to tell if an avocado is ready for immediate use is to gently squeeze the fruit in the palm of your hand. Ripe, ready-to-eat fruit will be firm yet will yield to gentle pressure.
*Color alone may not tell the whole story. The Hass avocado will turn dark green or black as it ripens, but other varieties retain their light-green skin even when ripe.
*Avoid fruit with dark blemishes on the skin or over soft fruit.

I wish I had known all this when I bought some very unripe avocados. I went to go open one and it was as hard as a rock. I am still waiting for the other to ripen. :o(