Scoopworthy

I can't recall when I first tasted guacamole. Likely, it was at some Mexican restaurant back in the early '70s while my first husband was at Stanford's business school and his parents had scoped out all the best Mexican restaurants on the peninsula. It was an instant passion for me and I consider myself a connoisseur of good guac.

The best local guac I have found is the heavenly stuff prepared at Las Camelias in San Rafael - hearty, chunky, with a hint of spice and cilantro, they don't stint on the avocado there, nor try to make it go further by adding ersatz ingredients. It personifies the goal toward which all guacamole should be aiming. If you call ahead, they will make it fresh and have it ready for pickup, along with a big brown paper bag of their housemade corn chips. You're welcome.

But we were clear across the bridge from that yummy stuff and had three avocados crying out to be eaten, so I decided to try a homemade version. Scooped the avos into a bowl with chopped ripe tomato and mild onion, a big squeeze of lemon juice and a couple of generous dollops of Hop'n Jalapeno hot sauce.

I didn't include the cilantro because, to me, it tastes like soap. I'm trying to learn to like cilantro but it's an uphill battle. I call it soapwort and make a face.

Squished it all together with a fork. Opened up a package of thin, lightly salted tortilla chips. Dipped in. While it didn't reach Las Camelias heights, it was pretty darn good.