party guacamole.

my favorite thing.

i had posted a super lame-o, vague recipe for my signature guacamole several years ago, but i realized it was not very helpful at at all!

so even though i don’t usually measure the ingredients when i make guacamole, i got out all the measuring tools this time and wrote it all down - for the sake of consistency and for the sake of the folks whom are strict recipe followers. 😉

these avocados were seriously the creamiest and most perfect ones of my life. i do not take primo avo texture or ripeness perfection for granted! bless the avo gods for this most excellent batch.

i say that when you mince your red onion and jalapeño for this purpose or for fresh salsas - if you think you’re done chopping, chop it up again. and then one more time. you just want these components to be like flavor crystals within the creamy guacamole nebula, not distinct chunks to chomp into.

i do like to leave some chunkier bits of avocado left behind, however. more texture, please!

i used to add a scoop of fresh salsa to my guacamole. sometimes i will if it seems like it needs a flavor boost. but the goal is to keep it avo pure. i know cumin is a key ingredient in traditional guacamole, but i don’t really enjoy that flavor. add some to yours if you want!

i’ve made this guac zillions of times for zillions of parties or bbqs and it is always a hit. i know its a pretty straightforward recipe with no surprises, but this is just how i always do it, and the people of my life have spoken. they want to eat it on all the things - and i’ve seen it first hand…. nacho cheese doritos, cheetos, fritos, burgers, sliders, hot dogs, tacos, with breakfast, with vegetables, with cheese, with the strangest of crackers or chips…..

it is a surefire crowd-pleaser.

Quinn’s Party Guacamole

Serves 6-10

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 6 extra large ripe avocados

  • 1 3/4 - 2 tsp. kosher salt

  • 1 cup finely minced red onion

  • 2 medium jalapeños, seeded and finely minced

  • 2 large limes (juiced + some pulp)

  • 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro, plus extra sprigs for garnish

  • 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

Instructions-

Wash and dry all fresh ingredients. On a large cutting board, halve the avocados and score the flesh carefully with a knife. Use a spoon to scoop out all the avocado from the peel into a large bowl. Pour the juice of 1 lime over the avocado with a good pinch of salt and mash well with a fork (or even a potato masher if you’re making a large batch of guacamole).

Super finely mince the red onion and jalapeño. Add them to the large bowl and mash everything together well. Add the salt and pepper and fold in with a spatula. Add the juice of the other lime as well. Continue to mash the avocado mixture until it becomes quite smooth, leaving some chunkier bits as you desire.

Chop the cilantro. Gently fold the cilantro into the guacamole. Add larger sprigs on top if you wish.

Add salt, pepper, and lime juice to taste!

Serve immediately. Store in the fridge in a sealed container with extra lime juice squeezed on top if you’ll be serving it later. Be sure to give it a good stir if any browning occurs on the top before serving. Enjoy within 1-2 days.

qp

lauren's bachelorette party supply kits: las vegas style!

my good ol pal lauren is gettin hitched this summer! a bunch of gals and cousin joey made the trek to sin city to celebrate lauren and her upcoming nuptials to the wonderful mr. levi nelson.

here are the kits i put together for everybody on the trip: 

{this particular one starring the amazing

alyssa wilcox}

the bride to be.

family.

friendzies!

each vegas survival kit included:  

tylenol

bandaids (for the feetzies)

sunscreen

confetti

gum

hair tie

burts bees

diamond ring shot glass

"lolo came to party" balloons

2 Sticky9 magnets

of each person with Lauren over the years

waterproof disposable cameras

pizza tattoo from

Tattly

 (a huuuge hit---my friends and i are #1 pizza fans)

Yolo 4 Lolo sunglasses

amazon is a dream when ordering oodles of various bulk items!

LOLO CAME TO PARTY!

i had these balloons custom printed, but i won't mention where i got them from since i wasn't very pleased with my experience.  i was supposed to end up with a variety of colors of balloons, and got only white.  i'm glad i ordered these super far in advance, because they showed up exactly a month after i ordered them. 

everybody absolutely loved them and were super surprised, so it's all good :)

thankfully all these lovely people contributed money to the cost of these kits.  i was just bursting with ideas after we booked our trip to vegas and i knew i had to act on it.  i'm so glad i did.  everybody was genuinely surprised and thankful.  i love my friends!

here comes the bachelorette party!

miss piper

molly, lauren's soul sista

linda, lauren's real sister

alyssa

joey, lauren's cousin

marisa

j-brad

ashleigh

j-burg

and for the lady of the hour, lauren lamb:

i felt weird getting specific magnets of lauren and me to hang in my kitchen since i did this project so far in advance.  i didn't want people to come over and see the magnets because these kits were supposed to be a surprise for everybody.   i got this one of lauren and me from when we first moved into our college house and had a big ol party and made lots of money :)  i also got a sticky gram photo of peter and me together so it was less weird than having two random photos of lauren lamb and me displayed in our home. haha.

lauren's kit.

"shit just got real."

a phrase i heard lauren say after levi proposed and they were finally engaged to be married after 7+ years together.  i just so happened to find a temporary tattoo of this phrase. 

the pizza tats were way better though.

fun was had by all!

we cannot wait to celebrate lauren and levi's wedding this july!!!

xoxoxo

qp