Thursday, July 3, 2008

Guac-Off Home Run!

After winning the 54th Annual Ardmore Chili Cook-Off last weekend (true!), I turned my attention to the First Annual Brookwood Guac-Off. In my grad school days, I had become a bit of a self-styled expert at guacamole, and figured I stood a good shot at taking this competition down. As I drove M.J. and myself over to the competition, however, I received nothing but smack-talk. She even threw down a "Snap!" after a particularly vicious put-down. (Really? Who does that?)



In any case, when the dust settled, I had received second place in the competition. You can see me and Shannon holding up our prestigious prizes after the guacamole competition. Truth be told, if I wasn't voting for my own guac as a matter of principle, I would have voted for hers on taste and merit. But I still have my principles, so I voted for my own. And Shannon taught me a couple good tricks: her main ingredients (beyond the avocado) included tomato, onion, and jalapeƱo (all diced very fine), and some lemon juice. I had these ingredients (though lime instead of lemon), but then made the additional decision to add onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to the mix, where Shannon only added a little salt. As a result, her guac was the freshest tasting. I am gradually arriving at the conclusion that garlic and most other spices in guacamole are over-rated... let the ingredients speak for themselves.



Final vote tallies: Shannon received 6 votes, I received 4 votes, a couple other people got 2 votes. How many votes did smack-talker M.J. get? I don't think it would be prudent to say, except to note the interesting fact that before the Moors came around, it was debatable as to whether the number she received was even a number...

3 comments:

jarymane said...

Readers will note Dustin's guacamole-themed outfit... who does THAT.

Other illustrious winners of second place, or, as I like to call them, glorified losers...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Guarini
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Willkie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Armstrong_Custer

Oh. Snap.

vergelimbo said...

El Guaco

Looks like you have mad-skills with the guac, salsa et als. So, you definitely just made the short-list for my next Urban Garden Project Cookout. Perhaps I'll make it a "Women on the Verge(limbo) of a Nervous Breakdown" themed Gazpacho Fest.
Invite your rivals as well.

I'll keep you posted,
Phil

Your Blogs are great BTW...

-DW- said...

Jarymane / MJ:

Hey, I'll take 2nd over 5th any day, even if it does put me in the company of the Justin Guarini's and Clay Aiken's of the world. Shudder...