This is a great way to beat the heat! Serve with margaritas, a good Mexican beer, or a homemade limeade.

Guacamole
- 1 Poblano chile
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 ripe avocadoes
- 1 medium purple onion – “1/4 dice
- 1 large, vine ripe tomato-diced
- ½ cup loose packed cilantro
- 1 tablespoon finely minced, fresh, garlic
- 1 teaspoon coarse, black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon prepared hot sauce
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt to taste

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Rub olive oil all over Poblano until it is completely coated. Place chile on cookie sheet and roast in oven 10 minutes or until skin is blistered and brown. Turn chile over and roast the other side 10 minutes or until skin is blistered and brown. Remove chile from oven and place in a brown bag and seal top. You can also enclose in foil or a plastic bag, but be careful of melting the plastic! The reason you do this step is to let the steam loosen the skin for you. After 10 minutes in the bag, remove chile and peel off loosened skin under cold running water. Discard seeds. Dice skinless pepper.
Peel and seed the avocados. In a small bowl, mash the avocados with the back of a spoon. I like to leave mine a little chunky. If you like extremely smooth, you can use an electric mixer to make it creamy. Add the roasted chile and other ingredients and mix well. If you like your guacamole spicier, add one or two minced Serrano chiles. Remove the seeds unless you want it nuclear!

Shrimp Cocktail

Shrimp
3 dozen large, raw shrimp, shell on

Shrimp Boil
- 2 lemons
- 1 cup cilantro, stems and leaves
- ¼ cup salt
- 4 bay leaves
- 4 tablespoons hot sauce (Cholula)
- 2 tablespoons chile powder
- 1 tablespoon coarse, black pepper

Put about 1½ gallons cold water in a large pot. Cut each lemon in half, squeeze juice in water, then drop juiced lemon halves in water as well. Add remaining shrimp boil ingredients to water. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Let water simmer for 20 minutes before adding shrimp. Shrimp will cook in 2 to 3 minutes. It JUST needs to be done in middle. Most people overcook shrimp. As soon as shrimp is done, plunge in ice water to stop the cooking process. Peel and de-vein shrimp under cold water. Drain shrimp and refrigerate.

Sauce for Shrimp
- 2 cups catsup
- 3 tablespoons creamy horseradish
- 2 tablespoons Cholula hot sauce
- Juice of one lime
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse, black pepper
- Mix all ingredients until well blended.

Chips
Fresh fried chips are a great change from the chips in a bag.

- 1 bag white corn tortillas
- 3 cups vegetable oil
- Kosher salt

Bring oil to 350 degrees in a medium saucepan. Cut tortillas in to 6 triangular pieces. Fry in oil until bubbles stop and chips are floating. Drain chips on paper towels, and apply salt to taste.

Place Guacamole in the center of a large platter. Arrange chips and shrimp around Guacamole. Garnish platter with fresh lime wedges and chopped cilantro. Serve shrimp sauce in a small bowl on the side.