Little Venice.

Venezuela literally means, "Little Venice", reminding the early explorers of Venice with houses built on stilts in a lake. I've been reading that this country has an Italian influence with their food. So far I haven't been so lucky to find a recipe that screams Italian. Monday night we had Burgers, Venezuelan style. It was quite tasty and simple. Essentially I just made Venezuela's version of guacamole and served it on top of the burger. A refreshing change to the basic burger.

The idea came from wanting to use up the fresh peppers and tomatoes that have been sitting on our kitchen counter. I would define this as "cleaning". Empty space on the counter certainly felt like I accomplished something. Cleaning, lets face it is never-ending. I had a bout of energy Sunday night to dive into the bathrooms. I was all ready and realized we had no cleaning supplies. Monday came along...bought the supplies. Tuesday came and went with Swim meet. Tonight we have church and gymnastics. Perhaps Thursday's the day. At least I can say I "cleaned" up the counter this week. Oh, and not to forget the 8 loads of laundry I've done so far this week too.

I shortened the recipe in half since I'm short on Guacamole lovers in the family.

Chunky-style Guasacaca

Ingredients:
3-4 large ripe avocados
1 large onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1/2 cup chopped tomato
3-4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Tabasco or hot pepper sauce to taste

1. Mash one of the avocados. Chop the other avocados and mix them with the mashed avocado in a bowl. Stir in the vinegar and olive oil. 
2. Finely chop the red and green peppers, tomato, and the onion and add to the avocado. 
3. Mince the garlic and add to the mixture. 
4. Season the guasacaca with salt, pepper, and tobasco sauce to taste.

Makes approximately 2 cups.