I love avocados in any way! I even tried making some fried avocado the other day and it was delicious. I just breaded them like I do my chicken and popped them into the air fryer. One of my fav ways to eat avocados is as a salad with just some salt and pepper, thinly sliced onions, oil and vinegar. But I know that many people love avocados as guacamole and to celebrate this National Avocado Day, I’ve got a recipe for you!

Caridad’s Guacomole

Ingredients

3 ripe avocados, peeled and chopped into big chunks
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 10 oz can ROTEL diced tomatoes and green chiles (drained)
2 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp apple or white vinegar
Juice of either 1/2 a lemon or if you have 1 lime
1 ripe tomato chopped
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
A few good shots of Cholula hot sauce

Directions

Place your salt and garlic in a mixing bowl. Mash together with a fork until close to a paste. Then add the oil and vinegar and mix. Add the avocado chunks and mash with a fork, but leave some nice chunks in there. You may want to put in half and mash it well, and then add the second half and only partially mash it. Add the Rotel tomatoes and chiles plus and mix. Add the ripe tomatoes and mix. Finish with adding the lemon or lime juice and Cholula. If you like it spicier, add more Cholula or a shot of Tabasco.

P.S. – If you liked this recipe, you can check out more of my recipes at https://www.caridad.com/meet-me/cooks-treat/.

On the way to breakfast this morning I spied this hawk. It made me wonder if it was an omen especially since I am teaching my workshops today. Maybe it’s telling me I should step back and decide what to do before swooping in to take action.

I’m busy writing my bible for the first book in the South Beach Security: K-9 Division series for Harlequin Intrigue, tentatively titled Rescue at Redlands. This book is about the owner of a racehorse stable who is being attacked, possibly because she’s supposed to testify against a former trainer who is accused of doping racehorses. The SBS K-9 officer has to secure her racing stables and keep her from harm. One of the things I do to get started is to research where the book will be set and what the characters will look like. I also look for images I can share with you to create the story’s mood, like what I did for you in some of my video trailers. Here are some images that had crated the mood for Decoy Training, my very first K-9 story (besides the free read for Deadly Chase).

I shared some exciting news with you the other day about accepting an offer to write four more romance novels featuring K-9 heroes for Harlequin Intrigue. The books will be part of the South Beach Security series which debuts in December 2022 with Lost in Little Havana. Here’s a teaser for the heroes of the South Beach Security: K-9 Division. I thought I’d share you the K-9 heroes of the series! It was so much fun picking the dogs for the stories and giving them names that I hope will match their personalities in the books.

K-9 hero lovers can also check out Deadly Chase, a free read on Harlequin.com and Decoy Training, the first book in the K-9s on Patrol series! All books are standalone and I’m so excited to be working with my fellow Harlequin Intrigue authors Elizabeth Heiter, Maggie Wells, Cindi Myers, Leslie Marshman, and Lena Diaz.

Because of bad weather, the Asbury Park fireworks were postponed until last night which was the night for the Bradley Beach fireworks. The towns along this part of the Jersey Shore try to spread the fireworks to different days which we love because it means lots of fireworks to watch! In the photos, you can see the Asbury Park fireworks which are the ones closer to the horizon and smaller. The bigger ones are from Bradley Beach since we were closer to them. Happy 4th of July!