Guys like chips and salsa, but how about making it a bit more fancy when you want to impress someone. Whether that's your lady or your buddies, fresh homemade guacamole is easy and easy to personalize.

First, grab the ingredients. They're easy and usually easy to find:

Going clockwiseish, we have -
* Cilantro (I use dried, just easier, fresh is fine)
* Tomatillos (harder to find, but worth it -- can replace with tomato and juice of one lime)
* Habanero peppers (yeah, they're hot -- change to suit your wussiness)
* Hass avocado (get them ripe. They should have some give when you squeeze them, but not mush.)
* Florida avocado (more fruity -- can replace with mango)

The proportions here aren't important. A bit more avocado? Fine. Less tomatillo or pepper? Fine. You're not going to screw it up, just change the taste. The more of the avocado, the more it will dominate and the less spicy. Obviously, you can change the peppers to suit taste. For me, the lime and tomatillo is acidic overkill. Pick one or the other. Lime's easier to find and goes with the margarita.

Now that we have everything in place, it's a matter of cutting. There's two tricks here -- opening and chopping the avocado. To open the avocado, use a sharp knife and 'stab' directly in, softly until you hit the seed. Then go around the avocado until you've made two halves. With a small twist, open the two halves. The seed will 'pick a side.' Pull it out and discard. Take a spoon and dig in to one of the avocado halves, going with the skin. Scoop out the fruit, but avoid the green pith nearest the skin. If you leave a bit of avocado, so be it. Once you have it down, you'll nearly scoop it out whole. Once out, chop the avocado into differing sized pieces. Not sure why it works, but it does.

Chop the tops off the tomatillos, then halve what's left. Chop the top off the habeneros and if you like, deseed them. The Floricado or mango is softer and you should just dump that into the food processor. (No food processor? Cut everything into smaller pieces and use the blender. You'll just have to clean it out before making the margaritas.)

Everything goes in, then put cilantro, some fresh black pepper and salt, then put the top on.

About thirty seconds in, you'll see chunks spinning. Some will get out of the flow. You're looking for smooth, so this is about the halfway point. Don't be scared to stop and stir it up if you're getting big chunks clogging things up.

The final version will look more liquid, but still have some texture. It will pour easily without large chunks, but still hold the chip well. Serve however you want, but it's best with margaritas, if I haven't made that clear yet.

And there it is. Homemade guacamole that will impress whoever's coming by. You don't have to tell them that it takes nothing more than the ability to read a list and chop things without losing a finger to make it.