Queued up for Guacamole

Still Life~Queued up for Guacamole, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.

The Cauliflower Parmesean Cake was a hit even among some of the teenagers at my nieces birthday/slumber party brunch this weekend, so now it's officially part of the Little Kitchen arsenal. I also made Smitten Kitchens Spiced Applesauce Cake~another winner amongst the family.
They are a loyal bunch. As much as they were okay with being my culinary guinea pigs, I would not have been allowed in the door without my old party war horse: The 7-Layer Mexican Dip. Everyone has probaby made a version of this at some point in their lives and if you don't you should. It's one of the easiest party favorites aside from mixing sour cream with onion soup mix.

I've always called it 7-layer though I usually end up with five. It goes something like this:

Layer 1: One 32 oz. can of refried beans mixed with a couple of tablespoons of any jarred salsa you like, then spread it on the bottom of a glass lasagne dish.
Layer 2: Guacamole-3 large ripe avocados mashed with 1/2 of a diced red onion, a couple of smashed garlic cloves, a diced tomato, juice of 2 limes, salt & pepper. Spoon dollops of the guacamole evenly over the bean layer then spread it carefully into a smooth layer.
Layer 3: Sour Cream: I usually use a quart. Dump it in a mixing bowl and squeeze in the juice of 2 whole limes and stir it until it's smooth. Dollop spoonfuls evenly on top of the guac layer and spread it carefully to form the next layer.
Layer 4: Shredded Cheese-I usually use cheddar but a mix of cheddar and pepper jack is good too, I do a pretty dense layer of cheese but this is up to personal taste I guess.
Layer 5: a sprinkling of diced tomatoes.

This is as far as I go but you can also toss some chopped up black olives and chopped cilantro on top of the cheese layer.

This was one of the first things I ever learned to make that my mother didn't teach me so when I came home from my 7th grade home ec class asking my mom if I could make it, she was all for it. The family gave it a rave and the rest is history. If you're lucky enough to have any left over, it makes an awesome omelet.