“I wanted to put together a colorful and flavorful salad with a fresh Mexican twist. I tried to gather a variety of colors, flavors and textures. Mango isn’t your typical choice, and one could substitute corn and still have a yellow color, if desired, but it would completely change the character of this salad I also thought about adding black beans or sliced olives for one more dimension, but decided to stay with bright, cheerful colors.” – April Ferre
“These were so good, we had to walk them off before we could drive home. The restaurant made these in a big slushy machine. They were kind enough to give us the recipe, but they said that if we wanted to make less, that we’d have to figure it out on our own.” – Calla Ferre
“Donna’s margaritas are always highly requested at Shacklett lab shindigs. Her ‘secret ingredient’ really makes the difference. The ‘virgin’ version and it’s alter ego are equally good.” – April Ferre
“I made this colorful bean dip in the 7th grade during Home Arts class with Mrs. (Jan) Bowman. It looks great with the different ingredients arranged in concentric circles; however, it is perhaps more tasty if you just layer the ingredients.” – April Ferre
Mix half of cheese with refried beans. Spread on platter. Spread a layer of sour cream on top. Make a ring of cheese along the outside edge. Keep making rings inwardly with remaining ingredients.
“Julie is one of my oldest friends. We’ve known each other since kindergarten, and share a love of cooking. After a long absence, we got together to hang out in 2004 and it was just like old times. We both agree that sour cream and cream cheese go good with most anything, and she shared this particular use with me. It adds a creamy side to the spicy, and is particularly nice for those that like their salsa a bit less spicy.” – April Ferre
“I remember during high school, in Sra. Fabrin’s Spanish class, someone made a Mango Salsa for a class project. A couple years later I went looking for a recipe close to that one, and this one comes very close! Works well both as a dip and spooned over fish or chicken.” – April Ferre
“I use to hate avocados. At restaurants, I would ask them to leave it off my club sandwiches. I wouldn’t touch the guacamole at Mexican restaurants. One day my college roommate, Danielle, made some guacamole and offered me some. I figured the polite thing to do was to try it. And I LOVED it! What had I been doing all those years telling them to leave off the avocado?!?! This guacamole changed it all for me.” – April Ferre
Mash the avocados and add the rest of the ingredients to taste. You can also use fresh chopped onion for onion powder, and substitute lime juice for lemon juice. Serve with tortilla chips.
