Avocado Pit Removal

When I first started working at a deli years ago, I was in charge of the cold sandwiches.  A vegi sandwich with avocado was one of the choices.  I HATED making that sandwich.  The avocado completely intimidated me. 

Over the years I've learned a few tricks and the intimidation is completely gone so I thought I'd pass them along to you.

First, start with a ripe avocado.  You typically won't find the "perfect" avocado in the store ready to go so serving avocados requires a little bit of planning.  You will need to buy a few days ahead of when you'll need them.  They'll ripen faster on the counter.  I'm told they'll really ripen in a bag but I haven't tried that trick.
This is what a ripe avocado looks like. DARK green that is soft but not squishy.
How to get your pit out...Cut avocado in half, whack with a knife, give a twist of the wrist.
TA DA, out comes the pit. No fuss, no muss.
Take a big spoon and scoop out the yummy avocado.
Here they are ready to meet the fork for some mashing or a knife for slicing.
Now the choice is yours. Mash these babies until they are smooth or if you're like me and like a few chunks you can do that too.