If you're like me, you just may have spent part of your last couple of weeks reviewing your Facebook friends' photos and address contacts trying to identify some people you know with a backyard pool. Those people become everybody's best friend around this time of year. If you're lucky enough to get an invitation, consider what you can bring to ensure an invitation back (remember, we're not even halfway through this summer!!).

First, always offer to bring something. My go-to offer is for homemade guacamole, because I think I've found (and tweaked) the most delicious guac recipe. It takes very little time, is easy to serve, and fits into most menus.

Second, bring it in a lovely serving dish. Square white porcelain bowls go with everything, and any hostess will be happy to inherit another. You can buy two for $52 at Williams-Sonoma (hey, $26 is a small price to pay for an afternoon by the pool), or you can think ahead and invest for the summer. Walmart carries a very similar 5" square porcelain bowl as part of its Canopy collection, and this bowl has become one of my entertaining staples. The bowls are available in stores at about $5 each, and if I had the space, I'd buy 100 of them, so that I was always ready to pull together a hostess gift for those last minute invitations!

So, about that guacamole recipe...here's mine. It's based on an Alton Brown recipe I found years and years ago, but adapted to my own tastes (heavy on the cilantro and garlic).

3 avocados

1 lime, juiced

1/2 t kosher salt

1/2 t ground cumin

1/2 t cayenne

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

2 T chopped cilantro

1 clove garlic

Combine avocado pulp and the lime juice. Drain, and reserve the lime juice. Mash and add salt, cumin, cayenne. Fold in the tomatoes, cilantro and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. Let sit at room temperature for an hour. Dig in!