How I pick the perfect ripe avocado

I like to buy unripe green avocados and let them ripen at home before the've been handled, squeezed and bruised by shoppers but, there are those times I need an avocado right away.  Here is how I find a perfect ripened avocado every time. First, I like to get my avocados at Brennan's Market or a smaller market where the avocados are handled with care instead of the mega grocery stores where they are piled in a large bin, squeezed and bruised.  Second, I look for a purple/black colored skin with no signs of being squeezed.  Then I flick the dry stem off.  

If I see a brown patch under the stem it's going to be brown inside but if I see a nice yellow-green patch you have a perfectly ripe avocado.

Now that's a perfect avocado!

I'm using two of these right away in my Black Bean Avocado Dip  and the other two I'll refrigerate and use them throughout the week.