Help!  It’s January, and all around you are nothing but tasteless, ill-textured, bright green rocks masquerading as avocados.  What do you do?  Well, you certainly don’t put them in the refrigerator.  That’s a good way to make sure they stay hard and tasteless.  Since refrigeration inhibits those important enzymes that hasten ripening, you’ll want to avoid it.

I pop them in my cupboard with my plates.  Seriously.  It’s as dark as putting them in a paper sack, but doesn’t involve having to locate a paper sack.  It’s also warmer than a refrigerator.  Typically it only takes a day or two with this method to ripen a rock-hard avocado, but if you live in cooler climates, you might want to use a cupboard nearer the stove for a bit more warmth.

Please note that ripening an avocado this way is not going to improve its nutritional profile to the same complex vivacity you would find in a tree-ripened fruit – – but it will be infinitely tastier.