Basil-Avocado Cheese Spread

I have two friends in St. Petersburg, Florida, who love fresh basil so much that they grow it year round in enormous whiskey barrels and use it to make everything but ice cream. While silky avocado–cream cheese spread is certainly nothing new at Southern cocktail parties, when my obsessed friends decided to perk it up with a little basil, it was transformed into a modern wonder. Serve the spread with a wide assortment of crackers or toasted bagel chips.