Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is actually one of my favorite holidays. This is probably because I love Mexican food and take advantage of any opportunity to eat some ;) Last year I has a couple friends over for Cinco de Mayo and I made some Mexican food. It was lots of fun so I decided to do it again this year! Much to my surprise we had a great turnout, especially since it fell on a Thursday. We ate lots of yummy Mexican food, listened to some fun Spanish music (Music Choice – Sounds of the Seasons never fail me when I want some festive music, especially for random holidays like Mardi Gras and its available through our cable TV.)

Once my party planning was in full swing I made this tissue paper banner to hang across the room. It gave our house a wonderful “fiesta” feel. I wanted to incorporate as much of the bright colors as possible, especially at the table.

 

I made these fun flower napkin holders which actually doubled as hair clips for all the ladies (and the guys who sported them as well). And I got a variety of flavors of Jarritos soda from our local Food City to add a little bit more color to the table and to add little seating tags for each person.

We had a small appetizer area set up with lots of chips and dips. I made a spicy bean dip and some yummy salsa (recipe below) to go with the chips, along with some queso blanco, quacamole and sour cream. I also made this delicious little fruit cups. Each cup was filled with a variety of fruit, a squeeze of fresh lime juice and a sprinkle of chili powder. I had these in New Mexico when Lorraine and I went to the Las Cruces Enchilada Fiesta and loved them! I was skeptical at first but its so good.

By the entry way we set up a little tequila/margarita bar. There was a prickly pear margarita and a non-alcoholic lime cooler.

 

We also had this little guy on a tray with little taster glasses. This is a bottle of Patron Platinum. For those who don’t know much about tequila, this is the crème de la crème of tequilas. Patron silver is a really smooth tequila, but platinum goes one step further.  It is made with the finest blue agave planets, triple distilled and aged. And if that wasn’t enough it is in a crystal bottle with the label etched on it. Now this is one smooth tequila, even those at the party that don’t really like tequila agreed that it was wonderful (one person said it tasted like water haha).

 

 

Lance and I posing for a picture before everyone arrived

We had tons of delicious food for dinner. We started with a chicken tortilla  soup. Followed by some Mexican rice, Spicy Citrus Black Beans, and some creamy green chili chicken enchiladas (not authentic at all but very yummy). And for dessert I made a dulce de leche ice cream with a Mexican spiced hot fudge to go on top…and let me tell you, that dulce de leche ice cream was to die for! I’ll share the rest of the recipes in separate posts later this week.

 

I also asked each of our guests to bring a non perishable food item to the dinner so that it could be donated. This time of year tends to be challenging for food banks so we did what we could to help out!

Before I go I want to leave you with this speedy salsa recipe! If you don’t already have a fabulous salsa recipe, or if you need one that is super quick to make with always on hand ingredients, this one is for you! You cant go wrong with this one and it tastes super fresh even though it uses canned tomatoes

Speedy Salsa

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 small red onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup canned diced jalapenos, drained
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (14.5 oz) can diced fire roasted tomatoes

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes – drained

Directions:

In the bowl of a food processor (or a blender), pulse the onion, cilantro, jalapenos, lime juice, garlic and salt until coarsely chopped. Add the tomatoes and pulse in 1-second increments until combined (don’t go too crazy here, you want to keep it kind of chunky). Pour into a bowl and serve. If you like your salsa with less liquid, pour through a mesh strainer to remove excess liquid before serving.

*This salsa can be kept refrigerated in an airtight container for about 3 days