Thinking Ahead to Cinco de Mayo...

I realize that there are likely many people of the USA (and the rest of the world) who don't recognize this Mexican holiday called Cinco de Mayo. Since I'm located in Southern California, I observe this holiday as very much celebrated- if anything- as an excuse to party, drink margaritas, and consume exhorbitant amounts of chips and guacamole.

Cinco de Mayo is not an American holiday, but it's celebrated on a much larger scale in the U.S. than it is in Mexico. Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the courage of the Mexican people during the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 where 4,500 Mexican soldiers defeated the Mexican traitors and French army of 6,500 at Puebla, Mexico. More Cinco history here, if interested.

We take part in the celebrations every year, and we usually host a Cinco bash. Here are some of our favorite Mexican food recipes...

I'll begin with the most important- drinks! We served these at last year's Cinco party: Spotted Gecko Margaritas. Spotted because of added kiwi, these margies also have mango and pineapple in them. They were a HUGE hit at our party and we ended up running out. They've gotten excellent reviews from others too on the RecipeGirl.com site.

These Flank Steak Tacos are wonderful too- a simple rub, steak grilled, added tomatoes, peppers and onions with desired condiments.

If you're daring enough to make fish tacos (and you should be because they're damn good), try these San Diego Style Fish Tacos. We converted a few East Coast fish-taco-doubters last summer with this recipe. They were weary of trying them but they loved them in the end.

These Chipotle- Glazed Vegetable Kebabs make a wonderful side to a Mexican main dish.


The best part... Margarita Cake! This lemony cake is topped with a tequila-lime glaze. It's an amazing, different dessert. I'm not a fan of tequila at all and I loved it. It was extremely well-received by our guests. I overheard mumblings of "wow, this is great!" and "what is this? it's delicious!"

So whether or not you will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo this year, at least this holiday gives you an excuse to plan a great Mexican meal on May 5th. Hasta manana!