Cinco de Mayo Fiesta!

May has come so quickly this year.  Does anyone else feel that way?  Where did January, February and March go?  This year seriously needs to slow down a bit and well I seriously need to celebrate a little bit more!  Look no further; Cinco de Mayo will be here lickety split!  Does anyone need a better reason to throw a party?  I know I don’t!

Break out your sombreros!  Salt your margarita glasses (or stay tuned for the LSL recipe)!  Let’s have a party.  Now if only I had a Mariachi band…..

Mexican food in Australia is a bit less common than in the US (major understatement) so I find it is easiest to cook it at home.  And even though we can still buy brand name Mexican food ingredients I don’t necessarily find them to be the same.  Most of the time in the US, I found whatever off the shelf brand of tortillas or corn chips to be good enough for what I wanted to make.  That is not necessarily the same here.  So until I perfect the art of making it all homemade AND figure out how to make my 24 hour day 36 hours, I will just have to make do with what I can find.

Luckily, amazing produce helps make up for the lack of chips!  It’s quite easy to produce salsa at home as well as your own spice rubs.  I’ll share all of those with you.  Whether you’re in the US, Australia, or anywhere else in the world you can easily put these together to get your fresh Mexican fix!

So here are a couple of ideas for dishes to serve at your Cinco de Mayo fiesta along with a bonus margarita made with a lemon/lime sorbet.  Let me just say; the margaritas were a hit.  A really big hit.

~ The Menu

• Shrimp and Pineapple Salsa Bites
• Mexican Street Corn
• Chicken Fajita Quesadilla
• Chips and Tomato Salsa
• House Special Margaritas

I will note and recognize that you’ll see in my photos of the buffet a dish of queso fundido (chorizo and cheese dip), however, it just wasn’t up to par, so for the time being,  until I can figure out how to make a really amazing one here in Australia, I will wait to share it with you.  It’s just one of those things.  The ingredients I used didn’t react how I expected.  It just needs some testing here.

~The Buffet Table

Because the party was small I chose a standard card table for my buffet.  You want your food to fill the table.  Otherwise if it is too spread out you give the impression that there isn’t enough food.  On top of the table I used books and boxes that I have around the house to create dimensionality to the table.  I then covered the table with three sheets of fabric that I bought at the fabric store.  I chose the colors of the Mexican flag and took care to lay them out in the correct order.  Buying a meter or two of fabric is an inexpensive way to create the look you’re going for.  I quite like the way my table turned out.

Tip ~ Lay your table out ahead of time complete with your serving dishes.  I even put little labels on each plate for the dish that will be on it.  That way I can look at my menu and make sure I have forgotten anything.  Laying it out ahead of time gives you time to run to the store to get any other supplies you might need.  It helps take the stress out of it on “game day”.

So that’s the summary of our Cinco de Mayo Fiesta.  Tune back in tomorrow when I will share the House Special Margarita recipe with you.  To make these margaritas in time for Cinco de Mayo you will need to start a few days beforehand to ensure your sorbet freezes completely prior to your party.