Cuatro de Mayo

Yes this is another recipe post but it's a good one! We decided to have friends over for a Cinco de Mayo party but since the 5th of May is a Monday we changed our minds and decided to have a Cuatro de Mayo party instead. Nature Girl has been referring to it as our Mayo party. To be perfectly honest I couldn't even remember what Cinco de Mayo was other than a great time to have a party and serve our favorite Mexican foods. I thought it was to celebrate Mexico's independence but Wikipedia set me straight on that. It's really a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

For us it was all about visiting with friends and the FOOD. We made tacos, quesadillas, mufungo(a hot bean, taco seasoned beef and cream cheese dip) and fresh salsa. Hence the pictures for this post. We finished off with our version of fried ice cream. For our version, I butter soft taco shells then sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar. We bake them for 10 to 12 minutes or until crispy. Then we break the shells into a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Sprinkle on granola and drizzle over the top with honey to create a delicious & easy homemade fried ice cream. Sorry no photo we gobbled it all up!

Fresh salsa is the best! It takes me longer to chop it all by hand but it's worth it in the end! Tomorrow for lunch I'll be eating a salad with yellow corn, fresh salsa, crushed tortilla chips and sour cream. Yum I can't wait! I think I might be eating some more fried ice cream too. Maybe I'll even remember to take a picture so you can see how yummy it is.
Since the rest of the world will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo tomorrow I thought I'd share the recipe I use for fresh salsa. Enjoy and Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Salsa

4 large ripe tomatoes chopped
1 med. onion
1 handful of fresh cilantro
2 limes
4 tsp. sugar
part of jalapeño pepper according to desired "heat"

Chop tomatoes & place in a bowl. Chop onion and add to tomatoes. Chop the big leaves of the cilantro and add. Squeeze the lime into the mixture getting as much juice as possible. Stir in the sugar; taste, then add salt as needed. Put in as much of the jalapeño as you want for "mild" to "hot" salsa. The seeds are the hottest part. Serve in a bowl with corn chips.

*I use roma tomatoes for my salsa since they seem to have less seeds and mush inside. They are smaller than other tomatoes so I use more like 6 when I make salsa.

Pampered Chef sells a wonderful citrus juicer perfect for juicing the limes in this recipe. No I don't sell pampered Chef, I just love that little citrus juicer!