Potatoes Trump Corn!

Cinco de Mayo may still be two days away, but over here in Ireland we already had a little fiesta!  This past weekend was a bankfederal holiday so most everyone had Monday off of work, and what better way to spend a Sunday night than eating chips & salsa and drinking Coronas! During our last meeting with the American ex-pat group we have joined we were brainstorming what the next American holiday was that would give us an excuse to get together and celebrate. Initially, we were all thinking it was the Fourth of July, but then I remembered that Cinco de Mayo was the next American holiday on the calendar. That's right, I said American holiday. Cinco de Mayo is not in fact a Mexican holiday, and contrary to popular belief it is not Mexico's Independence Day. Rather it is a holiday spontaneously created by Mexicans and Latinos living in California to celebrate Mexican heritage and pride.  The date is significant because it commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla on... you guessed it, May 5, 1862.

Nowadays, Americans of all ethnic backgrounds have embraced this celebration as one of their holiday favorites! I personally don't really need an excuse to drink beer and eat chips & salsa, but I do love any excuse to throw a fiesta! So Sunday night Casa de Croissant opened its doors for its first official party. It was a small party, only about a dozen guests, but we managed to put away a few cases of coronas, two pitchers of margaritas, and two bottles of wine! Oh and we ate too! Everyone brought a festive dish to share. We enjoyed fajitas, cornbread, refried beans, homemade salsa and guacamole, fresh fruit, and possibly the best tres leches cake I've ever eaten!

Note the pencil thrown in for scale!

I must tell you this was very special to the Americans here in Ireland because Mexican cusine is not the norm around here. In fact, Adam and I almost fell over in a fit of giggles at the grocery store because there was only one type of tortilla chip and the bag was single serving sized!  Potatoes trump corn here in a big way.

 We also went to a Mexican restaurant in town a few weeks ago, and while the food was fairly good it was incredibly over-priced. I paid €17 for two enchiladas, and Adam paid almost the same for three tacos! With the conversion that's about 25 US dollars! And finally we've noted that the Irish seem to have a bit of an aversion to hot and spicy! Old El Paso is just about the only brand of Mexican food here and the only type of salsa they have is mild, which is why I made my own!  

 

Other than whipping up my guacamole and salsa, and grilling fajita fixins I felt it was necessary to gussy up the place! What's a fiesta without decorations, right?!  So I grabbed some scrap booking paper, cut some triangles and made this festive bunting. First, I laid out my flags and arranged them in the order I wanted. Then, I simply folded over the top edge and secured them to a length of string with a little scotch tape! 

I also decided to make traditional Mexican tissue paper flowers. They are quite easy to make, and they resulted in just the punch of color I was looking for to brighten up the room! Simply layer together 5 to 6 sheets of tissue paper, fold accordian style, cut a notch into the center of the folded paper, wrap with a twist tie or pipe cleaner, trim the ends of the tissue into a rounded shape, and then gently separate the layers.

 

Once the bunting was hung and the flowers were arranged I decide the decor was still a little lacking. So I grabbed the two large canvases that have been leaning empty against the wall and quickly painted a traditional Mexican dancer twirling in a colorful dress and a mariachi man strumming a guitar! Eventually I'll paint over them with something more permanent but for now they worked perfectly for the party! So this is what it looked like in the end. I love the flags and flowers so much, I may just leave them up a little while longer!

 

What's a fiesta without a sombrero?!

Hope your Cinco de Mayo is just as fun as our little shindig here in Ireland. While you may not feel the need to make flowers, and bunting, I hope you will at least enjoy a cold corona Dos Equis (Adam ninja edit), and enjoy the variety of corn products available to you in the USA!