Cinco De Mayo Celebration!

We're getting ready to have a fun little gathering on Thursday to celebrate

It commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the

French army at The Battle of Puebla in 1862.
It is NOT Mexico's Independence Day, as some people think.

These colorful flowers & their bright tissue paper wrappings
set the tone for the party.

I turned the tissue paper into one big Mexican paper flower.
I made the table runner from some bright floral fabric
in my stash.
Super easy...IF you follow the directions correctly &
are able to convert metric measurements.
~insert rolled eyes~

My goof-up (see the narrow lime green strips?)
turned out to be a nice *design element* though.
I'll explain at a later date & include directions on how to do it correctly.

I'm planning on serving hot mini-chimichangas in the round tortilla keeper.

A few of my other planned appetizers have come from this book:


When Cuisine Kathleen showed off this cookbook last week
I quickly ordered a copy...only 75¢ on Half.com!
I just love any Junior League Cookbooks.
They are always tried & true recipes that you can count on being exceptional.
This one did not disappoint.

It has several recipes in it that I tested for the party.
This one I'm nicknaming "The 5 B's" ...

for "Baked Blue Cheese, Butter & Bacon on Bread"

What's not to like???Oh my goodness, is it gooooood, but only if you ♥ blue cheese!

Its difficult to spread when cold, so be sure to allow it to come to
room temp if you make up the spread ahead of time.

Printable Recipe here.


I whipped up a batch of my baby sister's
homemade salsa.
(The one who lives in Arizona)

It gets better the longer it marinates so by
Thursday, it should be PERFECT!

I know its easy to purchase bottled salsa
but trust me, THIS is the real thing!

Arizona Salsa by Ruth E.

• 1 can stewed tomatoes (14 oz) Regular or Spanish flavor
• 1 can tomato sauce (8oz)
• 1 can Diced Green Chilies (4 oz)
• 1 can EI Pato Mexican tomato sauce (Yellow Duck)
• 1/2 Onion (diced small) Green onions are great, but others work too
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder, dash of chili powder to taste
• Splash of Tabasco (optional)

Break up the stewed tomatoes to your size preference.
Add all other ingredients to taste.
Cover bowl & chill.
It is even better the second or third day!
She said you could add 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese
but it will last longer without.
Great as a base for chili, too!

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE





Another recipe from the cookbook I tried was the Crab Louis.
I had everything in the house to make it...
cocktail sauce, hard boiled eggs, crab.

I'll post that complete recipe for Foodie Friday
at the end of the week.

Super- easy Strawberry Margaritas will be available.
The recipe can be found HERE.

Don't forget...ya' gotta have lots of Mexican beer on hand too!

I had to mix two different types of candy to get the colors right for this.
The green, yellow & orange are fruity flavors that come together.
The purple ones are licorice from a pink, white & purple mix.
I just took out all the purple.
I will be sure to warn folks of the differences
because they don't really taste very good together!
They look cute though, huh?
Have a Happy Cinco De Mayo but please
don't drink & drive?
Always choose a DD...designated driver ahead of time.

I'm joining the following parties this week:

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life

for

Table Top Tuesday

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch

for

Tablescape Thursday.

The Tablescaper, for her

Seasonal Sundays

I'll share the recipe for the Crab Louis dip in time

for Foodie Friday with Michael Lee at

Designs by Gollum.

Thanks to all these wonderful ladies for

allowing us to gather & share our ideas & recipes.

Thank YOU for stopping by The Gazebo House!

I love it when you visit & you're welcome here anytime.

fondly,