Fiesta

Last Saturday my cousin Brandon had a birthday party for his girlfriend, Rachel. The theme was "Fiesta." Margaritas and a taco bar?  I'm totally there.

Brandon and my aunt Jean (the party planners) divided up the menu so everyone knew what to bring- and it worked out well. 

I only took a few pictures (my bad), because I had more important issues to attend to, like making frozen margaritas and making sure the guacamole didn't run out:)

Here's a peek at the menu:

cocktails: margaritas (frozen or on the rocks), rum & Coke, beer, soft drinks & pink lemonade (for the kids)

chips, guacamole, salsa

shredded beef tacos

chicken tacos

all the makings for a taco bar (salsa, sour cream, limes, 2 kinds of tortillas, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, hot sauce)

refried beans

rice

dessert:  red velvet cake, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies

Rachel had a blast, the weather was lovely and I enjoyed my first margarita of the spring/summer season:)  I was in charge of making guacamole and I panicked a bit when I stopped at the grocery store on Friday and could not find a ripe avocado (they were either rock solid or mush).  My parents suggested that I stop at the Mexican grocery store, Tiendas Morelos, and success! I  found perfectly ripe avocados... so I bought 8 (I needed to make a lot of guac).

p.s. I was in charge of party supplies, so I also brought a pinata...which was jammed with all kinds of candy and toys. 

Hey- by the way- do any of you have a go-to Mexican/Tex-mex recipe- like enchiladas? or an awesome dip?  Gimme the scoop and leave me a note in the comments.  Thanks so much:)

Here are a few pictures.

 

parrot pinata (from Party City)

 

margarita on the rocks (this is an older picture, but you get the idea)

 

my go-to guacamole (an older picture)

 

Comments

[Tom H]

I'm pretty wild about Mexican and TexMex - as well as incorporating them into a high quality cookout. And for such occasions, IMO everyone should have a copy of 'La Pistola y El Corazon' by Los Lobos.

Anyway - I use a lot of canned, fire-roasted tomatoes. Rehydrated chilies are clutch, but canned chipotles save time and are always good to have on hand.

In a food processor or blender, buzz up a can of tomatoes... 1-2 cloves of garlic... 1-3 chipotles (depending on your taste)... a tiny pinch of cinnamon and a few healthy grinds of black pepper. Taste for salt (there is often a lot in canned tomatoes).

That makes a wonderful sauce for braising beef stew meat or cubed, trimmed pork shoulder! Turns out some excellent tacos, enchilada filling, etc.

Cheers! -Tom

[Aimee]

Hi Tom:
Many thanks. I'm an avid cookbook reader and I'll have to order the Los Lobos cookbook! Thanks...

This sauce sounds awesome! I hope to try this soon:) Thanks again!

[Tom H]

You bet! And sorry for the confusion, that is actually an album by the Los Lobos. I'm pretty sure that the Indianapolis Public Library has a copy in circulation...

I have a number of Mexican-ish recipes that I really adore, but a lot of them are more complicated and/or semi-secret (say, I've been tweaking my recipe for carne adovada since visiting Santa Fe). A while back Serious Eats posted a great recipe for TexMex enchiladas, btw.