Throw a Cinco de Mayo Fiesta This Weekend!

Cinco de Mayo is on Saturday (well of course!). And you can throw your own fiesta...

Start with an appetizer of chips and salsa in colorful bowls. Care for guacamole? (See my own recipe below!)

Decorate your table with colorful Mexican fiesta placemats. (See instructions below.)

Got tortillas? Try making cheese rolls for the kids. Mine love them. Lay a tortilla flat and sprinkle cheese over the top. Spread a layer of refried beans before the cheese if your kids prefer. Then microwave just until cheese is melted. Roll up tortilla like a burrito and serve with salsa or ketchup.

Try these filling and easy nachos for the adults. Spread refried beans on tortilla chips and lay them on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan as close together as possible. Sprinkle cheese over the layer of chips. Set cookie sheet on top rack of your oven on broil. Be sure to leave the oven open a crack or they will burn. Heat them for a minute or until cheese is melted. Remove cookie sheet and sprinkle chips with diced green onion and tomatoes. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

And for the final event of the evening, go outside and crack open a PINATA! What? No pinata lying around your house? No problem! You can make your own. Read on.

PINATA: Here's what you need:

•     small paper bag or paper gift bag

•     markers, crayons and stickers to decorate

•     candy, granola bars and trinkets to fill pinata

•     string or ribbon

•     rope and stick

Have your child decorate the outside of the paper bag to his or her liking. Then fill the bag halfway with chosen loot. Tie a string or ribbon so that the bag is cinched in the middle. Now tie the rope around the cinched part of the bag and head outside for some fun!

For older kids, drape the rope over a tree branch or swingset bar to pull the bag up and down while they swing. For little ones, mom or dad can just hold the rope at arms length while they have a crack at it. Always be sure to keep a safe distance when children are swinging the stick at the pinata!

Fiesta Placemats

Here's what you need:

•    colorful construction paper

•    scissors

Fold the construction paper into fourths. Cut around the edge to make a festive border. Then cut small shapes out of the other sides. Fold paper again to make more interesting cutouts. Unfold the paper and lay them under heavy books for a few hours to flatten them out until dinner time.

Pssst....use the little cutouts for table confetti!

Homemade guacamole

    2 avocados mashed with fork or pastry cutter
    1 tsp. garlic powder
    1/2 tsp. onion powder
    1/2 tsp. salt
    juice from one lime OR one lemon
    diced tomatoes (optional)

Mix all ingredients but tomatoes together well. Fold in tomatoes afterward.

*Note: spices are to taste, so if you like more or less flavor, change it up! (From Michelle: I add cumin, diced onion and cilantro to mine!)