How to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

While many people celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the United States, many people also don’t know the celebration's roots go back to battle and victory for the Mexican Pueblo state. The “Batalla de Puebla” or Battle of the Puebla, when an outnumbered Zapotec and Mestizo Indian militia defeated the French invasion, occurred on May 5th and signifies a great victory in the face of insurmountable odds. For your next Cinco de Mayo celebration, remember the unbreakable spirit of that militia.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Limes and salt
• Cord
• Pinata and candy filling
• Plates, utensils
• Blender
• Margarita glasses
• Ice
• Music
• Mexican decorations

1. Send out Cinco de Mayo invitations as soon as you know that you want to throw this celebration. That way your family and friends can plan to spend that day at your celebration, rather than other places. Invite them to dress appropriately in colorful garb.

2. Find colorful decorations 2 days before your party. Think of the greens, pinks and blues you see in Mexican art. Purchase a good amount of different colored decorations to place about your house. Consider buying some Mexican music to use for your background music. Consider buying new margarita glasses to give to your guests to take home.

3. Find out what types of flowers are used in celebrations in the Pueblo for Cinco de Mayo and see if you can order them from your local florist. Try using the colors of the Mexican flag in your flower selection.

4. Buy whatever selection of drinks you intend to serve, the day before the party. Consider serving “Jarritos” Mexican soda, blended margaritas and Mexican beer at your celebration. Also purchase 2 to 3 bags of crushed ice for the margaritas and to keep other drinks cold.

5. Plan the food. Consider asking your guests to bring Mexican potluck dishes. This way you can concentrate on just a few types of food. If you are going to make any labor-intensive foods, such as homemade tortillas, consider asking some of your guests to arrive early to join in making these foods. You also might make this part of your party by holding a specific tortilla-making party just before your Cinco de Mayo party.

6. Have sweet and savory ingredients available for your guests to make self-serve tacos, if you are going to serve handmade tortillas. You don’t need to serve everything for tacos, but a good place to start would be butter, sugar and jam for sweet tacos; and shredded pork, diced tomatos, shredded cheese and shredded lettuce for savory tacos.

7. Consider buying a piñata for your party. You can usually find colorful and well-constructed piñatas at a Mexican grocer. Make certain to buy a lot of candy and small toys to fill the piñata cavity. Also buy a 20 foot long cord to hang the piñata.

8. Prepare as much as possible the night before the party; this will free up your day to decorate. Make as much of the food as possible. Fill the piñata with candy and toys. Tie the cord onto the piñata and find the place where you will hang the piñata. Try to hang the piñata on a tree with a low-hanging branch. Chill the drinks overnight in the refrigerator.

9. Decorate with the colorful decorations and flowers the day of the party. At least 2 hours before the party, start making any tortillas you wish to make. If you asked some guests to join you in making the food, ask them to come over at this 2-hour mark. Turn on your music at this point, too.

10. Welcome your guests as they start arriving. Ask them to place their potluck food on the buffet table. Offer them a drink. If a guest asks for a margarita, blend it for them and serve it in one of the guest margarita glasses. When you give them the margarita, tell them that the glass is theirs to keep.

11. Invite guests to start in on the food on the buffet table once the majority of your guests have arrived, if they haven’t already done so.

12. Set up the piñata after people have eaten. To do so, throw the end of the cord over a tree branch or a large hook and have someone stand at least 10 feet away and pull the end of the cord up, suspending the piñata. Blindfold a willing guest and give them a stick to hit the piñata. Spin them in circles to disorient them, then point them in the direction of the piñata. Have the rest of the guests stand far back from the piñata.

13. Have the person holding the cord move the piñata up and down while the blindfolded person swings at the piñata. Give the blindfolded person only a few tries to hit the piñata, then pass the duty on to a new person so many people get the chance to hit the piñata. Allow everyone to rush in and grab whatever candy and toys they want once the piñata is broken.

14. Thank your guests for celebrating this day of remembrance after everything has been eaten and you have served dessert. Make sure that everyone takes home a margarita glass.

Tips & Warnings

• Plan ahead of time what you want to make and when you need to make it, so you have everything ready when your guests arrive.
• When you have the piñata-breaking, remind your guests to stand back from the piñata. Also remind the blindfolded guest to swing gently until they feel the piñata so they won’t accidentally hit someone.
• Make sure that, if your guests drink at your party, everyone has a designated driver to take them home.