Technically this is the day where the Mexican army defeated the French army at the Battle of Puebla. This is not a celebration of the Mexican independence as many think (that is celebrated on September 16th) but a celebration of the Mexican and Hispanic culture. We will be having a lot of fun with this day.
We just love Cinco De Mayo, what a fun, colorful, festive holiday to celebrate. We picked up a few wall hangings we found at our local party store and can’t wait to put these up. It will really give the room a lot of ambiance and this celebration is definitely one that should be a feast for the eyes as well and traditional Mexican food, music, crafts and dance.
Kids CRAFT:Wendy has a friend who is Mexican and a few years ago she made a project for her kids school. She called this “ojos de Dios” loosely translated it means “God’s Eyes”. We researched these on the internet and found an interesting fact. “God’s Eyes” predates Mexico to the Huichol Indians. They used to weave these and every year until a child turned five they added a layer of thread. This is such a beautiful decoration. We both remember how much we loved the colors.
Here is my take on how to make these.
You will need sticks, glue and colorful yarn. Green, Red and White would represent the Mexican flag but you can use any colors you like. Now you need to either weave thread around the sticks to form a cross or glue the sticks together to form a cross. Now you need to fasten a piece of yarn to the center of the cross on what will be the back of the project. You then wind the first piece of yarn over and under all the sticks then tie that off, again at the back of the project so it will not be seen from the front when you are done. Do this and alternate colors as you wish until you are completed your Ojos de Dios. These can be done in any size from small pin size to large wall hanging size. Found this website that has incredibly detailed ones that you can see –
HERE Decorations:
We will be making a Pinata for our centerpiece to go along with all the other decorations we picked up at our local Party Supply Store.
Food:
Mexican Taco Salads
Tortilla Soup
Non-alcholic Margarita's or Daquairi's
Mexican Wedding Cookie - Recipe Below - We make these every year they are so good!
Cinnamon Churros with Mexican Chocolate Dipping Sauce Recipe
Mexican Wedding Cookies
FOR THE DOUGH FOR THE GARNISH
1 cup pecan halves 1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
DIRECTIONS:
1.In a food processor, pulse pecans, flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt until mixture resembles coarse meal; add butter and pulse until a dough forms. Shape dough into a disk, and wrap tightly in plastic; refrigerate until firm, 30 to 60 minutes.
2.Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pinch off and roll dough into balls, each equal to 1 level tablespoon. Space 1 1/2 inches apart on two large baking sheets. Bake, switching sheets from top to bottom halfway through, until cookies are just golden around edges, 20 to 25 minutes.
3.Cool 5 minutes on sheets; transfer to a rack to cool completely. Place confectioners' sugar in a bowl. Roll cookies in sugar twice to coat thoroughly, tapping off excess.
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We will be researching all of this and coming up with the finer points to our day of celebration. So remember to check back on this post :)
April 30, 2010: Arbor Day is always the last Friday in April. Although we haven't picked our tree yet we are going to plant a tree today. We live in Pennsylvania and our state tree is the Eastern Hemlock Tree. Here is a great site that displays all the state trees that you can use to find your state tree by clicking HERE 
Here are a few more interesting things...
