Cinco de Mayo

Pete and I are planning a themed meal for Cinco de Mayo tomorrow! (Which, FYI, is NOT Mexico's independence day. It's the day they defeated the French in a key battle.)

Here's the plan:

• Tortilla chips with salsa (bought from the store) and guacamole (made by Pete)
• Carne asada - My mom made this over the weekend and it was a hit! I picked up the flank steak at Costco yesterday.
• Margaritas! - We tested recipes this weekend, and I've listed my favorite combo below.
• Mexican chocolate ice cream - We're looking for any excuse to use our new ice cream maker.

Margaritas

I like my margaritas on the rocks without any sugar. The combo of liquor and sugar makes me feel kind of sick, but you could add sugar, simple syrup, 7-Up or limeade (we might even experiment with adding Squirt!). Also, my mom thought these were a little strong, so you could cut down the amount of tequila.

1. Pour some salt on a plate. Use a slice of lime to wet the edge of the glass, and then turn the glass upside down onto the plate to stick the salt to the rim.

2. Put ice cubes in the glass.

3. Add:

2 oz. Silver tequila (I found I much preferred silver to gold, and there's a bottling company that makes it out of Hood River called Monarch. Not sure if local is better for tequila, but I liked it!)

1/2 oz Triple sec (This is an orange flavored liqueur with less alcohol content. We also bought the Monarch brand of this.)

Juice of one lime (I threw in a couple of the wedges too)

Splash of Grand Marnier (For tomorrow, I actually bought an organic blood orange liquer from Michigan called Thatchers. It was right next to the Grand Marnier, but way cheaper.)

Enjoy!

P.S. This recipe for a gin bucket also looks pretty darn good.

P.P.S. While researching recipes, I stumbled upon a whole website of recipes using Coca Cola, including this horrifying recipe for Coca Cola Rice. So wrong.