Cinco de Mayo

Back in the States, it had become a tradition to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Erik's University of Maryland classmates. We wanted to continue the tradition here, even though we are a long way from Mexico and it is not a commonly celebrated occasion in Oz. The date snuck up on us and we didn't realize that it was so close until we were getting ready to leave for Brisbane. At that point we tried to get something organized and fortunately many people were still available on the date of the party, which actually fell on the 5th of May! :)

When deciding on the menu, I knew that beergaritas were a must-have for this event, but what I didn't think about was the fact that I cannot just walk into a store and buy limeade concentrate, which is a necessary ingredient for the beergaritas! Fortunately, I found a few recipes online and I was able to make homemade limeade concentrate, which the guests suspected led to the deliciousness of the beergaritas (though I've had them with the canned stuff and I still think those are delicious, too)! We were able to use proper American enchilada sauce, thanks to a shipment made by my good friend Mo late last year. We were saving the sauce for a special occasion and this proved to be the perfect time to use it. Next year, we'll tackle homemade enchilada sauce.

It was a true multicultural event at our house, including guests from our current home country along with friends from New Zealand, Canada, Spain, and Italy! A good time was had by all and I'm confident that our group will grow even larger (and perhaps even more diverse?!) by the time Cinco de Mayo rolls around in 2013.

Enchiladas, anyone?!