Cinco de Mayo Recipes

We love Cinco de Mayo. It gives us an excuse to make a great Mexican meal.

The one thing my kids always request is my homemade salsa.

Homemade Salsa

Ingredients:

5-6 firm roma tomatoes, de-seeded

2-3 jalapenos

1/2 - 1 large white onion (can substitute 5-6 green onions)

1 t. salt

1 t. black pepper

1- 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes

1/2 bunch cilantro, washed with stems removed

Wash all produce. Pick leaves off cilantro and place in food processor bowl. Cut up 1/2 - 1 large white onion, diced. Carefully cut and deseed the jalapenos, then dice and add to bowl. Deseed the tomatoes, dice and add to the bowl. Add the salt and pepper, then pour the canned tomatoes on top. Put on food processor and run until everything is well mixed.

Taste and make sure you like the flavor. Add more salt to taste if needed. (If you want it to be hotter add more jalapenos. Or add hotter peppers- habanero or serrano peppers will make it significantly hotter.) Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To make guacamole- Add 2 c. of the salsa to 5 mashed avocados mixed with the juice from 2-3 limes. Refrigerate.

For dessert I made Mexican Wedding Cookies. These are quick and easy. They will disappear almost as fast as you can make them!

Mexican Wedding Cookies

(Makes about 48)
1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter, softened (Do not substitute margarine! It won't set up or taste as good.)

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans

1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if your butter is salted)

Bowl of powdered sugar

Pre-heat oven to 325 F. In a large bowl combine the powdered sugar, butter and vanilla. Blend well. Stir in flour, nuts and salt. Shape into 1-inch balls. (I used my small Pampered Chef scooper. It made them perfectly round and the perfect size.) Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes until set but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets. Cool for 2-3 minutes, then roll in powdered sugar. Cool completely and reroll in powdered sugar... if they last that long.

Here's the whole spread for our Cinco de Mayo dinner! Tortilla chips, watermelon, Spanish rice, refried beans with cheese, taco meat, homemade salsa, freshly made tortillas and the Mexican wedding cookies.