Mexican Fiesta

We have a group of good friends that has become a kind of supper club - once a month, we get together for dinner with our families and we take turns hosting. We always pick a theme and each family contributes something to the meal. This month, we were hosting and the theme was "Mexican Fiesta".

Since we were hosting, we were responsible for the main dish and I was really happy with the theme since tacos were really easy to prepare before everyone arrived. I like to do as much of the food preparation as I can before we have company since our kitchen really keeps you away from your guests if you are spending a lot of time cooking. We decided to do a few kinds of meat to try and meet everyone's tastes - we did this recipe for chicken which was delicious (although I don't use a seasoning mix for the tacos since they are full of salt, I make my own), we did plain ground beef for the littles and we did our standard beef taco filling which is just beef, jalapenos, onions and chili powder. We had whole wheat and white wraps and corn hard taco shells, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese.

Since we knew that one family was bringing a pinata, we wanted to really get into the theme as well. We went out and bought sombreros for the littles and I did some research to get some Mexican music. I quickly discovered that I really, really dislike mariachi (sorry if you like it) which is kind of strange, actually, since there are very few musical forms that I can't stand. I love latin jazz and decided that since Cuba is fairly close to Mexico and at least one of the friends coming shares my love of vintage jazz/bossa/latin music, I decided to go with the Buena Vista Social Club, which ended up being perfect. We also got some margarita mix and little umbrellas and the kids sampled virgin margaritas.

The evening couldn't have gone better. The food was delicious (we had veggies and dip, nachos and salsa, meatballs which are a tradition for the kids whatever the theme and for dessert, M made profiteroles and the most amazing smore desserts). The kids had a blast, the food was a hit and the company was great. I was a bit worried that it would be too tight for space since our house is fairly small but it seemed to be just right.

We tried to get a photo of the older kids wearing the sombreros but we couldn't seem to get them all in one place for very long. One dad was a very good sport! He's also funny because he's a big, tough guy and the babies ADORE him and he is so thoughtful - I think he ended up holding Little Bean more than anyone else.
When it came time for the pinata, two of the dads went out to hang it in the tree. The kids were bursting with excitement and I was a bit concerned for the well-being of our blinds.

Before we began, we tried to get group photos of the children but as you can see, Little Bean had gotten very tired by that point and wasn't feeling so thrilled at the experience.






It was an industrial strength pinata and in the end, the dads (very enthusiastically) had to finish it off for us. Sadly, it was at that point that poor Pk got stung by a bee for the third time this week. She was pretty miserable but at least having her friends around meant that she got over it much faster than the other two times.

Next month, we are meeting at M's house for a harvest celebration. I can't wait!