Friday Night Video: ~ LA VIDA ES UN CARNAVAL - CELIA CRUZ ~

Cinco De Mayo Favorites Wtihout The Fat: Cook-Off

Cinco de Mayo Eats

Flavorful Drinks and Authentic Desserts for Celebrating

• 10 Ways to Mix a Margarita

  
  Try a spicy jalapeno margarita, classic, frozen or on the rocks

• Dulce Delicious

  
  Sugary churros, tres leches cake and flan are Cinco standouts

• Ice-Cold Cinco Sips

  
  Serve creamy horchatas and just-for-the-adults Micheladas

Guacamole With FN Stars

• Alton's 5-Star Guacamole
• Tyler's Guacamole
• Rachael's Guacamole
• More Guacamole Recipes

Good for Groups: Nachos

• Rachael's Super Nachos
• Bobby's Nachos on the Grill
• Margarita Shrimp Nachos

Nice and Cheesy Quesadillas

• Three Cheese Quesadillas
• Quesadillas With Brie
• Steak Quesadillas

Aaron's Homemade Tortillas

Make authentic Mexican tortillas for your tacos.

Aaron's Step-by-Step

Best Bets for Your Mexican Fiesta

Put on your sombrero and pull together a spread of tacos, enchiladas and more fifth of May favorites.

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Main Course Mex

• Chicken Mole
• Flank Steak Fajitas
• Burrito Recipes

Chips and Salsa

• Green Tomatillo Salsa
• Salsa Ranchera
• Alton's Tortilla Chips
• Salsa Favorites

Easy Mexican Menu

Creamy Black Beans and enchiladas make up an easy Cinco de Mayo feast.

A Great Last-Minute Menu

Classic Cinco de Mayo Celebration

Serve crowd-pleasing classics like frozen margaritas and guacamole.

Invite Your Amigos

We're Talking Tequila

• Tequila Refresca
• Tequila Cocktails
• Pineapple-Chili Margaritas

From Our Blogs

• 6 Tequila Myths, Busted
• Lighter Margarita Recipes
• Facebook Fans' Best Cinco de Mayo Dishes

Fakeout "Nacho" Cheesecake

Make fake-out nachos fromFood Network Magazine.

Get the Sweet Recipe

Make Your Own Chicken Tamales

Use jarred salsa and rotisserie chicken for easy chicken tamales.

Get Ingrid's How-Tos

Learn About Cinco de Mayo

History of Cinco de Mayo: Battle of Puebla

Cinco de Mayo—or the fifth of May—commemorates the Mexican army's 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867). A relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations. Cinco de Mayo traditions include parades, mariachi music performances and street festivals in cities and towns across Mexico and the United States.

History of Cinco de Mayo: Battle of Puebla

In 1861 the liberal Mexican Benito Juárez (1806-1872) became president of a country in financial ruin, and he was forced to default on his debts to European governments. In response, France, Britain and Spain sent naval forces to Veracruz to demand reimbursement. Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew, but France, ruled by Napoleon III (1808-1873), decided to use the opportunity to carve a dependent empire out of Mexican territory. Late in 1861, a well-armed French fleet stormed Veracruz, landing a large French force and driving President Juárez and his government into retreat.

Certain that success would come swiftly, 6,000 French troops under General Charles Latrille de Lorencez (1814-1892) set out to attack Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east-central Mexico. From his new headquarters in the north, Juárez rounded up a rag-tag force of 2,000 loyal men—many of them either indigenous Mexicans or of mixed ancestry—and sent them to Puebla. Led by Texas-born General Ignacio Zaragoza (1829-1862), the vastly outnumbered and poorly supplied Mexicans fortified the town and prepared for the French assault. On May 5, 1862, Lorencez drew his army, well provisioned and supported by heavy artillery, before the city of Puebla and led an assault from the north. The battle lasted from daybreak to early evening, and when the French finally retreated they had lost nearly 500 soldiers. Fewer than 100 Mexicans had been killed in the clash.

Although not a major strategic win in the overall war against the French, Zaragoza's success at Puebla represented a great symbolic victory for the Mexican government and bolstered the resistance movement. Six years later—thanks in part to military support and political pressure from the United States, which was finally in a position to aid its besieged neighbor after the end of the Civil War—France withdrew. The same year, Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, who had been installed as emperor of Mexico by Napoleon in 1864, was captured and executed by Juárez's forces. Puebla de Los Angeles was renamed for General Zaragoza, who died of typhoid fever months after his historic triumph there.

Cinco de Mayo in Mexico

Within Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is primarily observed in the state of Puebla, where Zaragoza’s unlikely triumph occurred, although other parts of the country also take part in the celebration. Traditions include military parades, recreations of the Battle of Puebla and other festive events. For many Mexicans, however, May 5 is a day like any other: It is not a federal holiday, so offices, banks and stores remain open.

Cinco de Mayo in the United States

In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is widely interpreted as a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with substantial Mexican-American populations. Chicano activists raised awareness of the holiday in the 1960s, in part because they identified with the victory of indigenous Mexicans over European invaders during the Battle of Puebla. Today, revelers mark the occasion with parades, parties, mariachi music, Mexican folk dancing and traditional foods such as tacos and mole poblano. Some of the largest festivals are held in Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston.

Confusion with Mexican Independence Day

Many people outside Mexico mistakenly believe that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican independence, which was declared more than 50 years before the Battle of Puebla. That event is commemorated on September 16, the anniversary of the revolutionary priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s famous “Grito de Dolores” (“Cry of Dolores”), a call to arms that amounted to a declaration of war against the Spanish colonial government in 1810.

Courtesy: History.com

~ SUNDAY INSPIRATION ~

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.

Pope John XXII