Cinco de Mayo Dinner Party

 Cinco de May Dinner Party

Now that we are fully vaccinated and our neighbors are as well we decided to get back to entertaining and sharing a meal.  Over a year since we hosted friends in our home...the longest time we have ever gone without having company.  Cinco de Mayo seemed the perfect time to celebrate life getting back to almost normal!

The centerpiece was a simple mirror charger that I found in the Dollar Zone at Target.  It was in with all the wedding items, but I thought it would be great on our dining room table.  I added our candles, a vase of faux flowers that I wrapped with a colorful napkin, and a maraca that I have had since high school days from Spanish class!!!

Place setting was very simple  - I used brown woven mats as background, colorful flower mats from Dollar Tree, and the napkins purchased from Kohl's a few years ago.  I think they look perfect for Cinco de Mayo and the Spring/Summer season.  The plates are my everyday white dishes, but I did pull out the better silverware to shine up the table.

I used the blue stemmed water glasses from Dollar Tree - and used these cute little cork coasters I found at Ikea to protect the table.  We have had the dining room furniture since 1979...and it is back in style and works perfectly in our more modern apartment.  We had the table top refinished when we moved three years ago.  It had taken a beating from all the dinners over the years.   I use the coasters now to keep the nice, smooth top staying that way.

What would Cinco de Mayo be without margaritas.  I found these cute glasses at the Cash & Carry sale that our community hosts every so often.  The last day of the sale is Dollar Day - fill a bag with as much as you can for ONE DOLLAR!  I snagged these cute glasses along with some other items.  The pitcher is from Ikea...I linked the tray with one of the napkins and tied another colorful napkin to the pitcher for some fun.

Simple appetizer of veggies and roasted red pepper hummus.

The dinner was Santa Fe Chicken - I usually make that recipe in the crock pot, but for a dinner party it presents better when prepared in the oven.  I use this recipe  Santa Fe Chicken and baked it in my Temptations baking pan that I found at QVC.  I forgot to take photos of the chicken....

But I did remember to take photos of the dessert - Red Velvet Cupcakes that are SUPER easy.  

1 box red velvet cake mix

12 ounces of Dr. Pepper ( I used diet Dr. Pepper)

THAT IS IT !  Mix together, put in cupcake tin, bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.

This could not be easier...

I used my new measuring cup - also found on my Target run - that you can view amount from above.  Game changer!

I use an ice cream scoop to fill the cup cake liners...and I had these liners that had the same colors as the napkins and looked festive!

Once baked I let them cool....

Then frosted them with cream cheese frosting...I used low fat cream chees and Smart Balance to make this a little bit healthier..

Once frosted I used colorful sprinkles to make them pretty...

and served them on my family's pedestal cake dish.  Family legend says my grandmother purchased this for my Aunt Ann ( who passed away when my father was 16 so I never knew her..) because she was a great baker and used to bake a cake for her family every week.  My grandmother ( who I also never met) thought she needed a nice plate for her cake.  Over the years we always used it for birthday cakes...now I use it whenever I can!

The cupcakes were great and the dinner was a great success.  We ate, laughed, and talked until late in the night.  Like old times!

And going under the "you should never try something new when you have guests" theory - I did anyway and tried my new rice cooker that I found on Amazon.  I served brown rice with the chicken.  We eat a lot of rice and I like the idea of making it easy to prepare.  This worked out great - a good buy!  It also comes with a steamer basket to make veggies and fish - I will have fun playing with it this week.

Have you entertained in your home recently ?  Are you ready to get back to normal after this past year ?  Did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo ?  Please leave a comment below - I would be thrilled!  Thanks for stopping by Our New Vista!