De Colores, El Cinco de Mayo

 Nothing beats having food as part of a language lesson and that's exactly what we did to celebrate the Battle of Puebla (1862) when a small band of Mexicans defeated the large French army. Although September 16th is considered Mexico's Independence Day from Spain, the date May 5th, el cinco de mayo, represents the battle which started on that date. It took 6 years until the end of the French occupation. 

Our students treated us to 2 kinds of homemade tamales both savory, chicken mole tamales and sweet, pink coconut raisin tamales. YUM. Sabrosos.

tostados, queso fresco, radishes, salsa with chips

As if that wasn't enough we also had  tostados with refried
beans, lettuce, chicken, queso fresco accompanied with sliced radishes with green salsa made out of tomatillos and chiles. 
One of the teachers brought fruit and another chips and fresh pico de gallo salsa.

stuffed poblanos

I made stuffed poblanos with rice, corn, black beans, onions, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro with Mexican spices and cheeses. 


We are missing a couple of faces but even the littles joined in to help with our celebration of  Cinco de Mayo.  

It was a nice social opportunity not only to mark the end of our first semester but also to share the day as the students's  husbands are all working an extra long day due to the holiday. When you're in the Mexican restaurant business a holiday embraced by the U.S. is a very busy time.  

The couple times I have been in Mexico on el 5 de mayo grupos estudiantiles (student choral groups) always sang "De Colores" the first folksong in Spanish I learned to play on the guitar. Here's the link with singer Joan Baez singing :De Colores

                                      ¡Feliz 5 de Mayo!