Cinco de Mayo 2023
"Oh my God," Jane said as she entered the Isles' home and followed the smells to the kitchen. "I am in heaven, what are you cooking?" Jane had left her wife and four children behind as she followed the smell. Maura could hear her wife's nose sniffing. Jane loved food and the smell was rather intoxicating.
Maura wasn't mad at Jane, she understood Jane's love of food and she was rather taken with the intoxicating smells herself. Maura and the children followed Jane and greeted Kelly, Erica, Constance, Arthur, Angela and the chef when they arrived in the kitchen.
Kelly and Erica had arrived at the Isles' home shortly after lunch. Constance and Angela had convinced Erica to show them some of her family's authentic Mexican dishes. They had been cooking together for the last few weeks and this was the culmination of Constance and Angela's lessons, to cook an authentic Mexican dinner for Cinco de Mayo. Erica was confident in their abilities. She was very proud of her students.
Kate motioned for her mama to pick her up, she wanted to see all of the food. Kelly, Maura and the rest of the children, except for Kate went out to the living room to play games with Arthur. The rest of the extended family would be arriving soon. Arthur enjoyed spending time with the grandchildren.
Jane wanted to sample all of the dishes as did Kate. Erica had to stand between Jane and the food, insisting that they had to wait until dinner. Kate ended up being held my Erica as she tried to get her little hands on some of the food. Jane managed to grab a taco while Erica was distracted by Kate. When Erica put Kate down, she ran to her mama and they shared the taco. Erica just shook her head. Jane and Kate just smiled at her and then went out to join the others while Erica, Constance, Angela and the chef finished the dinner.
When Jane and Kate arrived in the other room, Tommy, Chloe, Frankie and Nina and their children arrived followed shortly by Frost, Susie and their children. The house was filling up fast. Korsak and Kiki arrived about fifteen minutes later right as dinner was being placed on the kitchen island. This meal would be served buffet style.
Before they could eat Constance had everyone take a seat at the table and said, "I want everyone to tell me one fact that they know about Cinco de Mayo. We will start with the youngest first, so Kate, you are first." Frost's children were just babies and didn't talk yet.
Kate took a moment to think about all of the facts that she knew and then she said, "Americans eat millions of Avocados on May 5th" as she took a scoop of guacamole and put it on her plate so she could dip her chips in it.
The conversation continued and then Lilly said, "Congress recognized Cinco de Mayo as a US holiday in 2005. It is not recognized as a Federal holiday so we still had to go to school." Everyone laughed because of the face Lilly made when she commented on why they had to go to school today.
When MJ's turn came, he said, "In Puebla, Mexico where the holiday originated it is referred to El Día de la Batalla de Puebla, which translates to 'The Day of the Battle of Puebla,' which took place on May 5, 1862. On this date Mexico defeated the Second French Empire and stopped the French invasion of Mexico."
Erica explained that "the holiday's most beloved dish is mole poblano. I have made some of that for you today. The sauce contains dozens of ingredients which includes chocolate, which I know you all love. Tonight, you will find the mole served over your chicken. My family's recipe has won several times at the International Mole Festival which is held in Puebla. I hope you enjoy it."
Maura was excited to hear all of the facts about Cinco de Mayo. In the past she was the one who was always reciting facts. Constance knew this and figured that Maura would enjoy this little fact telling activity, and she did. Maura smiled at Constance and mouthed 'thank you' to her. Constance smiled back and then they all lined up to fill their plates with tons of authentic Mexican food.
On the kitchen island, which was filled with all the food, there were tacos, tamales, mole poblano, pozole, chiles en Nogado, enchiladas, and even breakfast items like chilaquiles. Erica had to explain what some of the dishes were. She had checked with everyone to make sure that all allergies were accounted for. The last thing they wanted was for a family member to have an allergic reaction to the food.
Erica had to limit her dessert selection for the evening after having so many selections for the dinner so she selected Pastel de Elote, a Mexican sweet corn cake. She felt that Constance and Angela would be able to make the cake without too much difficulty.
Chloe was impressed with the food and after dinner she spent over half an hour talking with Erica about some of the dishes. Chloe was always looking for new items for her restaurant and lately had been thinking of having specialty nights. Erica loved the idea and told Chloe she would be happy to come cook with her.
Kelly had a huge smile on her face the whole evening as Erica was in her prime. She loved cooking her family's recipes and this night meant so much to her. She received so many compliments which she made sure to tell everyone that Constance and Angela did most of the work. Erica had been learning Angela's family recipes and she was more than happy to share her family recipes with Angela.
The highlight of the evening had to be when Kate attempted to feed Jane some cake. "Here mama, let me feed you." Kate had said as Jane was preparing to get some cake from her plate. Jane bent down as Kate was leaning over to feed her and Kate ending up smashing the cake into Jane's face. Everyone was laughing and Jane took the cake from her face and smashed it into Kate's face.
Before the adults could prevent it, all of the children were smashing cake in each other's faces. Everyone was laughing. Maura stopped laughing and tried to get away when she saw Jane coming at her with a piece of cake in her hand. Maura hid behind her mother and when Jane went to smash the cake into Maura's face, Maura ducked and Jane smashed the cake into Constance's face. The entire house was quiet as they waited for Constance's reaction. She started laughing and quickly pick up some of the smashed cake and smashed it into her daughter-in-law's face. Jane just licked it off and said, "Thank you Constance, I wanted more cake."
With cake mess everywhere, everyone said their goodbyes and Jane, Maura, Kelly and Erica along with the four children began cleaning up the mess from the cake. They were all still laughing. They had a fun evening. Arthur assisted in the cleanup with a huge smile on his face. He enjoyed the antics of this group of people he was proud to call his family. Arthur and Constance stood on the front porch and waved goodbye to everyone as they left after cleaning up.