Who loves Cinco de Mayo? This girl does!
When MJD and I were engaged, I declared to him that Cinco de Mayo was going to be our “holiday” to host parties. You know how you have those friends who always host Halloween (my bestie Liz is this friend) or the ones who open up their home for Friendsgiving? Well we were going to be the Cinco de Mayo couple. Why you may ask? Well our last name is DiMaggio which is May in Italian. I thought it’d be really cute if we had a Cinco DiMaggio party as a play off of our last name. I’m a big nerd, I know… it’s kind of miraculous MJD still wanted to go forward with the wedding at that point 😉
Well even though I declared that our holiday, I haven’t yet had the chance to host a Cinco de Mayo party, but that all changed this year when Nola’s Fresh Foods reached out about a Boston-style Cinco de Mayo celebration. You may be surprised to hear this, but there a number of local Boston brands that make the perfect items for your Cinco de Mayo celebration. Nola’s salsa, Mi Nina’s chips and tortillas and Taza’s Mexican chocolate made for a delicious Cinco de Mayo (aka Cinco DiMaggio) dinner party.
Appetizers for any sort of Mexican night are easy because who doesn’t love salsa and guac? I made our appetizers a salsa tasting of sorts so we could compare which of the Nola’s salsas were our favorite. I love using chalkboards to label apps and it was perfect for the salsa tasting. I had picked these up at World Market before MJD’s birthday party and was excited to use them again. This bright turquoise serving piece was an impulse buy a few days before hosting (#targetdoesitagain) and I thought it really made the salsa tasting super fun and colorful :).
I always fill up on chips and salsa, but really tried not to this night as I knew the main course of Mango- Avocado Shrimp Tacos and mexican quinoa made with Nola’s salsa were to come. Plus there was dessert of the most delicious, spicy, chocolatey brownies made with Taza.
You definitely can’t have Cinco de Mayo without cervezas and margaritas! Make sure you have plenty of Corona and tequila on hand when hosting Cinco de Mayo. If you are more into cocktails than beer, try your hand at one of my fave margarita recipes, like grapefruit margs.
Thanks to Nola’s Fresh Foods, Mi Nina Tortillas and Taza for helping to make Cinco de Mayo Boston Style a reality 🙂
Happy party planning!
xoxo, Jenna
FYI- this post was sponsored by Nola’s Fresh Foods who supplied me with complimentary products. All opinions and images are my own.
Your table setting is so gorgeous!
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Thanks Meghan 🙂
What an awesome spread!! I can see why you guys declared this your holiday!! xo, Biana –BlovedBoston
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Thanks Biana! xoxo!
I love that Cinco de Mayo is your declared holiday to host. That was my holiday with my bestie, but she moved across the country : ( Mexican food is my absolute favorite. I love your serving tray with the little chalkboard signs!
Oh my goodness this post is the way to my heart!!! I am definitely going to have to copy this recipe into my recipe book! Thanks for sharing (: XOXO, Scout
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Yay, I hope you like it Scout 🙂
xoxo!
What a cute party idea & I LOVE the play off your last name! Your dip trio tray looks delicious and I’m not craving Mexican food. So fun!!!
xox,
Kristin
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Thanks Kristin 🙂 I love Mexican all the time!
I think I need that turquoise serving pieces, oh and ALL of the salsa. Great post!
xo Kristy
style-blueprint.com
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Thanks Kristy- Target does it again on that one 😉
xoxo!
I could eat chips and salsa all day long! Love your gorgeous table setting, everything looks amazing!!
xoxo, CiCi
http://www.worldwidestylista.com
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Me too! Love them!
Yum!! This just made me so hungry!
http://thegirlswhobrunch.com
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Thanks girlie!
xoxo!
Looks like a fun party and everything looks delicious!! Enjoy 🙂
Lauren
http://www.anexplorersheart.com
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Thanks Lauren 🙂
Oh my gosh, this looks so amazing!! I am so hungry now 🙂
xoxo
Jess
http://www.mustheartstyle.com
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I’m hungry thinking back to it 🙂 Thanks Jess!
This is so cute!! I’m getting inspired! xo ~Anna http://www.pepperedinstyle.com
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Thanks Anna 🙂
Oh my goodness! I was drooling reading this post! I can’t wait for Cinco de Mayo now! So much fun & I want to try out these tips! Thanks for inspiring!
XOXO Morgan
http://www.styleonedge.net
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Thanks Morgan! I hope you have a great Cinco de Mayo 🙂 xoxo!
This is beautiful! Also, I’m now so incredibly hungry I may be hustling my tush over to my favorite Mexican place as we speak!
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Thanks Erin! Hope your Friday was great 🙂
I am officially sitting at work hungry AND I just ate… such a gorgeous tablescape! I need to take lessons. Oh and that’s the cutest story between you and your man. xoxo.
Sarah
http://www.parkertheprepster.com
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Thanks Sarah 🙂 Hope you have a great weekend!
I am SO making these tacos! YUM, this spread looks amazing! Bravo.
xo,
Zoe | http://www.zoewithlove.me/
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Thanks Zoe 🙂 Hope you like them!
I love the pics and the style of your blog! So inspiring! Happy to have found you!
https://fromdreamtoplan.wordpress.com/
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Thank you 🙂
Wow this looks amazing, my mouth is watering from that!! And it’s cute that you guys celebrate this together 🙂
xoxo Emily
ditchtheheels.com
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Thanks Emily! xoxo!
Thanks a lot for this article! I have great ideas for my next party! I love how you set your table! Bravo
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Thank you Julia!
Looks like I’m not the only one inspired by your tablescape and tacos!! Chips too of course. Do you know where I can find the Nola’s salsa? I’d love to try it but wasn’t sure where they are selling it. Next is getting an invite to your party… 😉 jk..
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Thanks Kris- I’d love to have a blogger party some time 🙂
I know my local Whole Foods has Nola’s… check out their site here for locations: http://www.nolasfreshfoods.com/#!locations/c1pwt
ooooh looks like mine does too! Thanks for this link. Happy to help w/ food etc.. if you ever put together a shindig. 🙂
Oh My Goodness! I LOVE LOVE this post! Cinco de Mayo is my favorite, and I am officially drooling (and I haven’t even had breakfast yet, lol!) Such beautiful photos as well – I need to learn some food photography skills! Love the post, gorgeous!
XX,
Heather
http://www.alittlecasual.com
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Thank you Heather, you are too sweet! Hope you have a great weekend, girl!
This looks sooooo good!!! Hugs, Kait
http://makeminemaroon.com
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Thanks Kait!
Love love the grapefruit margs idea – thank you so much for sharing!
xoxo
Krista
http://www.hundredblog.com
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Thanks sweet girl! xoxo!
This all looks so incredibly delicious!!! I am definitely adding this to my recipe book for when I’m craving a Mexican fiesta night. Such a fun post! Thanks for sharing! XOXO, Scout
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Thanks so much Scout 🙂 I hope you like the recipes!
I thought I commented, but I guess not! Anyway, can I get an invite next time you throw a party like this?! Haha, everything looks amazing and I loveeee tacos! Nola’s salsa is SO good! xo
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Yes! I’d love to do a blogger party! I’ll keep you posted 🙂 I love Nola’s too- so so yum!
This is such a cute set up! Loving the chalkboard labels! Such a fun post, thanks for sharing!
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Thanks Ashley 🙂