Cinco de Never.....AGAIN!!!

Well, we had our little soiree over the weekend, the infamous Cinco de Never party that Carlos promised over a year ago, and, well, I think it all went smoothly. During and after.

Before? Not so much.

Carlos and I cooked everything; cleaned everything; rearranged everything.

We began cooking on Thursday, prepping got each dish. I was the panicked one, chopping mounds of onions because onions go in everything. I was the panicked one roasting poblano peppers on the grill. I was the panicked one, checking and double-checking each recipe to make sure we had everything. Carlos was calm.

On Friday, we became Tamale Central--or Carlos became Tamale Central. He crashed around 4PM, asking if he could be finished making Tamales. I wondered if we'd have enough, so I asked how many he had.

Sixty.

I don't know if that's enough. I don't want people raving over the Tamales and then being told they can only have two.

I'll make more.

I follow him into the kitchen and he shows me thirty on the counter, and thirty in the refrigerator and ten on the island. I point to a pot on the stove.

How many in there?

Thirty.

Thirty.Sixty.Ninety.One-hundred. You're done.

He fainted.

But we weren't finished.

Saturday we switched roles. I was on casserole, beans, and appetizer duty...and, my favorite, setting up the bar. I was the calm one, cooking and chopping and assembling and tasting and arranging. Carlos, on Flan Patrol, began to panic. He loaded the blender with spices and condensed milk and, yes, forgot the lid. Whrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........spew. Flan juice everywhere!

I became Joan Crawford to his Christina and slapped him, hard, across the face.

Calm down!

Okay, that part was just in my head. But he did relax; and we got the food done, and some last minute shopping done, and were able to shower and relax before our friends showed up to the feast.

And, oy, mi madre....such a feast!

There were Carlos' Especially Marinated Chicken-n-Pineapple Kabobs; Bob's Mom's Salsa, and Guacamole, and Baked Brie; we served 100 Tamales, stuffed with chicken or chorizo; Steak-and-Green-Onion tacos; Refried Black Beans with queso fresco and scallions; two Tortilla Españoles--aka frittatas--one veggie, one with shrimp; Nopales salad--nopales is cactus, de-thorned, peeled, and boiled, then cooled and tossed with onion, tomato, avocado, and a vinaigrette dressing, and Chayote Casserole--a Mexican squash casserole with roasted poblanos, corn, onion, and garlic.

We had food for days, for an army. No one went home hungry.

And there were drinks. Carlos made Jasmine Tea--from dried jasmine flowers, steeped like tea--and, of course, being in South Carolina, Sweet Tea. But then there was beer and wine and vodka and gin and Margaritas and Pomegranate Margaritas and Mango Margartitas and Melon Margaritas...and....and.....

Well, with so much food and drinks and fun and friends, I left the camera on the mantel after taking just three pictures. I was busy playing hostess-with-the-mostess, so camera work was left behind.

But the best part of the day was good friends and good times.

The worst part of the day was good friends saying Let's do this again next year.

Carlos announced that this was Cinco de Never AGAIN!!

Yeah. We'll see about that!