¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

I have been a ridiculously lazy blogger lately, but it is because I am ridiculously busy at work. I know, same excuse, over and over again!

If ever there was a day when I wanted to leave early ... I love Cinco de Mayo. No, I don't know what it means or why it's celebrated. Nor do I care.

Honestly, does anyone care?? Cinco de Mayo is only fun because it's an excuse to eat guacamole and drink tequila!

I dated a guy that grew up in Mexico City for a while, so I learned (among other things) that Cinco de Mayo's much more popular in the U.S. than it is in Mexico. He said that he never celebrated it until he moved here, which I found hilarious.

Although I did not have a margarita (on the rocks with salt, please) today, I did have a few last week at Warszawa in anticipation of a busy and alcohol-free Cinco de Mayo.

To liven up this blog full of horribly short posts, I'm sharing my recipe for sangrita, which I drink as a chaser to tequila shots. First of all, drink good tequila when doing shots. Among the tequilas that I think are acceptable is this one, Tres Generaciones:
























Mix up a pitcher of sangrita and chill it before even thinking about doing shots. The colder the better! Wikipedia's recipe has many more ingredients than mine, which is as stupid-simple as it can get:

Tomato juice
Clamato
Tabasco
Black pepper

I am not a fan of Clamato- the very idea of clammy tomato juice disgusts me. But it does add a certain flavor to the sangrita that makes it what it is. I think it also somehow enhances the flavor of the tequila. Maybe it's the constrast in flavors?

Proportions of the ingredients can be tweaked to personal preference. I like a large bottle of tomato juice (probably about 1 quart?) to a small can of Clamato (I would prefer to use less, but the only thing grosser than Clamato in my house is leftover Clamato and no tequila). The amount of Tabasco and black pepper vary, since a new bottle of Tabasco and freshly ground black pepper are much spicier than old Tabasco and pre-ground black pepper.

If doing shots, pour everyone a shot of tequila and a shot of sangrita. Clink tequila glasses and say "cheers" or "salut" or "Bob's your uncle."

Down the tequila. Down the sangrita.

Pour more shots all around.

Happy drinking!