Last year for my Mom’s birthday, we had an elegant dinner of bruschetta, eggplant gremolata, penne with vodka sauce, veal scaloppine, and mocha ice cream cake.  It was certainly a meal to remember, and we enjoyed the earlier courses while our littlest family member was awake, and then had the later courses after his bedtime.

This year, we had a much more low key Mexican-themed meal, but it was just as much fun.  And this time, the littlest person got to stay up right to the end, to sing a well practiced “Happy Birthday”.  Of course, every Mexican fiesta needs to start with some homemade salsa and guacamole.

For the salsa, I turned to this Salsa Fresca recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  It’s a simple recipe with the usual ingredients: tomatoes, onions, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, and lime.  The salsa was fine, but not spectacular as we’ve come to expect from Deb.  To be fair, I am not a salsa eater so need to rely on the opinions of others.  Still, I think it was nice to eat salsa that didn’t come from a glass jar.

For the guacamole, I turned to Jenna from Eat, Live, Run and what she calls the only guacamole recipe you’ll ever need.  It’s another easy recipe, calling for avocados, onion, lime juice, jalapeno, and salt.  I may not enjoy salsa, but guacamole is something I’ve grown to love.  Some people thought the lime flavor was almost too strong, but I really liked it, and the jalapeno gave the guacamole just the right amount of kick. 

You may think that homemade salsa and guacamole are no big deal, and to you I say, just wait for the next recipe, chicken taquitos!

• appetizers