Cinco de Mayo is here and what I would give to have some of my mother's homemade hot tamales to help celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Unfortunatley, I lost my mother back in 2007 but I still remember the countless hours she would spend in the kitchen making tamales for my family and friends. It was a recipe handed down from my grandfather. And to this day, I haven't ever tasted a tamale that even comes close to my mom's. So with all the celebrations going on nationwide I thought I would put together a little history lesson about Cinco de Mayo.

Cinco de Mayo—or the fifth of May—commemorates the Mexican army's 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867). A relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations. Cinco de Mayo traditions include parades, mariachi music performances and street festivals in cities and towns across Mexico and the United States.

Many people outside Mexico mistakenly believe that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican independence, which was declared more than 50 years before the Battle of Puebla. That event is commemorated on September 16, the anniversary of the revolutionary priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s famous “Grito de Dolores” (“Cry of Dolores”), a call to arms that amounted to a declaration of war against the Spanish colonial government in 1810.

Have to share this story with you, had a little cousin many years ago who couldn't say Mario he would always say Mayo. So I told him I was going to start celebrating every 5th of May by calling it Cinco de Mario.

So no matter how you celebrate today, have a Happy Cinco de Mayo and enjoy the GiggleBellies Video!

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