My favorite drinks are anything with fruit in it and I just love Strawberry Margarita's! In Honor of Cinco De Mayo, I wanted to share a awesome Margarita Recipe with you! Not the one you drink. This one you can eat as Dessert!

This is NOT Mexico’s "Independence Day", thats september 16th :-) In which you can most definitely make this pie again! You can also whip this recipe together for summer outings, or any adult only parties for some added FUN! :-D

My favorite activity was celebrating The 5th of May and Day of the Dead In Spanish class in high school. We could bring dishes that were from those cultures. Bonus! Thats where I would make this pie!

It's quite silly, I've have had many years in spanish class and yet all I can do is talk to a very small child in spanish and I can also talk a whole lot about FOOD!

Any who, back to the 5th of May! The Battle of Puebla was very significant because although the Mexicans were outnumbered back in 1862, they defeated a higher equipped French army.  4,000 Mexican soldiers to 8,000 French army soldiers that had not been defeated for nearly 50 years!

Thats Cray Cray! 

In 1862, The President of Mexico Juárez declared the anniversary of that remarkable battle  a holiday remembered as "Battle of Puebla Day" or "Battle of Cinco de Mayo"!

There you have it folks, History! I feel it's appropriate to mention the history of the holiday before getting into the immediate parting, lol

This recipe is as simple as making your morning smoothie. Put everything into a blender, then fold in some whipped cream, pour it into a graham cracker (or pretzel) crust pie pan, shove it into the freezer for 6 hours, come back and you’ve got yourself a festive delicious dessert!

If you are or are not aware of what goes into a delicious alcoholic beverage such as the Margarita. It’s so basic and easy: Tequila, triple sec, and fresh lime juice.

Margarita's come in pre made mixes where you can just add over ice, blend into ice or nothing at all. They come in boxes you can refrigerate, frozen tubs, or you can make it fresh! The possibilities of a margarita are endless!

Fresh is always best! It’s so easy to make it fresh, and a lot cheaper! 

But why just stop at fresh limes when you can add other fresh fruit. The most popular pairing of fruit to go into a margarita is STRAWBERRIES.

This is where I get happy, Strawberry Margaritas are one of my favorite alcoholic beverages, you can get a salt OR Sugar rim. I’ll usually go for sugar because I'm a sugarholic!

Because I like a sugar rim, I choose to make a graham cracker crust instead of the famous pretzel crust, which is a favorite crust pairing for this pie. 

Recently I tend to go for non- alcoholic beverages. Ever since being pregnant, then breast-feeding, I couldn't indulge in party drinks :-( Lucky for me, its just as tasty without Alcohol, and it is family friendly! :-D

In this recipe I wanted to keep this pie family friendly. If you want to kick it up a notch for an adult gathering then just replace the orange juice with alcohol.

Beware, because this is not a cooked pie, the alcohol will work its magic in each and every bite. So get your friends and family ready for a Par-Tay! :-D Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Ingredients:

2 Graham Cracker Crusts (or pretzel crust)

1 lb Strawberries, divided and hulled (Frozen or Fresh)

2 Limes, divided, jested and juiced (about 1/4 cup)

1/4 cup Orange Juice (or 1/4 cup Tequila for adults!)

1 (14oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk

8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup Sugar

1½ cups chilled Heavy Cream, whipped*

Directions:

1. Blend 3/4 of the strawberries, 3/4 of lime zest, lime juice, condensed milk, orange juice, sugar and cream cheese in a blender or food processor until smooth, 
2. Transfer to a large bowl then add the last of the strawberries and lime zest to the bowl and set aside
3. Beat heavy cream to stiff peaks. DO NOT OVER BEAT. You will end up with butter instead of whipped cream if over beaten!
4. Fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture gently
5. Pour filling into prepared crust directly in the middle, till pie mounds
6. Freeze for about 6 hours till pie becomes firm. 
7. After 6 hours let pie soften in refrigerator (40 minutes) before serving 

Tips:

Heavy whipping cream can be substituted for store bought Whipped Cream (skip step 3)

Pie should be served when texture is semisoft by refrigerating for 40 min before slicing

Refrigerate and store for up to 5 days

Makes 2 pies