Margaritas & Senioritas plus cheesecake

Happy belated Cinco de Mayo people!!!  I had every intention of coming home from the party and posting this but due to a slight injury to the knee the other day (nothing major-no need to worry) I just wanted to lay in bed and ice it before quickly sawing logs. I know, I know...priorities! :)

Every now and then a group of my girlfriends get together for "Girls Night Out"; we usually hit our usual spot, Twigs. If you have never been I highly recommend it; they have fabulous food and amazing martini's! With the downturn of the economy and budget contraints we decided on "Girls Night In" this go around. My friend Melissa offered up her house to host the festivities and we would plan a potluck sort of event. Melissa, like me, loves themes and what better theme then a fiesta on Cinco de Mayo!

We all jumped on the bandwagon and coordinated our dishes with the theme. There was so much food, way too much for 6 ladies but isn't that way it always is. We had chicken tortilla soup, spanish rice, steak fajita's, corn and pepper salad, 7 layer dip with chips, homemade guacamole and all the fixins. There was also Corona with lime (but of course) and mango margaritas (oh yeah, they were tasty and much needed after a long day of work).

Since I absolutley love to bake I opted to make a "dulce de leche" cheesecake. We seldom have room for dessert after partaking in Girls Night Out at Twigs but I was in the mood for something sweet and I had hoped the gals were too.

Poor Man's Cheesecake
(slight modification with caramel)

2 packages of cream cheese; room temp
1 egg
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
store bought graham cracker crust

Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Pour mix into your store bought crust. *Modification: I added caramel ice cream topping to the top of the cheesecake mix and took a knife and swirled it through to create a "marble" look. Be careful not to puncture the crust. *I am a little psycho particular when it comes to my crust. I could easily spend a good 20 minutes going through each crust at the store to be sure it isn't cracked or broken before making my purchase. I have maybe also been known to shoot daggers from my eyes at someone (The Hubs, the unknowing clerk etc) if they packeaged it wrong or carried it wrong. Yah, I am that crazy lunatic in the store that you secretly dart pass without making eye contact, for fear of the daggers I am sure :) *

Bake cheesecake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes, just until the top is golden brown.

Serve with the extra caramel topping on the side and Cool Whip.

The great thing about the base recipe is that you can add any modification you want from fruit to nuts to chocolate or cookies. Also most folks have eggs, vanilla and sugar on hand in their fridge and pantry so this is extremely cheap, hence the title of the recipe. Do you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Do you go all out with decorations or just a nod to the holiday by whipping up a Mexican dish?