Tamales!!!

A Mexican Christmas tradition is to make tamales. And oh, do I love tamales. In case you have never had them, you have to try one sometime. Of course I have learned that not all tamales are alike. I have been disappointed a couple of times when I spotted them on the menu of a Mexican restaurant and then when I dug in, it wasn't quite what I wanted. I have found, though, that of all the tamales that I have had that came from my own area, have not disappointed me, not even once! I believe the reason that they are a Christmas tradition and aren't served as much the rest of the year is the work that they take in preparing them. It is a two day process when you buy the masa (corn dough) already prepared. Our good friend Joe, said that his family use to truly make them from scratch, meaning, grow and grind the corn and raise and slaughter the pig. Well this year, Joe showed me how to make tamales almost from scratch (we didn't slaughter any pigs are grind any corn). But we did prepare the meat with our own homemade sauce (but then again I didn't grow the chili peppers either, oh well).

So one day last week the kids, my mom and I went over to Joe and Gloria's to learn how to make tamales. While Joe and I worked on the tamales, Gloria had several crafts for the kids to make to keep them occupied. They always enjoy going over to their house.



Here are some pics of our tamale making time:

Day one:

Cutting the meat into small chucks and getting the fat off.

Chopping the garlic.

Joe is soaking the corn husks so they will be ready to use the next day to wrap the tamales in.

Splitting the chili peppers to get the seeds out.

Day two:

Spreading the masa on the corn husk.

Yummy Tamales!!!
Muy Bien

Of course there is some waiting time, like when the tamales are steaming. So Joe got to play with the kids during that time.



And since day one we didn't have the tamales ready to eat, Joe and Gloria cooked us up some tacos for dinner. And oh how we love Gloria's tacos!!!!!



Now a warning if you do try a tamale, please unwrap the corn husk. I know from experience that it makes the tamale a bit chewy! :)