TAMALES!!!!!!!!

Thursday, December 17th.

Tamale making started, for me anyway, a couple of days ahead, ‘cause first, I have to clean up my house. I think I’ll blame the state of it on our newest family member, Miss Daisy.

Why not?

It’s all about pecking order. She’s the littlest and that’s just the way it goes.  I  know, she looks totally and completely innocent of any wrong-doing.  Ha! 

Anyway, I’ve about got everything ready for tomorrow. I feel almost like tomorrow is Christmas.

I already have the meat cooked and shredded. I went and got another pork roast to add to the one we already had because it just didn’t look like a MASSIVE amount of meat…and we need a MASSIVE amount of meat for our tamales.

I found an amazing website on tamale making and here it is.

http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=188623&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

If you ever want to try your hand at tamale making, I don’t think you could find a better tutorial. I’ll be sort of following her recipe.

So….

Back to Wednesday, December 18th….

Off to the grocery store to get the rest of our needed supplies. But first, a quick stop at the next door dollar store to purchase a cheap plastic tablecloth.

Codi thinks we have a dining table just for her to sit on and look out the window at the birds.

 So, since we’ll be spreading our tamale makings all over that table, I want to ensure that it is indeed sanitary.

 I find a bright, Christmas-y one. And I find some new friends!

Remember, I told you in the blog about giving that I try to strike up conversations when I go shopping? Well, I found a really sweet looking Abuelita (Grandmother in Espanol) and Abuelito. I walked up to them to ask her advice about whether or not I should use pre-made chile paste for my tamales. I said, with a big smile…

“Good Morning!”

She turned to me with the warmest sweetest smile I’ve ever seen, reached for both my hands and said,

“Oh! Good Morning! It is SO good to see you.”

Behind that wonderful smile, I could see the wheels turning…”Who on earth is this woman?” I know she thought I was someone she should know, but just couldn’t place.

I quickly told her that I was, indeed, a total stranger…and a little nuts, but I needed some advice about making tamales.

In my limited experience, Hispanic people are always a little surprised to find a gringa who intends to actually attempt to make tamales. The imp in me kinda likes that. ;)

What ensued will forever be etched in my memory. Whenever I eat…or even think of…tamales…I will remember these people. A third friend joined the couple and the four of us stood, discussing the fine points of tamale making…which of course, led to several stories of their own tamale memories. They had many…each of them better than the last.

In the end, Abuelita convinced me to vote NO on pre-made chile paste.

It took all the self-control I had not to whip out my camera…yes, I had it with me…and ask if I could PLEASE take their picture and paste it all over my blog . But, I didn’t want to scare them to death as I’m afraid I might have. Sigh.  Wouldn't their pictures just been perfecto right here!  Sighing again.  Oh well.

One cheap plastic tablecloth. $1.00

Making new friends…PRICELESS!



On I went to the grocery store where I got into another couple of conversations about tamales with other women who were choosing their chiles and hojas, (corn husks) and various spices. There is, most definitely, a sisterhood of women when traditional holiday food is the topic of conversation! It was part of the fun of this whole tamale making adventure!

And guess who I ran into in the grocery store? Abuelita and Abuelito! We are now old friends! I hope I run into them again one of these days.

Home with my plunder, I set the huge pork roast to stewing, along with some seasonings. It made the house smell so good.

After it was cooked to the absolutely falling apart tender stage, I let it cool and shredded the meat. Now…we have a MASSIVE amount of meat….just what I wanted!

Friday, December 18th, 8:30 a.m.
I have the cornhusks soaking in really hot water. You have to weight them down to keep them under the water.

The meat is ready to re-heat and spice up!

I think I have all the needed pots and pans and utensils figured out and ready to go.

The water-soaked cornhusks are now drying.

I am dressed. Is this shirt perfect or what?

Appropriate music is playing on a tv music channel.

I am going to make Pioneer Woman’s ‘lazy chile rellenos’ for our lunch today…seems fitting, don’t you think? I have changed her recipe a bit to suit me better, but even as it is, it is flat-out scrumptious!

No more time today for typing or talking or blogging.

More tomorrow....after our wonderful day of making tamales!

Monday, December 21st

It is so hard to actually post this entry...because I  know how this story ends!
 

And I sound so cheeful and hopeful and excited and downright giddy and.........

I know how this story ends.............

I am Grateful for the bliss of ignorance!