Tamale Time

Christmas Time = Tamale Time

I don't know if you've ever had an authentic tamale, one from a restaurant doesn't count!  It must be homemade by someone who has perfected it!  Seriously delicious!

One of my good friends, Makayla, invited me to come along and learn how it's done...the right way! 

The night before, all the men in the family got together and prepped the meat.  Folks, we are talking 85 POUNDS of meat WITHOUT bones!  That is a lot of meat...a lot of tamales! 

The next morning, all the women get together and make the tamales, and then the men steam them.  This is a huge operation, when you are dealing with 85 pounds of meat.  Everyone has a job and things just keep going right along.  I also loved that there were some tortillas there, you could scoop up a little of the meat and chile into a tortilla for a tasty snack!

Making preparations (while eating some Bosa Donuts of course!)

Everyone must wear a hat or scarf while prepping the tamales!

This little munchkin looked like this most of the time...

Making some final preparations before getting things going...

Mixing the masa.  This is his job every year...he does it by taste, there is no recipe.

Spreading the masa on the smooth side of the corn husk (which can be hard to determine, both sides usually feel rough, but there is a smoother side).  This was my job!

They start the girls young!  They are wrapping the tamales.

This is the meat and chile being scooped into the middle, and then they are wrapped up.



After all of this goes on, they are taken outside and steamed by the men. 

These are truly a labor of love, and what a good time it was!