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Wednesday, January 18, 2023

PUTTING UP TAMALES

Chirstmas in Texas is tamale season.  With Hispanic culture so immersed in our state, their traditions become our traditions.  And a usual family tradition is making tamales for the holidays.  One of my coworkers made them and asked if we wanted to buy some

UM, YEAH!


I got our handy dandy insulated bag (with a tamale Christmas theme!) and took it to work.

We requested 4 dozen.


Pork (x2)...
Chicken...
Bean...


They are SO good.  She makes them large and filled with meat.  We used one dozen of pork (since we got two dozen of those) for dinner/lunch that weekend the rest we were putting up.


We sort them out and because of their size, we make packages of six each, vacuum seal and pop in the freezer for future meals.


Believe it or not, tamales (still in the husk) freeze well.  With rice and beans on the side, three large tamales each for a meal is nice and filling.  This will give us six meals of tamales to spread throughout the year. 

We can make this delicious Christmas tradition last a while longer, ha.


21 comments:

  1. Our next door neighbor makes them and makes special ones just for me and hubby cause she knows we're not into the hot and spicy. Chicken and beef is what she would bring us.
    Getting just a few light sprinkles here at the moment but don't think we will get much; not enough to register in the rain gauge.
    Enjoy your day and have a wonderful & blessed evening

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    1. Thank you as always. My coworker will make special ones too if we ask. She makes some that are cheese and been, so good. I forgot to ask for beef. We'll have to remember that next year. Rain was sprinkles here and then fizzled out. Cooler though, we're ok with that (just NO freezes).

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  2. I have egg roll connections but not tamales and I'd be so glad to support an entrepreneur.

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    1. OH MY, I LOOOOVE egg rolls (good ones ha). That's a connection we'd like to have. ha. Support the little guys!!! :-)

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  3. I love tamales! But I have no friend or neighbor who makes them and have never tried to make them myself. Can you recommend a good (and easy) recipe?

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    1. Do you know we've never tried to make them. 2nd Man grew up in a household where relatives made them, he said it's not terribly difficult but it is tedious and time consuming. That's why they are usually done as a family tradition where one person spreads the masa, another fills them, another folds them up, etc. We'll have to explore that sometime. I"ll ask her too if she'll share her recipe.

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    2. What?!? I confess I'm not much of one for tedious and time consuming either. But I love the idea of a family tradition. Maybe tamale making parties could become a thing. I hope she's willing to share her recipe!

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  4. tamales are really simple to make and we love them. i think it might be time to make some soon since it's been a while.

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    1. We've never tried making them. Have just heard while not hard, it's just a lot of work (steps). We need to research some shortcuts. Of course with two of us, we should be able to knock it out, ha.

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  5. LOVE THAT BAG! Must try to find one. And tamales are so good. Janie V

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    1. Thank you. The bag came from local grocery chain. And stay tuned, we might have something coming up about that. :-)

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  6. I'm with Janie, that bag is so fun. As a fellow Texan, I feel the need for tamales at Christmas.

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    1. Another comment on the bag, ha. It is fun for sure. It's also a great bag for just having at the store since it's insulated. Check HEB if they might have any left.

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  7. Yum, I love tamales and those look delicious. I still have some from Christmas also.
    Your beautiful plate of tamales with rice, beans, and avocado and pico de gallo made my mouth water.
    When I was a kid, we would visit our friends when they made tamales. We all pitched in making them and it was a lot of fun. And the end product is – wonderful tamales!

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    1. I've never been to a tamale making event but yes, have heard it's so much fun when it's a big group and everyone gets a task. And in the end, you get wonderful tamales. Usually someone is making dozens and dozens at a time or in a row. Thank you!

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  8. Oh how delicious. This is the year I am going to attempt to make them.

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    1. We might just have to try it ourselves. My coworker will give us some tips, ha. Good luck and if you make some, come back and let us know. :-)

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  9. We Love us some good tamales!
    hugs
    Donna

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  10. I've never been a tamale fan, but maybe I've never had a good tamale such as these.

    Love,
    Janie

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  11. Having only ever had grocery store factory canned tamales (somewhere between Meh and Ick), having Real Tamales was an eye opener. Knowing how fiddly they are to make by yourself, no way I'd try it now. I have to wonder if there's a tamale casserole recipe that comes darn close to the real thing out there somewhere.

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  12. When we lived in Arizona we had a neighbor who made them and sold them around Christmas time ...they were really good but she died... then we found a local family ... we knew the son from the dining room staff at the clubhouse ... his mom made them every Thursday and his dad took them in coolers only the coolers kepts them hot... and sold them out of his car ... he spoke Spanish, but not English ... he had a cardboard sign with the fillings and cost per each or per dozen ... he or you could point and he'd sell them every Friday ... haven't found any here in Mount Vernon WA though .. even though we have a large Spanish speaking population .. I'm guessing back from when there were large itinerant farming and picking crews and their families... it seems to me some would just stay on here till presto ... large number of Spanish speaking families here.

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