Getting in touch with my Hispanic roots

One day I hope to be able to speak Spanish fluently. I know a lot of food-related words in Spanish and can say whether we are eating at the restaurant (por aqui) or taking it to go (para llevar). I'm also learning how to read and comprehend Spanish.

Until I can speak Spanish, I'll make yummy dishes to stay connected to my roots. :D

I've made several Mexican dishes (carne guisada, chile con carne and caldo de res). I've made flour tortillas, but I really wanted to try my hand at corn tortillas.

On New Year's Day, Dan made carnitas (little meats) de (of) pato (duck), rice, beans and my mom and I made corn tortillas. We also made salsa. Yum! Talk about a delicious way to ring in the New Year. :)

We bought fresh ground corn masa (dough).

Roll Masa into balls and let them rest

Place the tortilla ball on top of a piece of plastic on the tortilla press

Put the other piece of plastic on top of the tortilla ball and press handle down

Apply a bit of pressure to ensure ball is spreading

Release handle, lift tortilla press and see your perfect raw tortilla

Carefully peel off tortilla and throw on a warm comal (griddle)

2 Different Salsas (1 Tomatillo & 1 Pico de Gallo)

Carnitas de Pato (Duck)

Now be honest, how many of you out there didn't know I was Hispanic (Mexican)? :D

The Tamale Tradition Continues!

This is something I had meant to blog about awhile back.

On December 2007 Dan and I made tamales for the first time with my mama and we enjoyed it so much we decided we would continue this wonderful tradition. :) This year (2008) we made them just a couple of days before Christmas.

Making tamales is not difficult, but is very time consuming, it can take all day and can be very tiring. I am definitely sore by the end of the day.

It starts with pork.
This is one of the roasted pork shoulders that Dan made.

It is then chopped up and seasoned with more spices.

It's Dan's job to handle the pork.

It's my job to make the masa...with the help of my mama of course!



Now that the meat has been chopped & seasoned, the masa mixed, and the corn husks soaked...it's time to embarrar (spread the masa on the husks).
This is mine and my mama's job. :) This can be very tiring and this is what leaves us so sore at the end of the day.



A glimpse at the mess we can make.

Dan's other jobs are to: fill the corn husks with the meat and special sauce

and to wrap/roll the tamales.



A shot of some of the completed tamales.



Loading them into our pot.

Taking a break to stretch the back, as I watch my hubster hard at work.

Time for a quick photo.

Cutting into a tamale, checking to make sure they are ready.

Some of the cooked tamales before being packed.

Mama S packing the tamales in foil.

Packed tamales ready to go in the freezer or eaten!!



We make the best tamales! :)
Last year (2007) we made over 70 dozen over 2 days...this time around we only made a little over 20 dozen, but only did it on one night.

Put your orders in now. ;)

The Tamale Tradition

Every year my mom and her 3 sisters get together and make tamales. I think it is very important for us to be able to pass on this tradition to our children. This year D and I decided this was a great year to learn how to make tamales from my mom.


The below pics were taken on November 30th, we made 20 dozen that night. And were there for only about 4 hours.

Don't mind my bandana, it's a requirement when making tamales. :)
I helped my mom with the masa--
she added the ingredients, while I mixed it all together.

It's harder than it looks...
We couldn't get a hang of putting the masa on the corn husks.

We were taking too long on getting them done,
thank goodness Mom was there or we would've been there all night!

D found what he was best at--flavoring the pork and deer
and filling the husks with the meat.

All done!

My neck & back were aching from mixing that masa. :)

D, Me & my Mom

Then, we made more on December 8th. We made ~50 dozen that night. It was a long day this time around, we were there for about 8 hours!

D doing what he does best!

Me & my dad--he decided he was going to help this time!

Even though I look really uncomfortable in this pic,
I finally got the hang of filling the husks with masa!

We made a mess!

We had been there all night and began to hallucinate a little bit. ;)

I've gotta say our tamales are the best I've ever had! Usually my mom & her sister's tamales are really great, but ours were spiced perfectly (thanks to D!). We gave a few dozen to D's parents and to some of his co-workers. And we still have a few dozen in our freezer. ;)

The most fun of this whole experience was getting to reminisce with my mom about the past and hearing her stories about making tamales with her mom.

We love you Mom! Thanks for the lesson! We look forward to doing it again next year. XOXOXO