Blog 5

Ingredients 

Dried Corn Husks
Masa (Dough) Ingredients 
Masa Harina (flour)
Corn Oil or Avocado Oil
Baking Powder
Salt
Filling options  
Chicken
Beef 
Pork
Cheese
Red Salsa.
Green Salsa
Steps 
Step 1) Soak your corn husks.  Find a large pot to let the corn husks soak for about an hour or until softened.
Step 2) Mix the masa I tend to use my hands to mix it but it will be a long process, or you could use a mixer to mix the masa. Then cover the masa with a damp towel and refrigerate until ready to use.
Step3) Prepare both your fillings and salsa. Then combine them together..
Step 4) Begin to assemble your tamales.
Step 5)Lay the corn husk on a flat surface. Then spread a small amount of masa on to the corn husk by using a spoon or knife.
Step 6) Add your filling/sauce to the center of the tamale 
Step 7) Fold the corn husk in half vertically.  Then fold the corn husk in half so that the masa wraps entirely around the filling.
Step 8) Continue folding the corn husk entirely over to one side so that it is a burrito shape.
Step 9)Fold the top end down to enclose one end of the tamale.  One end of the tamale will be folded over. 
Step 10)Tie the tamale together.  I like to shred a few corn husks into long skinny strips to tie the tamales together.
Step 11) Then steam the tamales 
Background:
I grew up eating tamales every Christmas with my family. My mom would invite my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents every other Christmas to our house to celebrate Christmas together. Each year we change places where the family dinner would be at. So that meant that sometimes I would travel to Mexico to go the family events. Since I was a little girl, I had to help make the tamales each year sometimes I would hate it other times I would like it. We would usually fill the tamales with chicken and red salsa or with green salsa. Also, my family loves spicy food so we would make the red salsa tamales really spicy for the adults. Then the green salsa would be mild for the children that attended the family dinner. It was a very long process to make the tamales especially because I have a big family, so we had to make enough tamales for at least 30 adults and 15 children. I remember going to the grocery store early in the morning or a day before to get all the stuff we needed with my mom or aunts. Then when we were cooking the tamales, the females of my family would just get together and talk about what was currently happening in their lives. It was pretty fun to learn how to make the tamales then be able to teach my younger cousins how to make one, but they always ended up making a huge mess. It was a family tradition that I miss especially around Christmas time because I am no longer as close to my cousins as I used to be because we are all in school or having families.