Sunday, January 30, 2011

The new year



Now that January is almost over, I guess I'll take the time to post about my new year's eve. It's kind of a now or never kind of thing. If I don't post this before the end of January then it will seem a little silly (never mind the fact that it's already a teensy bit late already).

This year, we made tamales; this was my very first time to help make tamales and I really enjoyed the process. Despite the fact that I constantly stomp around declaring that I hate fussy cooking projects and only like to make easy dishes that don't require complex measuring and such (my baking often doesn't turn out very well due to lazy measuring), the truth is, I adore such things, when I have the time, inclination and participation of various favorite persons.

So, here are some photos of the process; I can promise you that these show just a sampling of the many steps required for this project:


I started cooking the chicken at 9:00 am after waking up to a list of instructions and a packet of semi frozen chicken that my mother left on the counter for me, while she went off gallivanting around the countryside.


We cut the chiles, zucchini and potatoes into strips, crumbled the queso, mixed the masa by hand and soaked the husks.


Assembling the tamales was very tedious. I actually adore tedious tasks. Filing, gluing small things together, coloring in the lines, all the things I secretly love to do but can't admit to loving because it isn't normal.


The tamales looked quite lovely with all the goodies assembled. The olive and raisins really made these taste exceptional.

We finally had the tamales steamed and ready to eat by 7pm. They were truly amazing and worth the extra effort.

Thank you, Elizabeth for giving me the opportunity to help you make tamales. It was great fun! =)

2 comments:

Lunette Gleason Fleming said...

I want to make them again, only, not so many. I think I liked the veggie/curry ones best.

Lynnea said...

it's really very true. It would be easier to make just a few. I liked them all very much. Honestly, i'd like to eat them every single day.