tamales

one nite this week sophia, isabelle, and i took on the daunting task of making tamales. we already had shredded pork from the freezer ready to use. it was left over from our branding last year when we cooked meat in the ground. it turned out so good. and we had a lot of left overs so we froze it.

we started by soaking the corn husks in water. meanwhile i made 2 batches of masa balls. you can find masa in your grocery store. it is ground up white corn. there is a recipe on the sack. take your masa make and divide it up into 2 inch balls. cover with a moist cloth. meanwhile take cooked shredded pork and place in skillet with a litte water. add a couple teaspoons of hand ground cumin seeds. sophia did this task. and add a couple teaspoons of chili powder also. simmer until the water is evaporated.

next take out one corn husk, place a masa ball on the husk with saran wrap on top. smash it down and use a rolling pin to flatten it and push it out to the edges. next place some meat on that. now fold the masa up into a little package using the corn husk. i have to tie my little packages with string. i have never had a lesson on making these...so i improvise and just do what works.

once you have all of them make place them in a basket over boiling water and cover. steam for one hour.

i served them with homemade green sauce, sour cream, and spanish rice. they were excellent and me and my girls had fun making them together. we missed not having bug with us. she was on a school trip for BPA. she is a busy girl.

i have posted pics showing the steps of making them.

and remember "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts" Winston Churchill

~bon appetite