Today I helped the girls make tamales. This is a classic example of "working the foundry", as Dad used to say. It reminds me of the times we used to gather around the dining room table and make sauerkraut or schneiderboner (I'm not sure that is spelled right). Just change the ingredients and add a couple bottles of wine.
This is a mexican tradition, and must be done every year if you are going to have tamales ready for the "posada" (which, this year will be on Wednesday, at our friends house). It is quite a process, that takes all day.
First you make the masa (mixing the corn meal with lard, chili peppers and pork stock)
Then have a glass of wine.
Once that is done, the masa is spread on corn husks... stop for a sip of wine.
Then it is rolled up and steamed for an hour. The result? Mighty tasty!
But this is one of those things that takes many hands to make light work. It is back-breaking at best, since it involves standing for hours. A true labor of love, but worth every bit of the pain.
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