a few of us are stuck here at work for another couple of hours today, but saul set us up with some of his mom's piping hot homemade tamales! . i'm currently enjoying my 4th one accompanied by arrowhead mountain spring water.

Gus,

I have six dozen tamales on order with this lady in F'burg who makes DA BEST tamales this side of the border. I think, unfortunately, that she uses real lard and who knows what parts of the pig, but they're good!

Pop a few of those bad boys in a steamer, slather on some picante, and I'm in heaven.

I'm thinking Sangria, cooled slightly. What say you?

I don't know about the g-man LW but I say pop a top on a cold one with those tamales.

Leave it to the ex-Texan to bring up tamales on a wine board!

My childhood friend's mother has a tamale party every year in December. Friends and family all get together and make tamales by the score. Last year 112 dozen was the final count. Twenty people at a time gathered around a table making up the little buggars. Some of the new tamale makers make some damn ugly ones but we eat them anyway!

Unfortunately this years party was postponed until January due to a family crisis.

I can't wait!

GA,

That is a fairly big tradition around these parts. Most people these days simply buy their tamales from "tamale factories". You have to place your orders 2-3 weeks in advance at the better places to make sure you get some.

Our family had the ol' tamale party a week or so ago. Good fun, as you know. But I still drink beer with my tamales!

lilac,

i'm going to have to go with beer for tamales.

ga,

there's no such thing as anex -texan, only misplaced ones.

gfleener, you bring back some nice memories when I was growing up in Fresno. Every Christmas, our neighbor brings over some home made tamales. When I was in Fresno this weekend, my Dad showed us the tamales the neighbor brought over. Our neighbor is (was) German and my mother thought his wife was Italian. Even as kid, I didn't think that this made sense since I never heard of Italians making tamales. But 40+ years later she is still making tamales. Her two husbands have passed on and so has my mother, but the Christmas tamales tradition lives on.

gleener - you are so right about Texans.

Our group of Texans ate our tamales on Christmas Eve per the tradition. We also ate homemade jambalaya so it was a bit weird but great food. We drank a gamut of wines with these dishes from Pinot to syrah. Plus beer. At least my family can COOK!