Lol, that was cute, come on over at Christmas time and I can ensure you the tamales will be great!. I love them too It takes me all day but its wearth every bite!.

I was introduced to the Christmas tamale tradition when I moved to California from Pennsylvania and one of my new girlfriends (who I call my "hot Latina mama!") brought me into her life and family. We've been celebrating together for over a decade now.

Tell me what tamal is...please

Oh, a tamale, a real mexican tamale is a one of the most delicious meat dishes on earth. My moms sister is married to a Hispanic gentleman and every year at our huge Italian Christmas celebration at my grandmothers house, his entire family was invited and mama, his mother, made homemade tamales, shredded beef in a kind of wrapping that was not edible,made from corn husks I think, with some type of corn meal wrap, that was edible... They are to die for...but they need to be the autherntic kind, not the junk they sell in the stores.

Tamales can be made in all different ways, I make them the way my mom taught me. A tamale is corn meal wraped in corn husks stuff with red chilli and it is very good. My tamales are made with pork roast and red chilli, I also make green chicken tamales with (queso resco), spinch with cheese, and pine apple ones with rasin's those I do not like much but most do. The best are the red chilli one's homemade is best.mmmmmmmmmmI am getting hungry.

SoCali is ~1/4 Hispanic, so tamales are common. You can even get gourmet tamales, vegetarian tamales, and fusion-ethnic tamales.

Actually, all foods here are apt to be adapted into some fusion whatever. Everyone eats everyone else's ethnic food -- which makes food the great equalizer

Maria, how long does it take for you to make tamales? I've heard it's very time consuming.

Actually Dianne its not. It takes about as long as baking a cake. The shredding of the cooked meat always tales me the longest because I like it like string. I cook my meat the day before and then shred it the next day when its cold and easy to hande.

Dianne for me I just plan a day of it because when I make mine I make alot of them you can freeze them and they make a great quick snack, plus I give them to poeple that have helped me thew the year one way or a other they make great gifts for Christmas. Chatty is right the meat takes the longest it has to cook for hours till the meat shreddes easy. Plus I add some seasons to give it flaver the longer it cooks the best it taste, then you want to add some home made redchilli which has seasons of its own. The spreading of the masa can take long if you dont make it just right. so that is by feeling it can't be sticky and it has to be a little salty cause when you steam them the salt dissolves. I have been told that I make the best tamales and I have to thank my mom, you see I come from a big family of 14teen my mom sold tamales door to door so we had to help, the girls helped with making them and the boy's sold them door to door. My mom did it because she had to help my dad with the bills and have extra money for Christmas. I started helping when I was eight I only did the sprending but became very good that it so I might say that is the easy part. I recomend that if you have never had a home made tamale you should find someone who makes them and not a store because they are not the same, belive me someone sells them they are best found at Christmas time and threw the new year.