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January 14, 2002
Another great thing I did
Another great thing I did was help make tamales with Jen, Stepan, Aunt Helen and Aunt Bertha and cousin Debbie who came in from California. Tamales is a very intense cooking experience. It literally takes days to cook them. There are the ojas to wash (3 times), the meat to cook and simmer, the masa to make, the assembly of the actual tamale and finally 6 hours steaming/cooking time. Because it is so labor intensive, we try to make an enormous amount so we can freeze them and have them throughout the year. This year the grand total of tamales was 96... Dozen . Jenny, Stepan and I didn't make the first two days of tamale making unfortunately. There was just too much to do to squeeze it all in. Fortunately we made the third day, the Sunday before Christmas.
Tamales in my family are like gold. Even though we make a huge amount, there seems to never be enough to go around. At least that is what I used to think. As we were waiting for the tamales to cook my sister and I (although her fiancee, Stepan, took up the task when Jen didn't) was assigned the dubious task of defrosting the freezer my Grandmother kept in the den. When I opened it there were layers of ice and tamales from Christmas' past lining the bottom. I am sure an archeologist could have studied these many layers of freezer burned delicacies and related them to periods in our family history. Mesasoic, Paleozoic..etc etc. There was no saving the 15 or so dozen tamales that I threw away while completing my task. But there was a lesson hard learned as I tearfully threw away freezer bag after freezer bag of my Grandmother's legacy: Tamales are for the sharing and the eating; not the saving and hording like a greedy miser.
Jenny, Stepan and I walked away with about 3 and a 1/2 dozen...a special emissary of my Grandmother sent me off with an additional dozen...which was really gracious considering my limited participation. I gave a dozen to my Grandma Karl and Jenny gave Mom a half dozen. I went to NY with 1 1/2 dozen and Jenny got the rest which was probably about a dozen. I have discovered that I much prefer the delight of other people experiencing my Grandma Lucio's fantastic tamales to the knowledge that my booty is safe in a freezer. Tamales are my inheritance; my fortune left to me by my Grandmother. I can always make more another year as I know the secrets of my Grandmother's recipe. I am so grateful to my Aunt Helen who so patiently carried on the legacy and taught me how to make them in Grandma's stead.
I was never great with keeping up with "stuff" and I move too much right now to take care of the "priceless heirlooms" that I might covet from time to time. But I live content and peaceful knowing that one day I will introduce my children, or my nieces and nephews to my Grandma Lucio as I teach them how to make the most delicious tamales that have ever passed these lips.
Posted by mermu at January 14, 2002 07:00 PM
Comments
The lesser of two evils is still evil.
Posted by: Muckenhoupt Carl at January 25, 2004 08:16 PM
I cleaned the the freezer in the kitchen! Sure it didn't need to be defrosted, but it was well caked with goo and food stuff!! :-p
Posted by: Jenny at January 15, 2002 01:39 PM
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