Anonymous wrote:OP, can you post which recipe you used?

My kid took the lead and he combined a few, and got some tips from videos, and substituted ingredients.

For the red chicken he used this recipe for the meat and sauce, and he copied their technique for assembling and steaming the tamales

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-y-4We2MsI

but he left out the puya chiles because some of the guests have issue with heat.

He prepared the masa from a different recipe that he tinkered with for a long time.

OP, can you post which recipe you used?

going to seek out some christmas tamales

Honestly I don't think you can go wrong with tamales at all. Any kind of cheese mix, spiced meat, they're all great. Just make whatever filling you like best and is a good fit for your family.

Anonymous wrote:Tamales are my least favourite food.

No one here cares. If you don't have anything to add, why bother writing?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just buy them. Your first-ever attempt at making them is not going to give this lady what she is asking for.

OP if you read this thread again, share how it went making it for the first time.

The first time was a disaster, but we started making practice batches on Tuesday night, and by Wednesday night they were pretty good. The ones we made tasted decent to us, and she really enjoyed being part of the process. She said they were delicious, but she's a polite lady with a poor memory, so she might just have meant better than the more institutional food she's used to. We put the purchased ones in the freezer, so maybe after she eats those she'll realize ours weren't great. Or maybe by then she won't remember ours. The others in the group were more interested in other foods.

We have a vegetarian coming for Christmas, and we're going to make the rajas con queso ones again and serve them there.

Tamales are my least favourite food.

Anonymous wrote:Just buy them. Your first-ever attempt at making them is not going to give this lady what she is asking for.

OP if you read this thread again, share how it went making it for the first time.

Just buy them. Your first-ever attempt at making them is not going to give this lady what she is asking for.

I've read on DCUM that you can buy the masa in the area, so look for threads? That is half the battle when making tamales. You can ask her what kind of tamales she likes and let her describe. Every region has its own tamales. Some are made in corn husks. Some are made in banana or other leaves. Texture can vary from heavy corn to custardy corn. Opt for lard. That gives an authentic flavor.

Anyway, once you have the masa, the meat, the sauce, and the corn husks/banana leaves, and so on, set up a table with all the tamale parts. Everybody stands around the table putting tamales together. You can probably find a Youtube showing an authentic tamale making set-up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She really likes to cook with us, or to sit with us while we're cooking. So, our thought is that we could bring the soaked leaves, and masa and fillings over, and she could join us while we make them and the turkey cooks.

But you're right, that we should probably have a back up. Any suggestions for where to get them? We're in Silver Spring. If ours turn out well, we can freeze the ones we buy.

We'll probably also make a "rough draft" on Tuesday for our own dinner.

Tamales taken one to two days to make! Call Mi Rancho in DTSS and see if you can buy them in bulk. Ages ago the Whole Foods in Silver Spring had great tamales on their prepared food section near the food bars. I used to buy them and freeze them. You forgot a key bit of info: tamales from what country? It isn't just Mexican. And even in Mexico every region has its own style. And then you have NM, AZ, and Texas tamales.

Her heritage is Mexican, but she's not giving us any specifics beyond that, either in terms of region or fillings. There is some dementia, and she doesn't have family we can ask. My guess is she'll be happier if she's involved in the process, and the result is less than perfect, rather than eating something brought in, but we'll have some backups.

That's very nice. I would buy the ones from Costco, in the corn husk, and then make the vegetarian ones above (although if you can use lard they will be more authentic for her probably). Green chile ones are very, very traditional, at least for Mexicans from the north part of the country, so that will likely feel like the holidays for her. I would not try to make two different types, but if you buy some with meat as part of your back up plan, you can heat them up. I wonder if there's a way to steam them in a crockpot -- they do take up a stove burner for several hours, so if you are making a whole holiday meal, that might be challenging.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She really likes to cook with us, or to sit with us while we're cooking. So, our thought is that we could bring the soaked leaves, and masa and fillings over, and she could join us while we make them and the turkey cooks.

But you're right, that we should probably have a back up. Any suggestions for where to get them? We're in Silver Spring. If ours turn out well, we can freeze the ones we buy.

We'll probably also make a "rough draft" on Tuesday for our own dinner.

Tamales taken one to two days to make! Call Mi Rancho in DTSS and see if you can buy them in bulk. Ages ago the Whole Foods in Silver Spring had great tamales on their prepared food section near the food bars. I used to buy them and freeze them. You forgot a key bit of info: tamales from what country? It isn't just Mexican. And even in Mexico every region has its own style. And then you have NM, AZ, and Texas tamales.

Her heritage is Mexican, but she's not giving us any specifics beyond that, either in terms of region or fillings. There is some dementia, and she doesn't have family we can ask. My guess is she'll be happier if she's involved in the process, and the result is less than perfect, rather than eating something brought in, but we'll have some backups.

People are so dramatic. We make these every year and yes they are a bit labor intensive but we love doing it and they come out amazing every time:

https://pinchandswirl.com/monterey-jack-green-chile-tamales/

And yes, great for a group activity!

Anonymous wrote:She really likes to cook with us, or to sit with us while we're cooking. So, our thought is that we could bring the soaked leaves, and masa and fillings over, and she could join us while we make them and the turkey cooks.

But you're right, that we should probably have a back up. Any suggestions for where to get them? We're in Silver Spring. If ours turn out well, we can freeze the ones we buy.

We'll probably also make a "rough draft" on Tuesday for our own dinner.

Tamales taken one to two days to make! Call Mi Rancho in DTSS and see if you can buy them in bulk. Ages ago the Whole Foods in Silver Spring had great tamales on their prepared food section near the food bars. I used to buy them and freeze them. You forgot a key bit of info: tamales from what country? It isn't just Mexican. And even in Mexico every region has its own style. And then you have NM, AZ, and Texas tamales.

Order from a Mexican restaurant. It’s typical they are available during the holidays. I’ve made them at Christmas but you don’t need to. You’d need wet masa and everything. Many Mexican families buy because you need like 50 for a crowd. It will be better.