My great, great grandfather came from Mexico on horseback in 1928 to work on the Santa Fe Railroad. Once he made enough money, he returned to Mexico and brought my great, great grandmother with him to marry her and start their life in America. Today, we still hold on to some of the Mexican culture.

Some women bake cookies, my grandma makes tamales! “When I was a little girl, I would go to my abuela’s house for a whole week and spend the time helping her cook them.” My own grandma tells me as she recalls her childhood memories. When the Christmas season starts, the fiesta begins at our house! Every year for as long as I can remember, my grandma and I have spent a weekend together making tamales.

We start the long process out by going to a Mexican store and buying pork, masa, chile ancho, and corn husks. My grandpa helps out by cooking the meat, which takes about six to eight hours. We usually make pork, but this year we tried making chicken ones as well. The meat cooks overnight and the next morning were up bright and early ready to start. As a little girl, making the masa was my favorite part because it requires getting messy. A large storage bin is used to hold the doughy corn substance. I always mix the masa with the warm broth. The dough oozes between my fingers like play dough. We also add in chili ancho to the meat which gives it some spice. A word to the wise, don’t get chili ancho in your eyes.

Once the meat and masa are prepared, we begin the rolling process. This usually takes a few hours. We wash off and dry hundreds of corn husks, used to wrap up the tamale while it is steaming. Then we get some spoons and dig in to start spreading! Over the years I’ve improved on this part. I usually take a few breaks during this process because we make so many. Once we used 40 pounds of meat and 50 pounds of masa, making a total of 469 tamales.

The tamales steam for a few hours, and once they’re done we always enjoy the first taste together! To complete the feast we make pervano beans and sopa (rice). We also make fresh homemade salsa, queso, and guacamole. Our extended family comes over and we host a big tamale party. My grandma is the oldest of seven children, so it’s a full house! This time is spent together bonding and making memories, complete with a great dinner.

We eat leftovers for a few days and store some in the freezer. A bundle of tamales and a can of fresh salsa makes for a nice treat for neighbors, family, and friends. I enjoy the time I spend making tamales with my grandma. Just as she was taught to make them by her grandmother, and she taught me, I plan to carry on the tradition for generations to come.