Tamales, Tamales, & More Tamales







Our family has incorporated a tradition from Guatemala –we make tamales each year and eat them on Christmas Eve with spaghetti – my grandmother’s recipe and another family tradition.  J  I think we have been doing this for about 5 or 6 years now.  Sometimes we have friends join us for our tamale making, and other times it is just our family. 



 

Matt making Tamales Negros

Tex Mex Tamales

Each of us have our favorites – Allison & Josie like the Tex Mex version with lots of cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder in them.  Trevor, Matt, and I like the Colorados – a fairly mild red sauce, smooth masa, and chicken.  Matt & I have also gotten to really enjoy the Negros – they are made with chicken and a sauce that has tomatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds & sesame seeds, chocolate, and cinnamon in it. The masa also is a little sweeter & a prune, 2 raisins, and 2 green olives are put in each one.  The Negros are considered an “expensive” tamale and a true celebration tamale.  This year we added a Potato Tamale to our list – it tastes almost like a garlic seasoned mashed potato side dish – quite good. 



Ingredients for Tamales Negros



Last weekend we made over 325 tamales!  It took some time and one very late night (bed looked really good at 4am on Sunday morning) to get them all made and steamed.  J  What we realize though is how lucky we are to be able to make our tamales.  It is a tradition to eat them on Christmas Eve in Guatemala, but many families can’t afford basic food to start with – so tamales are not an option without the help of others.

One of the groups that Nuestros Niños works with is Mayan Families in the Lake Atitlan area of Guatemala.  Mayan Families started putting together tamale baskets in 2005, after hearing that two of their sponsored children were knocking at doors asking for a tamale as their single mother couldn’t afford the ingredients for this traditional dinner.  They determined that many families were in this same situation and began putting together tamale baskets – honoring the tradition and the people that would receive them. 

This year, they hope to be able to give out over 1,500 baskets - though only about 700 have been donated so far.  Each basket costs $35 and includes enough food for a festive Christmas Eve dinner:

·         A reusable basket

·         Oil

·         Rice

·         A block of drinking chocolate

          (the traditional drink at midnight)

·         A Loaf of bread

·         Raisins

·         Grapes

·         Apples

·         Sugar

·         A Chicken

·         Tomatoes

·         Coffee

·         Leaves to wrap the tamales

·         Cloves

·         Pepper

·         Sesame Seeds

·         Pumpkin Seeds

·         HOPE & LOVE

In our family, we always talk about the “special ingredient” that is in every recipe that we make – LOVE.  When a tamale basket is donated, it gives the nutritious food – but it also shows COMPASSION, HOPE, and LOVE.

Mother Teresa said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one…”

If your family might be interested in donating a tamale basket, you can click on the “Donate” button and make a donation of $35 through PayPal.   All donations for tamale baskets must be received by Dec. 19^th & all donations are tax-deductible.

Wishing each of you a wonderful holiday season!

Angela