The time is here! Yup, that’s right… Tamale season!!! The warm house that smells of steamed corn, marinated pork and beef… snacking on chicharrones, and jalapeños!

So every year my grandma, aunt, and I get together to make tamales for Christmas! We wake up early, throw our tamale making aprons on, and meet at grandmas house to drink our cups of coffee together! Then, we get to it! Mixing the corn dough with the vegetable shortening and broth, getting it the perfect consistency! We add salt as we go until it tastes just right! It’s a messy messy job, but our aprons love it!

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil…

Ecclesiastes 2:24

This time of year is my favorite because in my family, the way we show love is by feeding each other. These tamales used to sell for twenty dollars a dozen, but we no longer take orders. The only tamales we make are the batches we give out as gifts. The more food Grandma shoves in your mouth, the more she loves you! Every year she teaches me how to cook something new. Over the past few years she has taught me how to prepare each kind of meat, the pork, beef, chicken, all different kinda of salsas to make the same meat taste different, and even a simple jalapeño and cheese!

The key to making your jalapeño and cheese tamales is to add a little bit of root beer leaves! Also, we’ve tried all the different kinds of cheeses, make sure your masa is salted just right and use mozzarella cheese! Your cheese will melt, but still stay in your tamale!

This year she taught me to make chicharrones tamales with a green salsa made from tomatillo. Let me tell you, the chicharrones aren’t crispy anymore once you are done steaming the tamales, but they are still quite delicious!

I truly cherish moments like the ones I made today because my grandma and aunt aren’t always going to be around. And the really scary thing is no one else knows how to make these tamales! Without their recipes, no more tamales! I know, what a horrible thing to say, but it’s true! So, please! Look at your life and cherish the moments. They can end at anytime!