Tamales

Tamales are a traditional Mexican food served at Christmas. They are one of those perfect foods that almost everybody likes. They are easy to reheat, easy to eat & very portable. They are a bit labor intensive to make, but very worth the effort. I've also been told they freeze well, but there are never any left to freeze when I make them, my family gobbles them up immediately.

Start with

And (This is shredded pork, but you can also use shredded beef or chicken.) I cook the meat in my crockpot until it is falling off the bones, then let it cool in the fridge for a couple hours (or overnight). Remove as much grease from the cooled meat as possible, then shred it either with your hands or using two forks to pull it apart. Add about 1/2 can of enchilada sauce for flavoring. Keep the broth for use in making the dough.

You will need a pot like this with a steamer insert

To prepare the dough, combine 3 cups Masa, 1/2 t salt & 1 t baking powder. Add 2/3 cup shortening and cut in like making biscuits. When it is crumbly, add 2 cups either broth from the meat or canned chicken broth. I add about 1/2 can of enchilada sauce to the broth & heat it ahead of time. Mix the liquid into the dry until the dough becomes spongy. Let sit for a few minutes.Put about this much masa on a soaked & rinsed corn husk (soak corn husks in HOT water for about 30 minutes, then rinse thoroughly & remove any corn silks)
Flatten it out
Put a small amount of meat all down the center
Fold over the corn husk

Fold the husk back open

Fold the other side closed, fold the ends in, then roll up

Stack on end in steamer pot

Steam at low heat for an hour, then take them out & let them sit for at least 2 hrs to cool before eating or packaging up for later.

Bread

This is a family recipe. My Grandmother made this bread daily for her husband & 6 kids when my Mom was a kid. My Mom has always made it for holiday meals & on those chilly winter days when fresh baked bread is the only thing that can make you feel truly warm. I started making it when I was about 10. My Mom would buy a jar of yeast & 20 lbs of flour, then several times a week I would "practice" making bread. It really is one of those trial & error things that you have to make over & over to get the feel for. I don't make it as often as my family would like, but I do make it for all holidays & randomly through out the winter.

This recipe involves getting messy. Plan to have dough up to your elbows & flour all over the place.

Ingredients
2 cups very warm water
1 packet regular yeast (2 1/4 t )
2 T sugar
2 T vegetable oil
2 t salt
5 lbs flour (you won't use the whole thing, but it is best to have a full bag to start)

It is important to use a large glass bowl....I sometimes use the 5 quart stoneware insert from my round crockpot.

Read the instructions on the back of the yeast packet. The water should be 90 to 100 degrees. Pour water into large glass bowl. Add sugar, yeast, oil & salt. Mix around with your fingers to dissolve.

Start adding flour 2 cups at a time & mixing in well with one hand (keep one hand out of the mixture to use in getting the flour out of the bag or canister). It can also be helpful to have another person pour flour for you. You will know you are close to enough flour when it starts to get hard to mix the flour into your dough. The dough should have an elastic feel & when you knead it, there shouldn't be any stickiness.

Put the dough back in the large bowl & cover with a towel. Let it rise in a warm part of the kitchen until it doubles in size. Punch it down, sprinkling flour on it anywhere it is sticky. Cover & let rise again. The second rising will be faster.

Punch it down again. Break off a piece about the size of a racquetball. It should fit nicely in the palm of your hand. Knead the dough by pulling the edges out & folding them firmly back into the center. Continue kneading until a solid firm ball is formed. Place into a greased 13X9 baking pan. Repeat until the pan is full. Be sure to leave about 1 inch space around each roll. Cover with a towel & let rise until the rolls are touching each other.

Bake in the oven @ 400 for 20 minutes or until they are golden. Remove from oven, rub the tops of the rolls with butter for a soft crust or shortening for a firmer crust. Remove from pan & allow to cool slightly before serving. DO NOT cut into hot bread with a knife!!!!! Cutting with a knife will cause the bread to get gummy. Break open by hand to butter.

Let the countdown to Thanksgiving begin

There are 12 days until Thanksgiving!!!It's time to start gathering the recipes & thinking about strategy! I will be buying a 15 to 18 pound frozen turkey in the next few days...they are currently 79 cents a pound at the local grocery store, I'm hoping it will drop down another 10 to 2o cents a pound when the sale papers come out tomorrow. Once I buy the turkey it will sit in the bottom of my fridge until Thanksgiving morning. I know from past experience that it takes about a week for a turkey that size to actually defrost in the refrigerator. Based on that, I'll probably buy it this Wednesday. I've already bought a 10 lb spiral sliced ham. I've been making lists of what I've already got & what I still need to buy. Most of what I still need is produce, so I will buy that on the Tuesday before.

Here's a run down of my plan
Roast turkey--put it in the roaster by 9 am Thanksgiving morning, it should be done about 1 1/2 hrs before dinner. I don't cook my stuffing inside the turkey. Put turkey on a serving platter & let it cool to make carving easier.

Honey glazed ham--put it in the oven for one hour, two hours before dinner. Keep it in the baking pan covered with foil until just before dinner. Reheat in the microwave if needed just before putting it on the serving platter....don't forget to remove the foil before putting it in the microwave.

white bread stuffing--have the kids rip up 4 loaves of day old bread Wednesday morning. Leave out overnight to get completely stale. Thanksgiving morning, melt 1/2 cup butter in frying pan, saute 1 diced onion & 2 diced stalks of celery, plus the diced core of the celery until limp & slightly golden, add spices, eggs & milk put into baking pans & cover with foil. Cooks for about an hour at 400....anytime during the day. Remove foil & brown in oven for about 20 minutes sometime in the two hrs before dinner. Warm up in the microwave just before serving if it gets too cool.

cornbread stuffing--bake batch of cornbread on Wednesday, cube & allow to sit out to get stale, prepare stuffing at least 2 hrs before dinner, substitute turkey broth for chicken broth, substitute poultry seasoning for thyme, bake in a baking pan as time allows. Reheat in microwave just before serving.

mashed potatoes--get Hubby to peel 10 lbs of potatoes on Wednesday night. Immerse them in water in a big pan or bowl & refrigerate until about 2 hrs before dinner. Cook & prepare, store in crockpot on low to keep them warm through out dinner.

giblet gravy--remove the giblets from the turkey before it goes in the roaster. Boil them including the neck for about an hr, then let cool. Chop up the meat, only use a small portion of the liver, it can be very bitter, feed the extra liver to the dog or cats. Remove as much meat as possible from neck & discard bones, put the chopped meat back into the broth & set aside until the turkey is taken out of the roaster. Add the broth from the roaster, then bring to boiling & thicken with a flour & water paste.

baked sweet potatoes--wrap about 6 thoroughly washed sweet potatoes in foil. Bake in oven at 400 for 1 1/2 hrs early in the day....leave them wrapped & reheat in oven for about 20 minutes just before dinner. Serve with butter, marshmallows & cinnamon

candied sweet potatoes w/marshmallows--prepare in a baking dish a couple hrs before dinner, reheat in microwave just before serving

sweet & sour green beans--in the morning, cook 4 cans french cut green beans in the juice from the cans, add 1/2 lb crumbled cooked bacon, add 1 T bacon grease, 2T sugar & 2 T vinegar....increase sugar or vinegar to taste to create sweet & sour flavor. Refrigerate in serving dish until just before dinner, reheat in microwave.

canned cranberry sauce--refrigerate cans until just before dinner, slice onto a refrigerated plate to serve.

homemade whole cranberry sauce....follow recipe & prepare on Wednesday. Refrigerate until just before dinner.

spiced peaches...on Wednesday, put 2 cans of peaches in heavy syrup into large bowl with lid. Insert cloves randomly into peach pieces, sprinkle with cinnamon. cover & refrigerate until just before dinner

veggie tray...daughter in law is bringing

pickle & olive tray...my mother is bringing

homemade bread rolls...make dough Thursday morning, allow to rise 2X, set aside until about an hour before dinner, then make into rolls & let rise again. put in oven at 400 for 20 minutes just before dinner, when the bread is done it is time for dinner!!!

2 homemade deep dish apple pies...make on Wednesday, store uncovered in a cool place until time for dessert

2 homemade pumpkin pies...make according to Libby directions on Wednesday. Use two regular pie pans. Store in cool place covered with plastic wrap until time for dessert

cherry pie...make on Wednesday in a deep dish pan. Uses two cans of pie filling. Store in cool place covered with plastic wrap

peach pie...make on Wednesday. Use 3 lbs frozen peaches in a deep dish pie pan. Store uncovered in a cool place.

It may seem like a lot of work, but the enjoyment my family & I get from having this special meal together makes it well worth the effort.