Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Tamales, Natilla, Crazy things!

I have to admit today has being kind of a crazy day. With moments of allot of happiness and laughter.

Let's start baba is super tired pobresito he has not stop working, not only does he has to deal with all the crazy guest trying to get everything for Christmas, but he has to come to a wife that is doing snowflakes at the request of Samia and hanging them from the ceiling.

This morning mami finish making some snowflakes that had being put in the back burner for a couple of weeks, I am starting to hang them however I have made a few 3D and boy are they time consuming but the kids love them today.

We had a few visitors at home today. Stacy came with Carson to let us taste some of those cookies she spend the whole day baking yesterday and her tedious work was worth it. Samia enjoy the OREOS snowballs with white chocolate. Poor Stacy she came to visit and ended babysitting. Before writing tonight I read my friends Stacy blog and she had the cutes post about the fun they had while I was gone.

Then we had our other friend Stacey bringing us some more chocolate fudge, chocolate pretzels. By now I am a ball of sugar from eating so much sweet. NO JODA ESTOY MAS DULCE QUE UNA ABEJA! Then to top it off Bonnie came by, but she was healthier she brought me a salad, she knows I tend to skip lunch and my sugar drops and I start to feel bad, well little did she know my sugar was high from so much sweets.

With so much company Samia was enjoying her friends coming and dropping off sweets, she also took the time to show them her snowflakes. After the visitors left mami took time to start cooking tamales.

Tamales

Tomatoes
Onions
Scallions
Garlic
Cumin
Salt
Beef
Chicken
Sazon Goya
Potatoes
Olive Oil
Canned Vegetables


Cut the tomatoes, onions, scallions and garlic in small pieces you can use the chopper. nenas as you will learn mami has not quantities I am just not good at it I just estimate, Inshallah by the time you are in your own mami can tell you exactly how many tomatoes etc.


After cutting put everything in a pot with olive oil, cummin, sazon goya, salt and pepper.


While this is cooking, wash the beef and chicken cut it in cubes and then put everything in the pot.



While this is cooking start peeling the potatoes and cutting them in larger cubes

Check that the stuff in the pot has cooked already if there is too much water take the top off so it can evaporate then add the can of vegetables.

After this has being cooked and cool off. Get the plantain leaves and warm them up to make them more manageable

I take this time to make la masa ponerle sal con un poquito de color
And this is how we put them together
Usually baba is the one that wraps them up
Samia just as a reminder you started to help me make tamales at 2 years old and here is a picture to prove it, I should add you drove me crazy asking mami lets bake tamales, you think everything is bake I can not blame you is being very festive the last couple of months.
So between all of these cooking there is a very funny episode it goes like this:
Samia: Mami I am going pipi
Mami: Okey
Samia is gone for longer than usually, Mami takes a walk to the bathroom.....
OH OH what do I find Samia with a mirror looking at her NALGAS.
Mami: Samia que estas haciendo
Samia: Looking for my tail (buscandome la cola)
Mami: Speechless a lo COLOMBIANO con LA JETA ABIERTA
The cooking continues La NATILLA here I cheat a little bit I buy the box that has the premade mixture so it goes like this not much instruction nenas just pictures follow the instructions in the box oh make sure you follow the ones written in Spanish for the past 10 years every time I buy this box for some reason the english instructions are written wrong.
So today Santa came once again and took one of Samia's beautiful ornaments she made for Santa (wait I really have to stop as I type this is 11:00 PM, GAmila is not feeling so well so we are in bed and she is in my arms picking her nose OH GOSH a 1 year old picking her nose in front of mami....Gamila ten cuidado que te vas a sacar un ojo)
So this is our tree after Santa has made his last trip, tomorrow evening El Nino Dios would be born and then we will open our gifts, the best part is that next to this beautiful Christmas story, Christmas tree we have a beautiful picture frame of the last Sura from the Koran. Nenas this is what we all are about understanding each other respecting each other and most important of all loving were we come from and what we believe in.


3 comments:

Kim said...

WOW! I so wish I would have been at your house today! It looks like you had so much fun and you will have to give me cooking lessons now! We got tamales from an 90 year old Mexican lady from South Texas for Christmas eve and I cannot wait to taste them! MERRY CHRISTMAS! Miss you guys!

Anonymous said...

ay q me das riiiiiiiiiiiiiisa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"que te vas a sacar un ojo"

pues q tengan una navidad muy rica y llena de felicidad.

Como extrano a las posadas y comiendo tamales y atole y bebiendo ponche... q memorias bonitas. gracias.

Simply Eva said...

OMGGGGG--I LOVE tamales. But they look like so much work! Is there a simpler way to make them? I wish I can find the ingredients here in Cairo.