Tamales

*So here’s a cute story for a Sunday.

I grew up with a tradition of having Tamales on New Years Day.

When I lived in Southern California it was very easy to go to a Mexican deli and just order them for the holidays.

Often, when I was still a teacher, parents would bring some  in for me.

One year I actually had a few parents come over to my home and teach me how to prepare them.

I was somewhat in a quandary when I moved to The Oregon coast.

I wasn’t sure where I’d find tamales. So, recently while eating dinner at a local Mexican restaurant El Rancho Viejo, through a mixture of broken English, and broken Spanish on my husbands part…we asked Bella the proprietress if she made tamales.

She said she didn’t but would be willing to make a batch if we helped her. She had made some in the past, but she wanted an opportunity to advance her tamale making skills.

She said she would make a small batch for us, and that we would taste them to see if we liked them before she made a bigger batch.

We waited in anticipation for her call, and we’re very pleased to taste her offering. We called her and said “please make us two dozen cheese, and chili relleno!” she said she would, but she needed our help. She asked that we find the cornhusks, and supply some of the cheese. So, Joe immediately went to a local grocery and found the cornhusks and cheese that Bella requested.

After delivering the goods, Bella said she would call us with the finished product. With much excited expectation we awaited her call. Even though it had been our tradition to have tamales on New Year’s Day,  we had no way of knowing if Bella would call us back. Lo and behold late on the first of  January 2016, Bella called and said that our tamales were ready! But, since the restaurant was closed, Joe had to knock secretly on the side door. Joe reported that he was ushered into a savory sensory experience of cooking tamales in the kitchen. There in a huge vat sat 24 handmade tamales! While some were less than perfect (as Bella says) the deep satisfaction in Bella’s face and the homey experience of handmade tamales made this a very memorable New Year’s Day.

*This cute little savory Sunday story was written with a little help from my savory husband Joe.

Have a wonderful Sunday!