tamales!

since a lot of chri's relative's are from out of town they decided to stay beyond the wedding.  we all (the women) went over to Brian and Kim's house to learn how to make tamales!

all the women gathered around while aunt mary and anita instructed us the rights and wrongs to making tamales...  and the one wrong we discovered was buying the incorrect kind of masa...

the meat concoction

kim ended up driving all the way down to 4th and 22nd st to get the correct kind (which has to be ordered in advance from food city (an important FYI!)

the corn husks needed to be soaked (which we should have started earlier than we actually did.)

it was so fun because everyone took turns trying everything :)

 sierra got out her apron that she decided she didn't want to wear and gave it to me

love her :)

since i don't eat meat (besides fish) they were willing to try to make a different kind of tamale. 

cheese and chili

i took a picture of the recipe... not sure if i could read it though!

anita cutting cheese (which i couldn't help but snack on!)

 kim's turn at soaking the husks (which i think she ended up having to do most of the time)  her poor hands!

both the grandmas :)

shirley and margaret

 anita showing how to spread the masa

mrs. king trying her hand at tamales

 the veggie tamales towards the beginning

shirley is a pro! (and wearing erik's apron!)

love that everyone was getting trying!

sierra made special ones that she tied bows around so we could tell which ones didn't have a chili in it

what they looked like as anita was putting them in to cook

i was admiring the dogs sun bathing outside

 i made shirley pose for a picture!

anita put a barrier in the pot to keep the meat and veggie tamales separate

you put extra husks on top of the tamales to help them cook and i think to keep in the moisture

 anita was a good sport considering all the pictures i was taking!

aunt mary was so patient with all of us!

 after hours of steaming... we checked to see if they were done.  if done, the masa will come easily off the husks

kim made lots of yummy salsa and guac for us to snack on until dinner

john was the official tamale tester to see if they were done :)

mom and son mixing/making other meats for tacos

sierra's cute bow tied tamales 

  

she was proud!

brian labeled the tamales... just to make sure

 kim!  how did you end up at the kids table?!  :)

 my plate!

after dinner the kids and two adults went swimming!

scout was swimming with everyone!

fun fun day :)  i'm really glad that i got to learn from my new relatives how to make such a tasty meal!

and i'd have to say it also was kind of a bonding experience!