Tamale Time

Here's some pics of my tamale making extravaganza from last weekend at my grandfather's house. The first one right below Tee caught a picture of me wrapping up one of the little guys.



The picture below shows my grandfather, my step-grandmother (yeah, that's right), my uncle and yours truly.



In the picture below are my mom (she's sitting down), my aunt, and my niece Amber taking a momentary break from her busy schedule to supervise our operation.



The next one is a a nice shot of someone spreading the "masa" on the corn husk. Doesn't look that great, I agree, but it taste so good after it's steamed for about an hour and a half.



Sorry no pics of us eating. Well what do you expect? We were all too busy eating the fruits of our labor to stop and take a picture.

The Holiday Season

Although I doubt Theresa could adequately clear up my confusion about the correlation between Christ's birth and a decorated pine tree with lights, that didn't stop her from single-mindedly erecting our faux tree this past weekend. And in all honesty I couldn't be happier with her steadfast dedication to this long-standing tradition.

I have to admit the finished product is a nice, warm, homey addition to our little apartment. The soft glow of the stringed lights adds on air of merry-ness that I have come to look forward to every year. As grinchy as I feel for a holiday that too often focuses on material gifts and general greediness, this little sparkling plastic symbol helps remind me of the true spirit of the holiday season.