TAMALES made Guat style!

Ever since I was a little girl, I remember the rituals that surrounded my home when it was time to make tamales! It is a tradition in Guatmala to have tamales for Christmas and it's been one in our family as long as I can remember. Every once in a while, my mom will gather the ingredients and set aside a day or two in the middle of the year and surprise us all with the best food in the whole world! These tamales are made out of a pureed and liquified rice mixture instead of the traditional corn flour that is used in most other countries. The sauce is made out of roasted red peppers and is heavenly!  A small piece of pork is added to the middle to add substance and to top it off a green olive or two is added at the end before wrapping them individually in banana leaves. 

As a little girl in California, we had a banana tree in our backyard and were able to use those. Utah's weather isn't as "banana tree friendly" so a trip to a local mexican market is required. Then the whole thing is wrapped in tin foil and steamed until it's cooked to perfection.  It's so great that Brendan and our boys have loved them so much from their very first bite. Allison isn't much of a fan, but then she isn't much of a fan of anything that doesn't involve chocolate.

Though I've seen them made many, many times, I have yet to try making them on my own. It's a very intimidating and long process that doesn't have an exact recipe (most of my mom's specialties are like that). I need specific intstructions!!! One of these days I'll give it a whirl. I'm glad that while Jordan will be missing many of our family traditions while he is on his mission, he will feel right at home having tamales for Christmas this coming December.