too many tamales!

if you want to maintain your figure or lose some of the bodacious curves you strut with, then i say don’t, i repeat, DON'T make friends with people who can cook. people who can cook tend to share their cooking and if you have no self control like me, then you just find yourself constantly stuffing face.

a few days ago, i invited myself over to my friend's place to "help" her make tamales. here she is mixing up the masa. how did i help? by ooooohhhing and ahhhhhing and taking pics for my blog. the masa was looking like a paper mache art project and oh so gooey.

then it was time to help set her table with all the tamale making goods. i helped by pushing all the bowls around to make a nice triangle for the photo shoot. ha! mmmm...masa, beef, corn, and green beans. she admitted adding the veggies wasn't an authentic move on her part, but since she's the boss, she gets to do whatever she wants! i second that! besides, veggies are good for the body so no objections there.

then it was time to smear the masa on the corn husks. what an art in doing it right. needless to say, the retarded looking ones were made by me with masa oozing out of various crevices. then came the spoonful of saucy beef. since it's homemade, you get to heap as much filling as you want!! whoo hoo, no more beef strands, more like beef chunks. yum!

here's a tamale with all its proper veggies. what a pretty sight it was. i made about 15 before i decided that it was enough "help" to earn myself a hot steamy one when she cooked the first batch. seriously, the repetitive nature of the task wore me down. alas, i realized i could never become a professional tamales maker. so sad.....

and here's the tamale. let's strip it down shall we? bowchickabowwow.

looking good there! ow! take it off!

mmmmm....perfection! hot, steamy, and meaty :0

my friend is an awesome, awesome cook and the tamales tasted sooooooo good, better than a lot of places i've tried before. she kindly sent me home with a couple of cooked tamales for my freezer. i'll be sure to eat them in moderation since eating too many tamales makes my underwear feel tight. another hooray for good cooks who don't mind moocher friends like me. thanks simmon!