Sometimes it takes the simplest of pleasures to awaken the joys of the holiday season. With the enormous number of tedious tasks involved in making the season bright, I often find myself over tired and eager for it to all be over. But this year for one short hour I was reminded of the true pleasures Christmas can bring.
We were at my brother-in-law Paul's house. It was after midnight on Christmas Eve and a friend called to invite Paul over for a Mexican feast to help ring in Christmas day. My husband and I were on our way out to the car gearing up for our commute home and bemoaning the idea of the next day's hour-long drive out to grandma's house. But the phone call cheered us up. We hadn't heard from Tony in quite a while and we wished him well. Tony extended his invitation to us as well and without hesitation we quickly drove through the old neighborhood in anticipation of what Paul always describes as "The BEST!"
The whole family was still awake. Friends came and went during our stay as they exchanged gifts near the large evergreen tree dressed in tinsel. Something about the apartment brought me back to my youth in Paramount. It was difficult to pinpoint what it was until we entered the kitchen. It was the smell. The smell of tortillas frying and tamales steaming. Tony's mom speaks very little English but her welcoming gesture of open arms made us feel right as home and we pulled up a chair at the kitchen table.
Beer and soda was offered and gratefully accepted. Plates and forks were set out and our mouths started to water as we waited. Tony's mom nodded demurely as she placed a bowl full of tamales onto the table. Each of us took one and placed it on our plate. The corn husk bundles were tied neatly on each with knots which slid off easily. I cut into mine quickly and found tender moist turkey meat with a smattering of green olives.
The taste? Incredible. The masa was light, moist and flavorful. Paul told us that Tony's mom had health problems a few years back, hence the lowfat turkey. But oh, what turkey! Marinated in who knows what, these were the best tamales I had ever had. But salsa was in order and Tony produced a bowl of smooth chile salsa which was straight out of Hades. A few spoonfuls over each tamale and heaven was found. A second bowl of tamales appeared and quickly disappeared.
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