Holiday Festivities

It's certainly been a busy holiday here in Valle de Juarez. On Thursday night Sal and Barb suggested dinner at a restaurant in town that serves incredibly good enchiladas. It was their 39th wedding anniversary and we were honored that they chose to share it with all of us. Sal gave Barb a special anniversary/Christmas gift, appropriately named Don Quixote (donkey-hotay). They rescued him and have given him a fine home at the Hacienda. Maybe now Sal can even put the lawnmower away.

After our dinner in town we took a walk around the plaza to burn up a few calories while looking at the lights and Christmas decorations. We were invited to stop at the church to listen to a Christmas concert. The musicians were quite good and it was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves.

Friday was tamale day. Tamales on Christmas are a Mexican tradition. Sal's mother Dona Theresa and Sal's sister Juana came over to the Hacienda to make them and show us how it's done. It's quite labor intensive so it was nice to have so many helping hands.

The process was begun early Friday morning when Juana took the corn that she had prepared to the mill to be ground. There was a huge bowl of it on the table it and we didn't really think we would use it all, but we did.

 Corn husks are lined with the corn mixture, stuffed with a pork/chili stew, then rolled and placed carefully in pots to be steamed. I didn't count but I think we made several hundred. I was also informed that since I now know how to make tamales, I'm prepared to be a proper wife.

Our Christmas Eve tamale fiesta was delicious and lots of fun. We spent Christmas Day relaxing and trying not to think about all of the calories we've consumed this week.