I am posting also for T for Tuesday hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth where we share a drink related post-find link in my right hand column.
Yesterday (Saturday) morning we woke up to a winter wonderland with a bit of ice here in my part of the woods. I bundled up early and grabbed my camera as I figured most would melt off by afternoon.
We did get allot of melt off from roofs and trees and a bit in the grasses, but we are in a deep freeze now so most of the 2 inches is still here and we got another inch today. I know not allot of snow, but here where I now live we do not usually get a white Christmas. This weather drop is quite a change from the high of 70 degrees f on Friday. Typical for Missouri though these huge temperature drops.
All photos will enlarge just click on them for much better viewing-one has a lovely reflection in the pond.
:Looking down our 1/4 mile driveway
Probably around 25 years ago I decided to make homemade tamales a tradition for Christmas Eve. They are fun to make and sooo good. This year we invited our friend Mr L over to enjoy with us.
Here are photos of the process-tamale dough made with corn flour-masa-shortening or lard-water. For the meat this year I used three different meats-chirozo and spiced pork meat from a Mexican market that a friend brought down last November (I had extra so stored in freezer), and shredded pork loin and of course dried corn husks soaked in warm water for around an hour or so
This is the basic recipe I use
The meats sauted and ready as the filling
I am enjoying a hot cup with cream of my decaf herbal beverage
I have a two layer big steamer that I use for my tamales-they steam for one hour
Refried beans with mushrooms, and green chiles
Tamales out of the steamer
For my Christmas Eve beverage I made Jo's Poinsetta Cocktail-we loved it! thanks Jo
This is a keeper recipe-1 part orange liqueur, 3 parts cranberry juice, 3 parts dark red wine
Merry Christmas
Oh Kathy!!! What a winter wonderland!!! Looks like you got a little more snow than we did and ours is all gone.. Such pretty photos! Tamales.. never been a huge fan of tamales..but now then i've never had your tamales and you sure make them look scrumptious.. I'll be Jo will be ecstatic that you made her drink. :) Merry Christmas!!! Hugs!deb
ReplyDeleteOMGosh. The memories this post has brought back. I also made tamales at Christmas before, and one year I had help. It was like an assembly line. We made 150. At least I didn't have to do any tying, which is the hardest part for me. My friends like raisins in theirs, so we made half with raisins added on top of the meat. Yours look very similar to the ones I made, too.
ReplyDeleteYour pond is beautiful. It is bitterly cold here, but still NO moisture. I would give anything for even a bit of rain. I was really surprised by the grasses around your pond. They are beautiful in their frozen state.
Thank you for sharing your Christmas tamale meal prep, your herbal drink, and your Poinsetta Cocktail with us for T this week. Merry Christmas, dear friend.
The Poinsettia Cocktail sounds very yummy. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos, thanks for sharing. Your food looks great, I am sure you enjoyed it. Your drink looks good, too. Merry Christmas and happy T Day, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteYour winter wonderland photos are great. It really is nice to have a White Christmas and yet the roads are still clear enough for travel. My kind of snow ♥ Those tamales look so good!!!! I love them but I can't get Bob to eat them so it would be a waste of my time to make them they would last me forever :)
ReplyDeleteHappy T Day, Merry Christmas and may your New Year be Blessed.
Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteHomemade tamales are the best!
Wonderful winterlandscpae photos! Those tamales look just tempting Kathy! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and a happy T-Day !
ReplyDeleteoxo Susi
we also had only two days of noteworthy snow this year, and Christmas green as mostly. january and february are the months we normally expect snow. your White wonderland photos are awesome!
ReplyDeletei never ate something like These tamales, but they really look yummy! have some peaceful days and a great start into 2018!
Lovely photos, the snow looks lovely when its at the crisp white stage, quite magical scenes around your home.
ReplyDeleteThe food looks delicious, I'm sure you will have enjoyed it.
Happy T day wishes.
Yvonne xx
We had snow for Christmas Day, too. I wasn't as excited as you were to see it. =^,.^= I've never had tamales and the Poinsettia cocktail looks so pretty in your stemware. Happy T Day!
ReplyDeleteYour tamales look and sound scrumptious, Kathy. The day before Christmas, my church group gave a party at the local orphanage we support. We picked up 300 tamales from a nearby village. As we waited for our order to be packed, we couldn't help but marvel at the stacks and stacks of tamale filled coolers waiting for pick-up. We asked the owner how many tamales the family had made for Christmas. he thought and thought, trying to add it all up in his head. Then he finally said, "muchissimos!" lol
ReplyDeleteLovely snow pictures. That's plenty of snow for my taste ;-) I wonder if the huge temperature swings are hard to adjust to. They would be for my body.
I'm getting around late because I posted late. Belated Merry Cristmas and Happy T-day! Hugs, Eileen
You can call it not a lot of snow, but here we sometimes don't get that much in total over the entire winter season. Beautiful! Your photos look over such a serene and peaceful view. Happy T Tuesday :)
ReplyDeleteOh Wow! I enlarged these and went back and to with them! Whata beautiful area to live in! Your food looks tasty and warming ! Happy T day! Chrisx
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing winter wonderland photos you captured, it looks so beautiful! I would have been excited about it snowing too, it always looks so magical and peaceful to me 😁. Your tamales looks delicious and Wow, I'm so glad you tried and enjoyed the Poinsettia cocktail so much - yummy 😉. Happy T Day and wishing you a very Happy New Year! J 😊
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you got the perfect winter weather just in time for Christmas Kathy. I can't believe you went to 70 to that white and frosty look. It's very pretty. And those tamales look sooooo delicious. What a great holiday tradition. And wasn't the poinsettia good to drink? I bet it was good with those tamales. Hope you've had a fantastic T day and happy new year before the next T day arrives. Hugs-Erika
ReplyDelete