Tamales

Each year, my mom carries on our Costa Rican tradition of making tamales. This year was no exception, especially since my cousin, Marcela, was visting for Christmas. Once again, my mom did most of the work to prepare, but after she brought everything to my house, Marcela and I became her assembly line workers. We made five dozen tamales and they took approximately six hours from start to finish.
Aren't they pretty before they get wrapped up?Finally, my two big stockpots come in handy. Here's the tamale after it's been cooked. So good!
Paige happily took this picture for us, thus the reason it's a little crooked.