Christmas Traditions

Today I was inspired by my family and friends on Facebook. In case you haven't notice or already figured out that I am Hispanic, Latina (AKA Mexican-American), well I am and very proud. Most Mexican families have a tradition every Christmas of making tamales. As long as I can remember my mom, has been making tamales for Christmas, and she has been making them she was a child. It's a tradition that we love/hate in our family. Making tamales is a very tedious task, that takes a long time and many ingredients to make. Every one helps out in some way, and by the end of the day we are sick of making them. Until its time to eat, when the tamales are done we are all so happy and can't wait to eat them up. Hence why we have a love/hate for tamales, my mom makes so many we eat them for days. Usually by New Years we are getting tired of eating tamales. Despite all the hard work and time it takes making tamales, I would not give up that tradition for any reason. We joke every year in our family that we are not going to make tamales for Christmas, instead we will buy them or just make a turkey. It's just a joke, because my mom would not even consider the thought of not having home made tamales for Christmas. It just wouldn't be a Mexican-American Christmas with out our beloved tamales.
Having said that, I am getting ready to go make tamales at my mom's house this week, I am already dreading the long hours of work, yet so looking forward to Christmas eve dinner with my family. I need to learn all the secrets from my mom, so that I can continue the tradition of making tamales with my own children some day.
I found a little video on youtube to share with you, so you can get an idea of the process involved in making tamales. I am sure most of you have eaten tamales at some point, but do you have any idea what it takes to make them?

Enjoy! Feliz Navidad