Busy Times-and Merry Christmas

We are having our usual Christmas eve get together with the kids again this year.  We are having a tamale supper.  Tamales are the thing this time of year down here in this part of Texas.  If you have never had a great homemade tamal, you really don't know what your missing.  We have 4 dozen plus all the fixings.  I will make my world famous (my world) chili.  Although it will be the milder version.  The wife won't eat my regular, too hot.  It would also be too hot for the Grandkids maybe their mothers too.  Oldest son has some pretty bad reflux issues so he will probably even avoid the milder version also.  Only I and Son#2 can tolerate the regular version.  My Mother may not come and there is no way she could even eat the mild version.  So I have been trying to figure out the correct measurements of all the spices I need to try and get it right.  When I do that it never really turns out right.  My recipe of for 6 lbs of beef, chili grind chuck.  Cutting it back to 4 lbs plus making it less spicy.  Hopefully it will be somewhat edible. 

We never used to eat tamales with chili on top.  Just a straight tamal with what ever sides but mostly by themselves.  The chili on top is something 'K' introduced me to.  Although it was usually canned chili.  I have to say that it's pretty good too.  Oh in case you were wondering, tamal is the proper word for one.  The tamales is plural.  The 'e' was never there before us non Spanish speakers discovered tamales.  Even some of the local speakers call one a tamale now due to almost everyone else calling them a tamale.  The local dialect is known locally as Texmex (just like the Mexican food is locally) and not a purer Spanish like what is spoken ins Mexico.

At this moment I have the grill going waiting on the wings I will cook for lunch.  I am trying my version of the Mexican BBQ chicken  (pollos asados) that I talked about a while back.  I don't have the recipe I needed so I am just 'winging' it.  See what I did there?

There is more, much more but those are sad things, so I will leave those be.  We have been invited for supper tonite and then we have our thing tomorrow.  I am already tired.

Happy Trails

Oh, and Merry Christmas