Ok for those of you asking I will give you the Tamales recipe that I followed. Now given this is my first attempt at these labor intensitive Mexican Delights. I did learn somethings along the way and will share them after the recipe. If you have any hints for me please feel free to share, I can always use hints. Yes My husband is half Mexican so thats why we have lots of mexican food.

1-1# bag of Corn Husks( I would only get one half pound bag next time)

Masa

12 cups Masa

3 cups Lard or shortening divided

8-10 cups pork broth or what ever meat you use.(i used pork)

3tsp salt

Meat

9-10# Pork boiled till tender and deboned chopped in food processor.You can shred meat with fingers.( What I did is get to pork roasts when they were on sale mine were about 9 pounds total. I cooked mine all day and over night in the crockpot. I ended up shredding mine with a fork.As I have no food processor.)

Save Broth for making masa

2 taco Mix

1 large can of jalapenos chopped in good processor.(I do not like my stuff really hot so I added a small can of chopped green chilies.)

1 can Rotel Tomatoes(i used regular diced tomatoes.)

Here is what I did.

After meat is done cooking I let it and the broth cool. I pour off the broth into a bowl and let refridgerate until the fat hardens on the top of broth and I skim if off and throw it away. I did the meat up two days before I did the tamales. Mix the meat and the rest of the stuff except the broth.

About an hour before I am ready to make the masa and roll tamales I put my corn huskes into a bowl or gallon jug and run HOT water over them and let them soak until I'm ready to roll Tamales.(Mine did not soak long enough) Before I roll I put them in a strainer and let them drain.

Put 2c lard in a large bowl and the other 1c lard melt. Mix lard with 4 c masa and salt. then alternate adding rest of masa and broth(ok I did this in my kitchen aid. i ended up having to do two batches because my mixer was not big enough.)Then add melted lard. You want a masa that spreads easy on the husk but is not tow wet. If it doesn't spread easy add in a bit more broth.

When you roll tamales feel your corn huskes. One side should feel smooth and the other feel rough. Spread masa on the smooth side.

After they are rolled I put them in a my steamer and steam for about 2-3 hours.

The way to tell if your tamales re done is to take one out of the steamer and let it set for aabout 5 min when you unroll the tamale it should pull away from the husk smoothly. None of it should stick.

The recipe says it makes 9-12 dz(i got 5 1/2)

One site I found very helpful was Tamales. I had no idea how to wrap these or steam them so this site really helped me out. I used a veg steamer. So my tamales had to be shorter. I steamed one dz then froze the other dzs for latter. My hubby said next time they need a sauce with them. So I will see what I can do. I did not tie my tamales. that is alot of work. Mine cooked for about 90 minutes and were done. I thought they were great. I will say this they are very time consuming. Lots of labor involved. They would be great with many hands to help you out.

This recipe comes from a great lady on another board here name is dana.