Castle Keepers October Meeting ~ Tamales!

Tamales are a Mexican tradition usually starting in the Fall. Grocery stores are extra stocked up with prepared masa in the meat department, husks and dry red chili pods and meat - especially pork roasts. My mother-in-law who lives in Mexico taught me how to make tamales when my husband and I were first married. Since Mexican cooks (especially the old-timers) don't usually use a recipe, it took me a while to figure out the unspoken secrets to making those moist, flavorful morsels. 

Since Fall has come once more, and I like to bring our tamales to our yearly October hunting camp, I decided this would be a great time to teach our Castle Keeper Ladies how to make them. 

Donned in their aprons and ready to make a mess (ready or not we certainly did make a delicious mess) the girls brought their choice of meat and I taught them how to make tamales.

Cleaning the soaked husks

The dry chili pods with their stems and seeds removed have to be....

... cooked till soft. Do you see my apron I made especially for the occasion?

Add the chili to the meat

I like to add some veggies to my meat.

Yours Truly caught candid

The coordinator of our club sets up a challenging goal for each girl to achieve by the next meeting. September’s challenge was for each girl to make a salsa they had never made before. Let me tell you… those girls came up with some really great salsas – some of which I had never thought of before till we started researching recipes. 

Proud salsa makers. Great job, ladies!

After the ladies were exhausted of their energy, and about half way through the tamale making process, I had prepared a Mexican themed lunch of spinach and cheese tamales, beans, rice, chips, horchata – a Mexican rice drink,  along with some complimentary items brought by the ladies as well as the salsas that the girls were challenged to make. Here's a few pics of my daughter making Spinach tamales.

I grabbed the wrong cheese and used Mozzarella instead of  Monterrey Jack cheese which I usually grate and just add to the masa. I like Monterrey Jack better. The Mozzarella was too chewy.

Approximately 5 dozen tamales!

Then, on the girls worked keeping those tamales rollin’. After everyone went home, I heard reports of lots of happy families eating their scrumptious Tamales.

The finished product ready to take home, steamed and quickly devoured by their families.

I gave each of our girls the recipe and made Shrinky Dink tags with Ephesians 9:10 written on them. I've always loved Shrinky Dinks since I was a little girl. So glad to still get to make them. 

Unfortunately, Tamales help one to expand especially when eaten in excess which one does tend to do because they’re so yummy! Sooo, October’s challenge from our coordinator is to exercise 4 days a week for 20 minutes to help work those extra calories back off! After all, we don't want to be wearing those tamales on our hips, now do we?

Castle Keepers September Meeting ~ Aprons

Meeting once a month, our first girls club of homemakers in training (now called Castle Keepers) was to learn how to make aprons using an existing apron as the pattern. 

One of the mothers of the 9 girls in the club taught us how to trace around the apron adding ½ to 1 inch bigger for the seam using a hem gauge. I’ve had this awesome little tool around for YEARS but never knew what it was for. So glad I know now, as this will come in handy. Don’t you just love tools and gadgets?

I really enjoyed seeing the diversity of each girl’s creativity. The variety of colors, the different shaped aprons, some lined and some not, some with bias edges etc.

To keep our energy (and patience) fueled up, our hostesses served us a simple but delicious lunch and gave each girl a sewn bag filled with dried apples and a little book mark. 

I had suggested that the girls then go home and make another apron on their own to help cement the skill they had just learned. Here are some of the beautiful creations they we came up with and brought to October's meeting:

Aren't they just darling?

Pecan Turtles

After working on a questionnaire from a friend that included asking what my favorite candy was, I got a big hankerin for some CHOCOLATE!!! Soooo I made this chocolate turtle recipe up myself. They need a little perfecting, but they still tasted good. 

Arrange pecans on some foil so you have a head, tail, and four feet. 

















Cut a caramel almost in half and place over pecans.
Toast in toaster oven just till caramel is soft.

Put a dab of melted chocolate chips on top and carefully spread.
Allow chocolate to cool till hardened.

Enjoy!

I had also made some of what I called Rocky Road candies. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of those and they were so pretty. 

I cut a marshmallow in half, placed a walnut on top and again, put a dab of melted chocolate chips on top using a toothpick to spread down over the sides and slightly shaping into round balls that kind of resembled cherry cordials. Then, I sprinkled a little colored candy sprinkles on top and let it cool till chocolate hardened. YUM!