Rathbone: Eggs for Hatching, Eggs for Eating, Eggs, Eggs, Eggs

[Denim Deb]

Very nice. I've often thought about finding some kitchen towels that have a matching table cloth and using the tablecloth to make curtains and place mats. Guess I'd add an apron to the mix.

 

[Britesea]

That looks so pretty and retro! I love it!

 

[rathbone]

Hey Britesea - what is the weather like there? Paint me a verbal picture.

 

[rathbone]

It is getting toward dinner time and all I can think of is food. Made huevos rancheros the other day - and snapped a pic because it makes such a pretty plate.

Drumroll please - I also made tamales for Christmas. It took FOREVER. So I love to eat tamales but I don't make them very often. They tasted delicious until my SIL showed up with her mole filled tamales and then we all fell upon hers like ravening wolves.

 

[hqueen13]

Super cute and so much fun that it matches the kitchen! I love it when things come together and it looks like it was designed that way on purpose. I get tired of having pieced together things... Someday we'll have really nice things that all go together!!

 

[SSDreamin]

Mmm... homemade tamales! Some day I will work up the nerve to try to make them, although I don't think I'll go the 'totally authentic' route - I just can't do the hogs head thing Shredded beef or pork will have to do for my attempt!

Love the apron - do you have a picture of your kitchen? Would love to see it!

 

[rathbone]

Oopsy - I have combined this comment below with the pix of the tamales (no pictures of hog's heads...darn it!)

 

[rathbone]

Thoughts on Bleach:

I don't like bleach. I used to love bleach (I have a little OCD about bacteria but I am doing better managing that) but several years now I don't use it - or at least almost never. I have had the same bottle of bleach sitting outside by the washer for a couple of years now.

Fastforward to yesterday. I won some gift cards to FamousFootwear. This is a big deal. It means my sons get new shoes. (something that doesn't happen as often as I would like) I am careful with my boys feet but still they have stinky, stinky feet. We wash their feet every night and I try to keep the shoes off their feet as much as possible but of course they have to wear them at school etc. So this means I don't want to transfer that stink to the new shoes.
I decided last night that we would wash their feet and then we would soak them in bleach water.
Husband is washing Amarante's feet and I have my back to him standing in front of the fridge. And suddenly something splashed up all over me. I guess he put the lid on the bottle but then he lifted the bleach bottle by the cap. It wasn't attached correctly and the bottle dropped to the floor shooting bleach up onto EVERYTHING. It liberally sprinkled my hair, my back, my jeans. Husband had large circular wet spots all over him. The counters are splashed, the cupboards, the walls, my APRON, and best of all...the bottle was old and brittle and it broke open on the bottom so bleach is rolling out across the floor.
I guess I kind of shrieked and then we started stripping as fast as possible. But I could already see the spots fading on my jeans. I went out the back door (where the washer is) in undies and bra (probably scared the neighbors to death) and started stuffing our clothes in. Husband did his best mopping up and wiping down. And then I went and poured vinegar in my hair to try to stop the bleach.
Folks this was a shining moment for me. I didn't yell, or accuse or point a finger or glare or otherwise make him feel stupid. And yes, I really wanted to. I know it isn't a big deal to most people but he and I each were wearing our good clothes. And no, I don't have the money to go buy a new pair of jeans. So, at the end of it all...I am proud of myself. Being kind and understanding doesn't come as easily to me as it does to some. I am naturally more of the "let me tell you how stupid that was" kinda girl. So yeah, I did good.

 

[hqueen13]

This is exactly why I am pretty much no longer using bleach for ANYTHING. I swear it doesn't matter what I do, my NICE towels get BLEACHED!!! It drives me batty! I really want to have nice towels so that when I have guests they are able to use nice things, and for whatever reason it just doesn't work. I've given up at this point, even when we don't use bleach, somehow things end up faded. I can't figure out what is going wrong! I've stopped using almost all chemicals in the house for cleaners and things for that very reason.
I'm so sorry about your clothes, that is not a good thing. Do you have a consignment shop near you? My consignment shop always has a LOT of jeans, and I get really good deals on them, usually $10.00 or less for name brand things (sometimes with the tags still on them!!). I almost don't shop for clothes anywhere else!

 

[rathbone]

Tamales a la Gabacha (gabacha is a nice term that means anglo woman)

SS - Regarding the "authentic" hog's head tamales. I do not make those. Not that I wouldn't but I simply don't have any extra hog heads hanging about. In fact I don't know any woman who considers tamales to be something made from the hog's head. But head meat is delicious. My favorite meal is tacos de cabeza. I had originally thought that cabeza (head) meant that they were making the tacos out of brains. (Way back when I was just learning Spanish) But cabeza is head meat. Specifically I love cheek meat for tacos. The cheek meat is very fatty but incredibly tasty. It just takes a lot of time to seperate out the fatty pieces. I also like the meat from the lips but not as much as from the cheeks. And although they always say that tamales are traditionally made from hogs heads...I don't know anyone who does that. The women I know make tamales out of whatever meat they can find be it pork, beef, chicken or leftover turkey. Tamales are just a good way to use up bits and pieces. Mexicans way back when, seem to be just like my Irish ancestors in that they used every peice of meat on an animal. (my husband spent his childhood hunting desert rats to roast over an open fire in an effort to stave off starvation) I giggled when I read Frank McCourt's books - his mother was given the hog's head for a Christmas meal (charity) - I giggled because I didn't know anyone outside my own poor family that ate EVERY piece of an animal. It felt good to read that.


First you soften the chiles to make the sauce

Then you blend the salsa

Soak the corn husks

Roast the meat and shred it

Prepare the masa

Fill and tie them closed

Tamales ready to into the steamer