Gringa Tamales

I've been putting off posting my tamale recipe because it is complicated and I want to make sure I get it right. In November 2010, we visited the Mayan Riviera in Mexico with our good friends Debbie, Butch, Sandi & Mike. Of course, we ate a ton of really good food. When Christmas rolled around, we decided to try to make tamales for our Christmas dinner. I had been thinking about trying to make them and collecting various recipes for quite some time, so I gathered the recipes and set about combining them into a tasty, but easy version. That first year, they were well received, so last Christmas we decided to make them again. This time, of course, we had the basics down pat and tweaked the recipe a bit. Today, Deb and I are making them again, joined by our good friend DeNise. DeNise has been bugging us to make them and her BUSY schedule is finally allowing us all a day in the kitchen. Deb cooked the pork ahead of time and shredded it, so this morning we made the chile sauce and the masa dough. We're now just waiting for DeNise to show up with the makings for ceviche (YUM!!!).