Sacramento, CA

Okay, I know this is going to sound extremely redneck, but since when do people serve tamales for Christmas? Now don’t get me wrong, I love tamales as much as the next person but I’m having a bit of trouble comprehending what they have to do with Christmas. As such, it was rather befuddling to read the following article in the Sacramento Bee…

Even as customers ticked items off their shopping lists, the out-the-door line at La Esperanza Mexican Food Products in south Sacramento never seemed to get shorter Saturday.

The reason: The Mexican tradition of eating tamales during the holiday season.

“Christmas without tamales is like saying there’s no Santa,” said Maryann Bernardino, 52, of Sacramento, who was buying pre-made tamales to take to a holiday party.

Soon, she’ll return to buy the ingredients for tamales that she’ll make with relatives. Together, as they do every year, they will spread masa on cornhusks, add seasoned meat and then fold once, twice, three times, until 200 of the wrapped treats have been made.

There’s no recipe to refer to, just the knowledge that’s been passed down through the generations by making tamales together, year after year.

“It’s a tradition,” said Emma Delgadillo, whose family has owned La Esperanza on Franklin Boulevard since the 1970s. “For Christmas, we make tamales. It’s like at Thanksgiving, you make a turkey – it’s been always that we get together to make tamales.”

Tamales date back more than 5,000 years, according to Refugio Rochin, a retired professor of Chicano studies at the University of California, Davis. The natives of Mesoamerica used tamales as offerings to the dead and the gods. When the Spanish came to the Americas, they brought Catholicism – and its Christian holidays – and the traditions were married, Rochin said.

Today, with modern mobility and busy schedules, Christmas is one of the few times a year extended families get together. Tamale-making means that rare occasion is even more special, Rochin said.

“It reminds us that we have heritage,” he said.

Plus, everyone gets to share in the work and the reward.

“It’s just as much work to make four or five tamales, so you might as well bring a crowd and make a lot more,” Rochin said. “If you want four or five of them, you go down to the Mexican store and buy them for a dollar each.”

This is the busiest season for the La Esperanza market, when employees work long hours and on weekends to meet the demand for pre-made tamales – which the store asks people to order ahead of time. Spreading masa and folding the husk, spreading and folding, spreading and folding, they create stacks of savory tamales, each wrapped in white paper.

The store also makes masa from finely ground corn, lard or shortening, salt, baking powder and water, and sells it for 65 cents a pound to those who want to make tamales at home.

Belinda Verlod, 49, of Sacramento, was doing just that Saturday. The Siemens warehouse worker bought 60 pounds of masa to make 350 tamales because she gives them to friends as gifts.

“How many each gets depends on how good a friend they are,” she joked.

Esther Gonzales, 63, wasn’t going to make tamales this year because most of her relatives are out of town. But she changed her mind Saturday and decided to downsize from 240 to five dozen.

“It doesn’t feel like Christmas without them,” she said while buying the ingredients.

Josie Melendrez, 63, of Rancho Cordova, is also going the route of fewer tamales this year. In the past, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles all gathered to make tamales, but this year only Melendrez and her son will have their hands in the corn dough.

One thing that never changes however is the recipe.

“We always make them the same way,” she said. “I know everybody says theirs is the best, but ours – it’s like my grandmother used to say, the main ingredient is love.”

This is just so strange to me that I can’t even fathom the reasons for it. At the same time though it is oddly compelling. There’s just something intirguing about other cultures’ holiday traditions. I think it’s that they are so very different from my own and yet somehow still the same…if that makes any sense at all. Whatever the reason, I figured I’d jump on the tamale bandwagon too and give you all a recipe that my friend’s mother shared with me when I was in high school. After all, the lines at La Esperanza Mexican Food Products aren’t getting any shorter and this way you can make your own tamales.

*Making the Dough*

INGREDIENTS:
6 cups masa harina and 5 cups warm water or chicken broth
OR 6 cups of Nixtamal
1 1/2 cups lard or shortening
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

PREPARATION:
To use Nixtamal-
Prepare corn according to use for masa dough. Add additional chicken broth until it is the consistency of thick peanut butter.
To use Masa Harina-
In a mixing bowl combine masa and warm water or broth until combined. Let the mixture sit for 20 minutes or so to let the masa soften. Then mix it on low speed until a dough forms.
After Masa or Masa Harina is prepared-
Gradually add in the salt, cumin and onion powder.

In a separate bowl, whip lard or shortening until fluffy. Add the lard to the dough a little at a time while mixing until well combined.

The mixture should be about the consistency of peanut butter. If not, add more masa, water or broth as necessary.

Cover and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

*Preparing the Filling*

3 cups shredded beef
8 large roasted chiles- skin, seeds and veins removed and coarsely chopped.
1 white onion- peeled and coarsely chopped.
6 cloves of garlic- peeled and crushed.
1 jalapeno- seeded and diced
3 potatoes- peeled, boiled and chopped into large chunks.
1 cup homemade chile sauce or store bought

Fold these together for a delicious filling

*Tamale Assembly*

1) Sort the husks
Go through the corn husks removing any debris. Separate the larger usable pieces from the smaller bits and pieces. Save the smaller pieces for later.

2) Soak the husks
Place the husks into a large bowl. Cover husks with warm water. Set a heavy item (like a heavy bowl) on top of the husks to keep them submerged.

3) Prepare the husks
Remove the husks from the water and pat dry. Place into a covered dish or a large plastic bag to prevent from drying out. Use only the larger and medium sized husks for the tamales. The smaller ones can be used later for ties or patches. When looking at the husk, they have a narrow end, a broad end, and 2 long sides.

4) Adding the dough
Lay a husk on a flat surface. Place 1-2 tablespoons of dough onto the husk. When spreading the dough, leave a space of about 4 inches from the narrow end of the husk and about 2 inches from the other end. Spread the dough to the edge of one of the long sides and 2 inches away from the other long side. Try to keep the dough approximately 1/4 to a 1/2 inch thick.

5) Filling
Spread about a tablespoon of filling down the center of the dough.

6 )Folding
Locate the long side with a 2 inch space with no masa. Fold that over, slightly overlapping the other side so the edges of the dough meet. Wrap the extra husk around the back.

Then fold the broad end over the top and then the longer narrow end over the broad end.

7) Tying
Create strips of husk by cutting or tearing 1/4 inch lengths off of some of the smaller or unusable husks. Use these to tie across the middle of the tamale to hold the flaps down.

8)Steaming
Set tamales upright in a steamer. You can buy large steamers made just for this purpose. You may have something else you can use to create the same effect. The key is to have a small amount of boiling water on the bottom of the pot and a colander or mesh of some sort to keep the tamales away from the water. They will need to be steamed for about 90 minutes.

I’ll be the first to admit that these can be very time consuming, but the end result is highly worth while. Besides, since Sacramento is the most culturally diverse city in America, we may as well enjoy it and take advantage of the multitude of opportunities this presents to us!

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The Discover California Wine Bar & Tasting Room is holding its third annual California Christmas Party on Thursday December 13th from 5:00PM to 8:00PM. It’s the perfect opportunity to show visiting relatives from out-of-state what it really means to be a Californian. There will be delectable Californian wines and food to taste and the decor will be entirely California based. They are even going to have a Californian Santa Claus who will be dressed in shorts and sunglasses carrying his favorite surf board. All attendees will receive beach balls, sunglasses, and visors to add to the summery ambience. You also get a complimentary wine glass with the Discover California logo on it. The price is only $15.00 per person–just remember that no one under 21 will be allowed to attend. However, since it is going to be in downtown Sacramento, you could just drop them off at the Westfield ice rink on your way over…

In any case, it’s sure to be one of the few activities geared entirely towards adutls for the Christmas season. That means it’s one of your only chances to escape your own belvoed little demons for a couple of hours. Furthermore, it should be entirely worth it just to see Santa and all of the idiots who will show up in summer attire freeze their butts off. Frankly, I can think of no better source of entertainment then watching someone become disabused from the sunshine image California is so often associated with. it’s sure to be worth at least a couple of laughs–as long as you’re not one of the idiots trying to be in costume that is!!!

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I know this is kind of random, but I was browsing through some of the other 451press sites and I found one called ShoppingTipsOnline.net. Today, the writer (Lana) posted a link for a free coupon for a free Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwhich and a medium drink. It takes between six and eight weeks for delivery, but it’s still worth checking into. After all, our Chick-Fil-A is rumored to be pretty nice and it’s still fairly new. It is located at 2101 Alta Arden, west of Cost Plus World Market. Their phone number is 916-922-2814 if you need directions.

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The Jelly Belly Factory is open daily from 9:00AM-5:00PM at One Jelly Belly Lane in Fairfield, CA. Tours are also offered daily from 9:00AM-4:00PM. However, this is one of those rare places that you should really go to during the week. The factory line does not operate on the weekends so instead of getting to see the candy made in person, you have to watch the process on television screens throughout the factory. Part of the magic of visiting a factory is seeing how it functions so it would be best to go when it is actually open.

The tour itself is a 40 minute walking tour and is completely FREE. Tours are scheduled to leave every 15 minutes. Most days there isn’t a very long line, but waiting times can be up to 90 minutes during peak seasons such as summer, Spring Break, and during the Christmas Season. Strollers and wheelchairs are both welcome on the entire tour as everything is accessible. They even have hearing impaired devices available. The tour teaches the secret to baking up their 150+ varieties of candy and explains why it takes up to twenty days to create one jelly belly bean!! They also demonstrate the creation of taffy, chocolates, and wild gummi critters. At the end of the tour, they give out a free bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans as a complimentary gift. The gift shop also offers free samples of any of their candy.

Make sure you also check out the Jelly Belly Cafe. They are open daily from 11:00AM-3:00PM. They have really nifty pizzas and hamburger which are shaped like jelly beans. They also have a variety of decadent ice cream flavors and an espresso bar for when you simply can’t stand the taste of one more sugary substance. There is literally something to please every palate.

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The Melting Pot is a fabulous fondue restaurant located at 814 15th Street. I went there last September for my friend Laura’s birthday and it was probably one of the best restaurants that I have ever been to. The menu consists of a four-course fondue meal, each of which is prepared fresh at the table. Everyone even gets their own color of fondue forks so that you will always know which tasty morsels are yours!

You begin with a selection of traditional cheese fondues. It is $16.00 per fondue for two people and $8.00 for each additional person. We had a large group of ten people so we chose two different fondues–the Cheddar Cheese and the Fiesta Cheese. They give you a wide selection of bread, fresh vegetables, and apple slices to dip it in. The next selection is a salad–which will run you $6.00 per person. You can choose from their Mushroom Salad, Chef’s Salad, Calfiornia Salad, and their new Athenian Salad. I had the Mushroom Salad which was pretty good. However, it did have a TON of mushrooms so be careful if that’s not really your thing.

For the entrée course, you first select your cooking style. We chose two different fondues–the Coq au Vin and the Mojo. The Coq au Vin combines fresh herbs, mushrooms, garlic, imported spices, and a rich burgundy wine. The Mojo Fondue is a Caribbean-themed bouillon with fresh garlic and citrus flavors. We also chose two entrée platters–the Signature Selection and the Surf & Turf. The Signature Selection consists of choice tenderloin, shrimp, teriyaki sirloin, marinated chicken breasts, fresh fish fillets, and fresh salmon. The Surf & Turf consisted of lobster tails, filet mignon, and Portobello mushrooms. All of the meat was very fresh and lean. They also served a variety of vegetables with this course including mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and even onion slices. They also had a variety of things to dip your marinated tidbits in–the horseradish one was amazing.

The cap of the meal though was definitely the chocolate fondue. We again chose two selection. The Cookies ‘n Cream Marshmallow Dream was incredible. It is dark chocolate covered in marshmallow cream and chopped oreos. It was flambéed at the table too which was a pretty neat touch. We also chose the Yin & Yang–a combination of white and dark chocolate made to look like the Yin & Yang symbol. It was very elegant and creative…and, more importantly, it was absolutely delicious. They provided us with an incredible array of delectables to dip in the fondue as well including strawberries, bananas, pineapple, cheesecake, marshamllows rolled in nuts and coconut, pound cake, and brownies. It is basically Heaven personified for those of us with a sweet tooth!

Right now, they are also doing a wide variety of summer specialties. The first is their new Mediterranean Cheese Fondue. It is made from a combination of Fontina and Gruyère cheeses. They are specially blended with roasted garlic, dates, shallots, and white truffle oil. As I mentioned earlier, they also have a new Athenian Salad. It is comprised of crisp romaine and iceberg lettuces, ham, pepperoni, roasted red pepper, Kalamata olives, and Feta cheese tossed in a light white balsamic vinaigrette dressing. They also have new selections of entrées such as Balsamic-Marinated Sirloin, garlic and herb chicken,citrus pork tenderloin, roasted red pepper rigatoni, wild mushroom raviolis, and succulent white shrimp. The most mouth-watering itme on the new menu though is defintiely the Raspberry Dark Chocolate Fondue. It is a decadent swirl of dark chocolate and raspberry purée with just a hint of hazelnut.

The only drawback is the price, which can quickly become ridiculous. For our group we ended up paying $50.00 per person. However, if you can afford it you should at least try it out once. The food is incredible and the service is fabulous. It is one of those places where you will certainly leave feeling that you have gotten your money’s worth…

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We went to Joe’s Crab Shack for my friend’s 21st birthday and it was absolutely fabulous. Their menu has a wide variety of choices–even for people who don’t like seafood–but the different crab dishes were probably the best. They had everything “crab” that you could possibly imagine–crab cakes, crab dip, and of course king crab. They also had an extremely wide array of alcoholic beverages to choose from–which was very handy for a 21st birthday party. They have these things called Trash Cans which are basically designed to get you trashed. My friend had one–the Beach Bum–that was kind of like a tropical Long Island. It was so strong you really couldn’t even taste anything but the alcohol. They come in these little collectible trash cans, which I thought was a pretty neat touch. My other roomie had two Pina Coladas which were very, very good. They even had these cute little decorations on the top of them. As for me, I spent the night drinking Lynchburg Lemonades that were completely life changing!

Anyway, we had a really good time. The service was really good, the people were a lot of fun, and the restaurant is right on the river–giving it the most amazing views at sunset! Be forewarned, it is NOT a romantic kind of place…it’s more geared towards big groups, parties, and such. It is VERY loud and VERY busy. Also, since it is busy, you will definitely need to make reservations. It is pretty impossible to get a table without them–even to just sit at the bar! Even with reservations, it still took us 45 minutes to get a table…definitely NOT the kind of place to go if you are in a hurry. If you’re willing to wait–or are going to be walking around Old Sacramento anyway–then it is completely worth the wait. It is located at 1210 Front Street next to the Boat Rentals stand and across from the parking garage. To make reservations, call 916-553-4249.

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If you’re wondering where to take your husbands and fathers on Sunday, then I would highly reccommend that you check out The Firehouse 1112 Second Street in Old Sacramento. It was originally the home of Engine Company No. 3 in 1853 and was the first of Old Town’s buildings to be restored. Since it’s reopening it has become a popular favorite here in Sacramento. It has receievd numerous awards including the “Award of Excellence” from Wine Spectator Magazine and the “Award of Ultimate Distinction” from Wine Enthusiast.

Anyway, they’ve put together a pretty impressive brunch menu just for Father’s Day. It sounds a little bit pricey ($36.95 for adults and $14.95 for children 12 and under!!) but it also sound like one of the few places where it’s actually WORTH the steep prices. Brunch will begin with a starter buffet of crudités of assorted fresh vegetables, exotic fruits, cheese, salad, and pastries. The adults will then have a choice of five entrées such as Crab Cake Benedict, King Salmon, and Coconut Prawns. Children get to choose between Penne Pasta, Crunchy Chicken Tenders, and Scrambled Eggs with Ham Steak. I thought this was pretty thoughtful since most fancy restaurants don’t really offer a good selection for children–especially not on menus designed for specific days like Father’s Day. They even carry this thoughtfulness on to the dessert course where the children get a special ice cream sundae dessert instead of having to eat one of the fancier desserts (Pistachio-Almond Chocolate Bombe or Strawberry-Key Lime Cheesecake) that children often dislike just from hearing the complicated names.

Brunch will be served from 10AM-2PM on June 17th and reservations are required as it is sure to be a very popular selection for Father’s Day. You can call for more information at 916-442-4772.

If you are unable to get reservations (or if you’re like me and prefer to stay in bed a little later!!) then you can still enjoy the restaurant’s regular menu as a special treat for dad as well. Dinner will be served from 5PM-9Pm and will consist of three courses and a variety of delectable dishes including everything from oysters to foie gras, roasted pheasant to live Maine lobster, and rack of lamb to Atlantic King Salmon. (And their dessert menu isn’t too shabby either!!) Either way, you’re guaranteed to have an excellent gourmet meal and an elegant ambience that is sure to make ANY hardworking dad realize how very special he is!

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While we were driving up and down Howe Ave trying to find somewhere to eat last night we came across a large buffet restaurant called Continental Buffet Inc. My roomies and I are all really fond of buffets so we figured we’d try it out–which sadly was pretty much a big mistake. Their food wasn’t raelly all that good to begin with. I know that at buffets it’s normal for some of the food to kind of suck. However, most of theirs did! A lot of their dishes were empty–or may as well have been. The chow mein was greasy, the fried rice was flavorless, and the orange chicken was mushy. In addition, a lot of the food had been allowed to remain out for way too long. The dim sum probably would have been good if it hadn’t been allowed to stay out for so long. Everything was just really stale and disappointing. To top that off, the service was terrible. The waitress never refilled our drinks and only took away our used plates once. The worst part though was the price…$11.99 per person. We wouldn’t have minded paying it had the food been good, but with it as it was it was like the proverbial icing. Anyway, if you want to go to a GOOD buffet, you should check out Taste of China at 1000 Howe Ave instead.

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