Four Feet More

Today is Jeff's 44th birthday. It is also his brother, D's birthday (D's exactly 2 years older than Jeff). To celebrate the occasion, we had the family over this weekend for a party, and Jeff made 2 Boston Cream pies from scratch (yes, my husband had to make his own birthday cakes - I'm a terrible wife, I admit it).

Jeff's a "from scratch" kind of guy. He loves making good food, from fresh ingredients, and he does it really well. I'm more of a "prepared foods" person. A typical dinner made by me would include macaroni and cheese (from a box), and "sizzle chicken" (chicken breasts browned in butter and olive oil, with a little salt and pepper). In disgust over my culinary shortcomings, Jeff has pretty much taken over all the cooking in our household (My devious plan worked! Muwahahahaha!).

For his birthday, Jeff declared that he and I were going to have a "bonding experience" in the kitchen. And no Cath, it is not what you are thinking. He decided that he wanted to try making tamales from scratch. During the day, he, Vika and Eamon prepared the masa and chicken filling. Last night, after putting the kids to bed, Jeff and I worked through the evening separating corn husks, stuffing, rolling and tying tamales. Then, as I climbed the stairs to go to bed, Jeff put the tamales in the steamer to cook.

About half an hour later, he came into the bedroom wearing a huge grin on his face. I cautiously asked him what was up, and he said, "Dude! I just tried a tamale, and they are SO GOOD! They're like little tufts of heaven!" Intrigued by this description, I went downstairs to try a bite of the heavenly tufts, and OMG! It was one of the best things I've ever tasted! The chicken, garlic, chilies, and tomatillo combined with the masa just melted in our mouthes. Heavenly was certainly an appropriate word to describe such flavors.

Tonight, we ate the tamales for dinner and toasted Jeff's birthday. It was a wonderful meal, which Vika and Eamon enjoyed as well (we've been pushing them to eat Mexican food, with increasing success). Afterwards, Jeff sat at the table, smiling, and said, "I'm so happy right now! Why didn't we make tamales sooner?"

It seems another family tradition has been born.