This is the first time we hosted any type of holiday celebration at our house and we were all sorts of nervously excited for it. My family always gets together for Christmas Eve and we wanted to start some of our own traditions too, so we tapped into Ben’s Mexican heritage (he’s half Mexican and half Caucasian for those of you who wonder) and decided to make homemade tamales.
We made two kinds: Oaxaca Chicken Breast and Black Mole Tamales and a Red Chile and Pork Tamale (recipes from this book). Of course, we made the masa part without lard (recipe from this book), so it was especially fun to make healthy tamales. All I have to say is that tamale making is hard work! We spent most of Friday all the way up to midnight prepping the meats and the sauce (mole takes forever to make!) and Saturday morning was spent wrapping tamales. The girls got into the action and we had fun wrapping together as a family. There was also Ensalada de Noche Buena, Ceviche (my request), and Mexican Chocolate cake and all was made fresh and yummy by my mama.
It was a wonderful dinner and after Ben read an interactive story called What God Wants for Christmas and had different people read parts of the Bible aloud. After which, we made fresh Hot Mexican Chocolate and indulged in cake eating while my brother played some Christmas music and we all sang together. We even sang Happy Birthday to Jesus! It was really nice to be together and reflect on what the real meaning of Christmas is. Then, we made our way to the tree and had fun opening presents.
My girls are always way too spoiled by their grandparents, but my parents are getting better at understanding what we allow our girls to have. We don’t want to saturate them with too much and we know grandparents like to spoil, so finding a happy medium is key. My parents are also good sports because I still give them my own Christmas wish list! Presents are fun, but my favorite part of the evening was being able to serve my family at our house. My mom always works so hard during the holidays to make it special for us that we were glad we were able to let her relax a bit and host the party at our house. Families, especially big ones, definitely come with their own sets of trials on occasion, but they also come with a lot of joy and happiness.
Christmas Day happies coming up next…
Your have such a great eye for composition in photography. These are adorable and your family is quite a handsome group! I'm glad you had a good time : )
What a fabulous celebration! So joyous. And yes, agree that families are a blessing, and it's important to stick together and support one another through the highs and the lows. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Wow what a spread!! What a beautiful gathering! I help my mom make tamales and bunuelos every Christmas…it's not Christmas without them on menu.
You have such a beautiful family, Ruby! Love that you guys made tamales…they look delicious 🙂
xo, Dawn
http://www.hellodearie.com
What a wonderful Christmas Eve! Your family is just darling!
This looks like such a happy christmas! You have such a lovely family. Thanks for sharing, Belinda
the food looks lovely and it looks like a great night!x
You have a very special family, I want in the near future to celebrate my Christmas in a house full of children like yours. Congratulations for all the love you give us your photos.
xoxo_Lau
Oooh, the food looks so good! Yum. And your kids look oh so cheeky 😉
Happy 2012!
Esther.
ohhhh the food looks really yummy!!
I agree with you. We do the same for our parents. My parents & in-laws are quite old so it is nice to host parties in the house or outside. To give them a break and really let them enjoy the food and company instead of letting them get stuck in the kitchen.
It looks like you had a wonderful Christmas! =) The food looks great!!
http://julies-thisandthat.blogspot.com/
Que lindo seu blog!Amei!!!
Parabéns!
xoxo
😀
Sounds great! I'm loving those smiles
beautiful! i love your house full of women! lol!
awwww!!! how fun!
your family is just adorable. 🙂 i have that exact same gravy bowl, but mine is jade green.
i totally relate on the grandparent note. both sides really went all-out with out little boy this year–it was WAY too much. and i specifically asked them NOT to do that….*sigh* families!
Too cute. I love that everyone turns their head to the side. Families are so fun.
My grandfather is Mexican and one of my aunt's always makes chicken mole and tamales and Mexican rice for Christmas. It is my favorite! I love tamales. 🙂
The food looks delicious – and the cake huge!
It looks like so much fun! Have a great New Year's too. xo, rv
http://aneclecticheap.blogspot.com/
I love that you guys sang happy birthday to Jesus. What a sweet tradition.
My family does Mexican food every year. No tamales this year, but we had green chili burritos and enchiladas. Yum!
The little Santa suit is too cute and oh how wish I could have some of the chocolate cake! Yum!
where are you from? are you korean?
love your blooog sooo much 🙂
those tamales look DELISH!!! nice work!!
looks like a wonderful celebration ruby!!! everything looks so delish 🙂
looks awesome! we usually do chicken enchiladas, but this year we had tamales! i'm half Guatemalan and we like to bring that into our traditions as well. Merry Christmas!
christmas tamales, aint no other wayy! where else does the leftover turkey from thanks giving go?