Comfort Food: Tamales

Howdy y'all!

This will be a short post. So every year around the holiday season my family led by my mother prep to cook another of those amazing additions to cuisine by Mexican culture, Tamales. This year is no different and while some of us have heard of them or maybe think we have had some I'd like to show you guys what tamales are. Basically it is a comfort food made from corn (Maize) masa, fillings of various toppings, wrapped in a corn husk (or banana leaves but that is more South American-Yucatan Peninsula take on traditional tamales. They add a nutty flavor.) and steamed in a pot. Masa is basically mashed up hominy (corn) with added spices and/or seasonings. The fillings can be anything from pork or beef to cheese or vegetables.

Cylindrical (circular) tamales tend to be dessert tamales as they are usually filled with sweeter offerings like raisins and chocolate.

Rectangular tamales are the ones that tend to be filled with your meats, cheese, and other heartier toppings.

Now for a picture for my good friend Duncan Stormthief (and you twizards who do not know).

Merry Christmas one and all!

At the Top of the World: Mount Lemmon

So as you all know I am really into Nature and all sorts of its but my most favorite environment has to be mountains, valleys, and desert. My homestate of Arizona has them aplenty and these unique natural features truly add a layer of biodiversity to an already unique and multi-layered place of extremes/diversity. Yesterday, I visited one such place that captured my heart the first time I visited it as a young child and it still has the ability to capture my heart, expand my appreciation for nature, and truly leave me in wonder. That place is Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina mountains by Tucson, Arizona my hometown. Which I had not visited in 7 years.

Like a lot of Arizona, Mount Lemmon and the Catalinas (as we locals call them) break down stereotypes by being more than you'd expect. At first glimpse it looks a lot like any other desert mountain: barren and full of shrubs, dead trees, and lots of rock. But as we Arizonans know that's just a facade for like our land we are multi-layered. Mount Lemmon is no different and is multi-layered literally.

As you drive up the mountain what you mostly see is dead grass, lots of natural stone features, and cactus. Typical Arizona right? (The views are still breathtaking )This area is about from 0-4-5,000 ft elevation. But as you climb the mountain you start to see less cactus and then none. The stones and features are just as big and just as old but now you start to see lichen growing all over them. Mesquite becomes Fir trees and Creosote Bushes become Oaks and Pines. As we climb, a beautiful view of the mountain valley below comes into view. Lush, green, and the clouds hanging low lent an ethereal look to it all. (7,000 ft elevation)

Of course not all of it was green at the next turn on the winding road up a grim reminder is present. A whole hillside is seemingly barren of all life except pines but they are bare, dead, and act as a reminder of the deadly force of nature that swept through 10 years before. A forest fire. The Aspen Fire of 2003. Which burned for a month and ravaged the area. Burning thousands of acres, destroying over 300 homes and businesses of the nearby village of Summerhaven. But it wasn't all doom and gloom, from death, new life emerges and I could faintly make out new saplings growing on that same hillside. (8,000 ft + elevation)

I forgot to mention one other thing that became present as we climbed higher. Something of legend to people who don't know Arizona well and it's true we (Arizonans) don't expect it much in the valley but in this place all stereotypes go away. Gleaming like radiant silver and diamonds in the sunlight, it's snow! Lots and lots of snow. It covers everything from the tiniest pebble to the tallest pine.

In this place, I remember it like I once did as a child and it's still so strikingly beautiful and fills me with a wonder and joy. As I spent the afternoon playing in the snow with my older brother Chris and our friend Will. I was reminded that life is full of beautiful things if you take the time to look beyond what you see only with your eyes.

Below is a photo collection of some pics

A little bit about me...

So tonight I wanted to make a simple post and it's simply about things I like and love. I had thought about making this for a few days but I just never really had the time to do so until now. So without further delay let's go.

Things I like/love:
- All manner of spicy things. Spicy food, Spicy snacks, Spicy candy etc etc.
- I like Sour as well but not as much as Spicy.
- Seafood; and when I say this I don't mean Shrimp and the occasional fish fillet. I mean I like to eat Crabs, Crawdads, Lobster, Shrimp, Octopus, Squid, Clams, Osyters, Mussels, Scallops, and Fish of all varieties. (This makes SorceressMiklai cringe btw)
- I like to Grill but I love to cook in general.
- I like to watch Football....but only during the Playoffs and Super Bowl.
- I love Role Playing Games in general.
- I like Action-Adventure games in general
- I love writing. Especially Lore and Myth/Creation stories. Think Tolkien's Silmarillion.
- I love maps.
- I love making maps especially for my own made-up worlds
- I love History and Mythology (Guy thing, right?)
- I love Nature in general. While I do question how I treat our planet because I can and have been wasteful I try to do my best to be respectful of our natural world.
- I love studying and learning about the Occult and Paranormal.
- I love taking pictures.
- I love SorceressMiklai <3
- I love taking walks in the early morning around the area or land I live on and just soaking up the "Newness" of the day. An ideal example would be walking around in the morning 5-6 am while it's cloudy but the sun is peeking through the clouds with a nice cool breeze. I don't get to do this often but when I  do get a chance I love it. Sometimes I won't even walk I'll just sit on the porch and watch the sun rise.
- I love the smell of the Creosote Bush when it is wet.
- I love the smell of a brand new book and the smell of new cards (Playing cards, Trading cards like Pokemon etc)
- I absolutely love the smell of damp Earth after a storm BUT especially a Summer Monsoon storm.
- I love the smell and taste of Coriander Leaves of course to me it is known as Cilantro.
- I love the smell of Bay Leaves and Peppercorn, especially in cooking. (Like using them in a spice mix for slow cooked meats).
- I like Pepper
- I love Dr. Pepper, Squirt, Ruby Red Squirt, RC, Cherry RC, Ginger Ale, and sometimes Sprite.
- I love Tea in general. Some of my favorites though are Cinnamon, Lemon Grass, Chamomile.
- Reading. Duh.
- I like Cashews and Pistachios. I don't like Walnuts.
- I love candied fruit and dried fruit. Of course regular fruit is good too. :-D
- I love Beef Jerky. (Another guy thing, right?)
- I like Romaine Lettuce and Iceberg Lettuce.
- I LOVE LOVE LOVE Salsa. With White Corn Tortilla chips. :-D
- I love steamed and/or grilled vegetables.
- I love watching old Westerns and war movies. You know? Like back when Reagan was an actor.
- I love Comedy, Action-Adventure, Mystery, Thriller/Suspense, and Documentary movies. I'll watch anything though.

This is all for now I am sure I'll think of other things. Now you know a bit about what I like/love. Now for just some extras.

I'm an Aries. (Yep, I'm passionate, a born leader, and yes I can be very hasty and impatient :-p)
My favorite color is Green.
I like certain things to be uniform and orderly. For example; if there is a theme to a room. I don't like conflicting things to whatever theme it is. Otherwise I can be sloppy. But I don't try to be.
I'm left-handed.
I have Light Brown eyes.
I like long wavy hair (Good thing Sorceress has long wavy hair :-p)
I'm a 4th generation Arizonan and American.
My roots are Spanish, American Indian (Mexico), and a tiny morsel of French.
My real name is composed of a French first name and Spanish last name.
I use to do Amateur Ghost Hunting.

So hopefully I didn't bore you with my post and I hope you learned a bit about me. :-)

Comments are appreciated.