My MIL (Mother-in-law) called us New Year's Morning and inquires if I would be willing to help her make homemade tamales. I figured taking down the old Christmas Trees could wait and we agree to head over. This is my first real tamale lesson. When we arrive, she was elbow deep in Masa. (Gringo translation: Masa = Dough.) Nana told me the Masa should be the consistency of frosting. She was not sure if we ever got to that point. I could not tell the difference! My next job was to prepare the hojas. (Gringo translation: corn leaves.) We soaked them in water and removed any hairs that might have been stuck to the hojas. Nana had made the mole and the pork the day before. So with finished Masa and clean hojas, we were ready to begin assembling the tamale. I learned you want an even thin layer of masa on the smooth side of the hojas. If you put it on the rough side of the hojas the tamale will stick to the hojas after cooking. I preferred to use ...