Muy Bueno Cookbook » Tamales for our Troops + KitchenAid Pro Line Stand Mixer Giveaway

Dec

Tamales for our Troops + KitchenAid Pro Line Stand Mixer Giveaway

Posted by Muy Bueno

*This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – scroll down to the bottom to see who won!*

Tamales, tamales, and more tamales. I love making tamales this time of year; and this year is extra special. Every year for the past five years I have hosted a tamale making party, a “tamalada” and although it’s a lot of work the outcome has always been the same — dozens of tamales to share with family and friends. This year I decided to host a tamalada with soldiers based here in Germany. With the help of a couple of soldiers, my hubby, kids, and colleagues we made close to 500 tamales. That equals to 35 pounds of masa. Holy masa!

I’ve prepped for this special day for weeks but this year will be extra special because the tamales are actually being flown this week by special delivery to our troops in Afghanistan. We will also deliver some tamales to some of our servicemen and women here at the Wounded Warriors Center. This year I didn’t need to call mom to confirm the masa and filling recipes because this year I was able to prop open our very own cookbook and follow the recipes that we labored over for months to get just right.

The best part was using fresh schmaltz (rendered lard) from the local butcher in town. Making the masa always takes time, especially with this many tamales and my KitchenAid mixer always comes to the rescue. I’ve had my dependable KitchenAid for twenty years and it still works like a champ! But I’ve seen so many new and beautiful colors out there that I am very tempted to trade it in for a larger and colorful model.

Every year our tamalada begins with hot coffee and pan dulce (sweet bread) for everyone. This year I was able to share some of mom’s biscochos. She sent me a care package with homemade biscochos and they arrived just in time for me to share with everyone who was here. I also included some delicious German pastries from one of my favorite local bakeries. After an hour of mingling, coffee sipping, and pastry eating we put on our aprons and got to work.

The hard part was done. I premade all the fillings so all we had to do was the fun part — spread the masa across dozens of cornhusks and then fill them generously with three different fillings: red chile and pork, queso con rajas (cheese with roasted green chile), and pineapple and coconut. I created this sweet recipe especially for my kids a couple years ago and now it’s a must on our tamale-making list. I have two large IMUSA steaming pots, which I love, and they were quickly filled with several dozens of tamales.

Because our tamales are going out to our dedicated service men and women here in Germany and abroad, our friends at KitchenAid wanted to celebrate with us by rewarding one Muy Bueno reader with a gorgeous KitchenAid Mixer. Thank you KitchenAid! A big beso and abrazo for your generosity!

Another big hug to everyone who came over and lent a helping hand on this December morning. Matt Syarto, Deb Brown, Jenna Mauriello, Erin Harris, Steve Smith, Dakota Smith, April Moyer, and a big thank you to our two servicemen TSgt Luis Escalante with the 721 APS/TRKS and MSgt Donald T. Moyer Jr. with the 86th Maintenance Squadron.

Thank you to TSgt Luis Escalante, our photographer. We love all the pictures you took for this event. Check out Luis’ facebook page Escalante Photo and Design and give him a call if you need any photos and live here in Ramstein.

Giveaway

One Muy Bueno reader will win a 7-Quart KitchenAid Pro Line Stand Mixer. This mixer can make up to 14 dozen cookies or 8 pounds of dough, includes a stainless steel bowl, stainless steel 11-wire whip, coated metal beater, coated metal dough hook, high polished knobs and four premium finishes to choose from. This machine offers commercial features for the home baker and is the quietest KitchenAid ever offered. It handles both small and large jobs with the same end result, perfection! The winner will get to choose from one of these four colors: candy apple red, frosted pearl white, onyx black, or sugar pearl silver.

To enter to win leave a special holiday message for our servicemen and women this holiday season. Please help us spread the news and let’s make this a long list for them to read through.

Bonus Entries

You can receive up to SIX additional entries to win by doing the following.

Join KitchenAid on Facebook and leave a separate comment letting us know you did.
Join Muy Bueno Cookbook on Facebook and leave a separate comment letting us know you did.
Follow KitchenAid on Twitter and leave a separate comment letting us know you are a follower.
Follow Muy Bueno Cookbook on Twitter and leave a separate comment letting us know you are a follower.
Subscribe to receive Muy Bueno blog updates and subscriber-only content via email and leave a separate comment letting us know you subscribed.
Tweet the following statement on twitter: Enter to win a @KitchenAidUSA 7-Qt Stand Mixer hosted by @MuyBuenoCooking bit.ly/U50jqw Leave a separate comment letting us know you did.

The Rules

Deadline for this giveaway is Sunday, December 23, 2012 at midnight MST. One lucky winner will be chosen by random.org and will be notified within 24 hours. Winner must respond within 48 hours.

You must have a valid U.S. address to enter.

Buena suerte! Good Luck! and Happy Holidays!

Written by Veronica / Photos by TSgt Luis Escalante

Disclosure: KitchenAid is providing the winner with a 7-Quart Mixer for this giveaway. We were not compensated for this post. All opinions shared about this product are our own.

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Random.org has chosen our winner!

#448 Courtney D.

Congrats and Feliz Navidad!

Thank you all for leaving very sweet holiday well wishes to our serviceman and women. May you all have a blessed holiday season.