I'm Planning a Giveaway :D

Hello there fellow bloggers (bloggees?)! I am planning a multi-giveaway event in the next couple of weeks. Please let me know if you would like to contribute any of your products for me to post a review on and participate in the giveaway :D leave me a comment here with your contact info or send me a convo on etsy: T&T Crafts

Tamale Tutorial!

If you read my T&T Crafts Facebook Page, you would've read that I promised a Tamale Tutorial... and here it is! Please bear with me if this is a bit off, as this is my very first tutorial ever.

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So let's get started. Here is what you will need:
Corn Husks
Lard
Masa (corn flour)
Shredded Meat (I cook a big roast in the crock pot a day or so before making tamales)
Baking Powder
Salt
Chicken Bullion or Chicken Stock
Water
Stock Pot & Steamer Insert that will fit the pot

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Instructions:

Fill your clean sink with HOT water. Add your corn husks. I like to weigh them down to make sure they all get wet. The hot water will help them become soft and flexible so we can use them to roll up our tamales.


Go ahead and fill your pot with water, add the steamer insert, and turn on your stove. I think it helps to cook the tamales faster if the water is already at a boil.


Shred your precooked meat. This works best when the meat is hot or at least warm to the touch. You can either use your Quick Chef (if you're a Tupper-holic like me and everything in your kitchen is Tupperware) or just put it in a bowl and pull it apart using two forks.


Now let's mix up our tamale "dough." Here is the recipe I use, but you may need to adjust the amount of liquid based on your altitude or how dried out your masa is.
2 cups masa
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup lard
1 3/4 cups water or chicken stock
*chicken bullion if you're using plain water

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the lard and use your mixer to incorporate it in the the dry ingredients until it looks kind of like bread crumbs (ever make pie dough?). Add the water or chicken stock and use the hand mixer again until everything is easily mixed. The dough should seem kind of fluffy.

Now that your meat is shredded, your water is warming up, and your dough is ready, let's grab one of those soaking corn husks.


These ones are skinny and too small. Maybe you can use them for a Corn Husk Doll project with your kids.


This one is MUCH better! Your husks don't have to be huge, but they do need to be big enough to do something with.


Using a spatula, or a spoon, or your fingers, smear some dough on the corn husk. I usually cover about a 2inch wide x 3-4 inch long space on the upper right section of the corn husk.


Add some meat...


Roll it up, starting from the long edge with the masa on it.


I like to twist the bottom of mine and poke it in to the bottom (does that make sense at all? lol). If you have a really thick corn husk, you're best off to just fold it so you don't blow out the bottom of the tamale trying to twist it.


Here's the top of the tamale.


Load up your tamale pot.


Put the cover on.


Set a timer for an hour. Check the water periodically, the last thing you want is for your pot to boil dry. When your tamales are done, they will feel firm. If they need more time, they will still feel somewhat squishy. I add time in half hour increments when need be. Remember to check the water!

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A plate full of tamales... Let cool 5-10 minutes after cooking, if you can resist!


Remove the corn husks, add some tamale sauce and enjoy!

$250 Talbots Gift Card Giveaway! W00T!

Do you like these outfits?

Or How about this one?

Red Chair Confessions, the Talbot's Blog, is giving away a $250 gift card! Yay! The giveaway ends on May 5th. See Puttin' on the Grits for more details about the giveaway and how to enter.

Chocolate Mint Soap Giveaway & Spring Fling Giveaway Event!

Do you just love homemade soap? How about as a gift for one of your friends or family members, or for a special occasion such as Mother's Day? My friend Katrina from My Life as a Married Girl is doing a Spring Fling Giveaway Event, featuring some of my Chocolate Mint Soap! Stop by her blog to Enter :) There are TONS of other awesome giveaways in her Spring Fling Giveaway, so check those out while you're there!

Long Time, No Post

Hello there! I've been quite preoccupied for quite some time. We have opened our own Homebrewing Supply Store in our sweet little town of Carson City, Nv. Lots of my homemade projects are featured here in the store, along with handcrafted projects from more of our friends and family. We call this section of our store our "Made In Nevada" department. Here is the link to the website I designed for our store: Just Brew It
I will be adding a store feature to our website...eventually. As in when I get around to it :)


Along with all that goodness, I'm planning on spending some time really figuring out this whole "blog thing" and adding some tutorials and making this a fun site to come and visit.

I have a lot of sewing projects that I'm working on right now including baseball pants for my friend's children (her little ones are on the same T-ball team as my son, yay!), refashioning several of Loafie's shirts and dresses for summertime since they still fit, swim suits, curtains for a closet, and several half started projects that I really need to just finish!

Have I told you before that I LOVE Giveaways??

Here's why!



This is my oh so sweet and oh so cute ring dish that I won from Chrissy Ann Ceramics as a giveaway hosted by The Embellished Life

Thank you very much!! :)

Feltd Soap Giveaway Winner!

Thanks everyone who played and participated! This was really fun for me and I hope it was fun for all of you too! With some help from our friends at random.org, we have 1 lucky winner!

Say congrats to kerianne of Crafted By Design!! :)

Want more giveaways?? Check out my giveaway featured on Praise Handmade