Salil--re Trader Joe's tamales

[Jenise]

Finally tried some, bought the green chile/cheese flavor. They were delish! Will have to try the others, thanks for the recco.

I just read in a magazine which tastes tests prepared foods, that Trader Joe's has the best "Mildly Spiced Veggie Burritos". The tasters liked that they could clearly see and taste every bit of the produce stuffed inside the soft shell: corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes, broccoli, plus garlic, sea salt, jalapeños and green chilies. $2.49 for two 7-ounce burritos.

Awesome, Jenise. I love those things - used to load up my freezer with half a dozen or so packets of them right before exam week when I was an undergrad in Chicago.

When we lived in SO CA a friend of ours gave us tamales made by her grandmother every year a xmas time. Every tamale we've tried since then just hasn't cut it. Yolanda's grandmother's xmas tamales, a legend.

[Jenise]

When we lived in SO CA a friend of ours gave us tamales made by her grandmother every year a xmas time. Every tamale we've tried since then just hasn't cut it. Yolanda's grandmother's xmas tamales, a legend.

That will ruin you! But you know what, I have stories like that. Lots of GREAT tamales made by aunties and grandmothers around Christmas time, so it always made me wonder why Mexican restaurant tamales were by and large so bad.

When we lived in SO CA a friend of ours gave us tamales made by her grandmother every year a xmas time. Every tamale we've tried since then just hasn't cut it. Yolanda's grandmother's xmas tamales, a legend.

That will ruin you! But you know what, I have stories like that. Lots of GREAT tamales made by aunties and grandmothers around Christmas time, so it always made me wonder why Mexican restaurant tamales were by and large so bad.

Tamales benefit greatly from the freshness of the masa harina used, so they have to be made to order, ideally. The problem for restaurants is that they have to prepare them beforehand or subject the patron to a long wait.

Mark Lipton