harder than I thought

Getting back into the swing of it, blogging-wise, has been harder than I ever imagined it would be. Since I missed it so much, I thought I’d fall right back into the rhythm. Um, not so much!

I want to blame it on the holidays. Thanksgiving, out-of-town family, Christmas, even more family from out-of-town, New Year’s, and more family have made it hard to want to sit down at the computer and “work.” But that’s really not it. I blogged religiously for more than 5 years, through every major holiday and life event, so I can not claim that the season is the issue.

I’m just out of the habit, and until I get back on track, posts will be spotty. I’m now prepared for that reality and I hope that you’ll stick with me through this transition.

Marissa & Jeff drove back to Austin on Saturday. They had flown in two weeks ago but drove back so they could take all their wedding and wedding shower gifts. They made it back in record time, arriving home, safe and sound, by mid-morning on Sunday.

On Friday night, for their last dinner at home, I made a pan of super-easy and super-yummy tamale enchiladas. So yummy, in fact, that I couldn’t get a photo of the pan before they were all but gone!

I bought the tamales from a young woman who was selling them at Connor’s apartment building. She had two adorable little ones in-tow, so how could I say no?  I bought a dozen green chile-chicken tamales and a dozen red chile-pork tamales. I should say, that’s what I thought I bought, she accidentally gave me only six green chile (1 bag) and a dozen and a half (3 bags) of red chile.

A few nights before, we enjoyed 6 of the green and 6 of the red, served in the traditional style. That was nice, but to my taste, tamales are a bit dry. So serving the remaining dozen red chile tamales enchilada-style was way more fun!

Oh, another fun thing, I found these frozen Hatch green chiles at Trader Joe’s. Fantastic!

Enchilada-Style Tamales

• 1 dozen tamales, corn husks removed
• 1 cup frozen chopped hatch chiles, thawed
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1 cup sliced roasted red peppers
• 28-ounce can green enchilada sauce
• 2 cups Mexican cheese blend

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 by a 13-inch baking dish with Pam.  Line the tamales up in the pan, overlapping slightly, if needed, to make them fit in a single layer.

~ Don’t forget to remove the corn husks first!

Sprinkle the tamales with the chopped Hatch chiles, corn, and the sliced roasted red peppers.

Next, pour 3/4 of the can of green enchilada sauce over the tamales.

Evenly sprinkle the 2 cups of cheese over the top and then pour the remaining enchilada sauce down the center of the pan.

Place in preheated oven and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Serve alone or with rice, beans, tortilla chips, and salsa.

Serves 6 to 8