The Contest and Shipping

Lisa asked how non locals could enter the contest. Yes, you can fax the answer in, 305-305-4810.
David asked if we can ship our lovely Tamales. The answer is yes!! We can ship anywhere in the 48. We ship them frozen and they arrive perfectly. Call for details and rates. 520-305-4760. Thanks

One True Theory of Love

Just watch the video... :)

The Last Adventure of the Dinner Chef

Today we started staying open until 7pm. It was what we had originally intended to do. Back in November when we first opened, we stayed open until 7 a total of 1 night. The fatigue was there. I was tired. The staff was tired. Sherry was tired. Harold had just passed away and we were trying to open the Shoppe. It wore on us more than I knew at the time. At that time staying open till 7 wasn't going to work.
But we knew we had to stay open later.
Today we stayed open until 7. I came in at 8am and left at 7:30pm. All the time on my feet. Cooking, organizing, selling, chatting with customers. Working the whole time.
But today I wasn't tired when I went home. Staying open till 7 didn't phase me as much. I know when I was in the corporate world people worked all kinds of crazy hours, so did I. The difference here is being on your feet, talking with folks, it can drain you and rejuvenate you.
But let's cut to the chase. I have always cooked all the dinners at our house. Sherry does laundry and I take care of the kitchen. Completely. Meals. Shopping. Cleaning. I take care of it all. Tonight I came home to the smell of lemon chicken soup. Sherry did it all. The soup was great. I think I've been replaced. I expect Sherry to make a comment here. As always, I will be back...

News and Notes

The Super Bowl is approaching!!! The top 5 reasons tamales from the Tucson Tamale Company are a great idea for your Super Bowl Party:

#5 Tamales are easy to eat and won’t spill when you jump up to cheer for your team
#4 Lots of variety of healthy (no lard and gluten free) food to keep everyone happy
#3 Tamales kind of look like little footballs
#2 We do all the work and you get all the credit

And the #1 reason to get tamales from the Tucson Tamale Company for your Super Bowl party is …

#1 Order before January 24th and get 10% off your Super Bowl party purchase

Other News

We now offer catering. Just go to our website and click on the the \"Catering Menu\" button for more details or give us a call @520-305-4760

We will soon be offering shipping. Watch our website for the official launch. Start putting your gift list together so you can send family and friends a little taste of Tucson

The First Six Weeks

Todd talks about the first six weeks

Last note of the year

Well, it's been quite a year. Tomorrow I will reflect on the year past and look at the year ahead. I have a prime rib on the grill, a nice bottle of wine opened and Sherry and I are waiting for a few friends. Tonight we will learn how to play 'Apples to Apples'. Colette plays it and she says it is soooo much fun.

Also want to give our new Tamales some props. The grilled pineapple is outstanding. Fresh pineapple, grilled and seasoned is then wrapped in a mango coconut masa. Sweet tamales at their best. come in and try one.

On Friday we will have our smoked BBQ Pork tamale. It's the new year. See you in 09. Thanks for a great year. Todd

The Great Tomato Experiment

As I think about corn, I can't help but think about Tomatoes. Both are indigenous to the America's. The original American (North, Central and South) foods. I love a good home grown, true vine ripen tomato. I won't eat anything from the stores. They were picked green and gassed. they have no flavor. But these tomatoes, these luscious tomatoes are to die for.
Growing tomatoes in Tucson is a challenge. when the temperatures go above 95 the plants stop producing fruit. They don't like the heat. Every other year I have planted Tomatoes I gave up on them after about July. This year I did something different. First, I planted them very early, the first week in March. By mid May we had Tomatoes galore. That lasted until the end of June. No more tomatoes. The plants looked thin, weak, hot and tired by mid July. They stayed that way until the beginning of September. then the plants took off. They grew and grew. Flowers and fruit. Beautiful little plum and cherry tomatoes. A few nice slicers.
So, the plants are now 9 months old. Here's a video of the plants on Thursday (Christmas day) before we had the freeze (and when you look at this video understand that this is only 6 tomato plants):



Now the freeze took out some of the outer leafs, but the fruit and leafs that were protected are still quite alive. So we have covered them for the last two nights to see how they will hold up. Here's a picture of the plants covered:



I'll keep you updated on how they turn out and how old they grow to be.

Flavorbank.com Spice Market

This afternoom, My friend Jennifer needed someone to watch her
incredibly wonderful spice shoppe. So here I am after 12 hour days
selling spices! It's truly a delight coming in here. The aroma of the
spices tickles your palate and intriges your imagination. If Dr.
Suess came in here he might write something like this:
Oh the things I could cook with these spices that are twice as nices
as any puckery pepper placed on my tingly, chingly tongue...
Stop in and see Jennifer. Tell her Todd sent you.

Fort Worth

They came all the way from Fort Worth to try our Tamales (I'm sure they had holiday relatives here), they said our Tamales were the best they have ever had, and they say that Fort Worth has some good ones!

Pictures, Pictures

Here are some cooking pictures. (btw, this is the forth time I've tried to post this, I'm using safari and not all to happy with it right now), First, I wrote a paragraph, the second time a few sentences, now a little blurb. Oh well. Making Spinach and Mushroom:

Lori's birthday

Celebrate!!!!!

Corn Artist

I've given myself the nickname, or title, of Corn Artist. Don't know why, it just sounds right, cool. You can follow me on twitter, @cornartist. Come see what creation a corn artist can make. Todd

OMG Arizona

I'm experimenting with the hottest of hot tamales. Habeneros, serreno
and thai chilis with a hint of apples and BBQ. This one is for pros
only!!! If you've ever complained that something was too hot, stay
away from the OMG!!!

Kirby, Sherry and Cierra

Serving Tamales and staying warm

At The Street Fair

Selling Tamales at Street Fair. It's cold windy and rainy today. But
we're selling Hot Tamales

Street Fair Feet

We have a booth at the Street Fair. If you're on Facebook you can see some pictures taken by Michele. It's been crazy busy. Everyone is doing great. And we're on our feet all day. Lot's of energy and tired feet. We've had a lot of customers stop by, lot's of friends and we've discovered new customers. This is the price of building a new business. We don't just set up our booth and wait for people to walk up and give us 3 bucks for a Tamal, we talk to all of them. We tell them our story. We show them our menu, we talk about our philosophy. Simplify, sustain and celebrate. this is the real work. Selling Tamales. We love it. Our feet are tired. Our hearts are warm.

Nora the Tamale Cart

Putting on the new sign!

Second Wind

Cuts and Burns

I started in the restaurant business when I was 14. I bussed tables at a restaurant, 'The Original Mexican Cafe' on 3rd & Broadway in Denver. The year was 1972. A taco plate was $4.95 (or somewhere in that area). I remember one night going into the attic to find some plates and I ran across some old menus. From 1942. The offerings really hadn't changed. Only the prices. The Taco plate in 1942 was 75 cents. I worked Friday and Saturday night. From 6pm to 3:30am. I rode my bicycle home. It was a most peaceful ride.
My next job was cooking chicken at 'Chicken Unlimited'. At 15 years old, I still had to ride my bike. The difference between this job and busing tables was the hot grease. When I was busing tables I may have gotten my butt pinched by a drunk, but when I was cooking chicken, I got my hand fried just like the bird. I was young and didn't listen. Three Hundred and Sixty Five degree oil burns. Burns. I had just taken a batch of birds out of the grease dip and went to wipe the rim of the fryer. In my total carelessness, my hand slipped and took a little swim in the hot oil. You know what I said. Screamed, actually. But I toughed it out. It wasn't that bad. A couple of little blisters formed and the pain was pretty much gone by the end of the night. Then I had to ride my bike home. No gloves. The blisters decided to pop on the handle bars. The pain returned. I decided right there and then if I was to stay in this job/business, I had to handle the burns. And for all those years I did. Many burns, many cuts. A few stitches. Some burn cream. After many years I learned how not to cut or burn myself. Live and Learn. That I did. When I finally realized what could happen and that I could prevent it by being careful, well, I became careful. My first 8 years in the restaurant business, many cuts, many burns. My second 8 years. Almost none.
What does any of this have to do with the Tamale Shoppe? Well, yesterday I got my first cut and first burn at the Shoppe. They were both small. Minor. But today they hurt. And all those memories came back. But in those memories, those burns and cuts didn't hurt. Why did they hurt now? Am I becoming a wimp? Maybe they just hurt. I'll be fine tomorrow. They'll be healed and I'll be fine. But I will remember to be careful. I will remember that I was once young and 'wild'. Now I'm a bit more (a lot more) cautious. At least when it comes to hot equipment and knives. But I'll never be careful about my passions. This is one of them.

4th Ave. Street Fair

As you all know we opened two weeks ago and things have been getting busier and busier everyday. We are very pleased with how things have gone so far. Thank you all for your support and for coming in and having some of our wonderful Tamales.
We are going to have a booth at the 4th Ave. Street Fair next weekend. The Fair is the 12th, 13th and 14th. If you're at the fair, come find us and say hi. We'll be on 4th ave and 5th street, behind the beer garden, so I know some of you will see us :)
Because of the Street Fair, our hours at the Shoppe will be as follows:
Friday, December 12th, 11am - 2pm
Saturday, December 13th, Closed
Sunday, December 14th, Closed
Have a great week and see you soon at the shoppe, the street fair or just bumping into you in our journeys.
Todd