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One of the best parts about growing up in So Cal was the fact that every once in a while there would be a few girls at school who would have coolers with dozens

One of the best parts about growing up in So Cal was the fact that every once in a while there would be a few girls at school who would have coolers with dozens and dozens of hot homemade Tamale's for sale.

conductr 6y ago
Similar to my experience growing up in Houston where it seems everyone has a side hustling abuelita tamale connection. My parents grew up in suburb of Friendswood and this tamale truck [0] is a local legend. I remember early 80s it was the only thing on this FM road for what seemed like miles in either direction. I think it's 2nd generation owner now but I went by last year and it's still very good. [0] https://goo.gl/maps/fkMrZPm4S4mHAW68A https://goo.gl/maps/fkMrZPm4S4mHAW68A
- jxramos 6y ago
  every now and then there'd be people hawking tamale's at a store plaza's parking lot by our house. In our house we still repeat the phrase we heard from one of the sellers standing in the dark shadows under a tree in that parking lot saying "tamale, tamale, tamale". Pretty awesome that tamale truck has a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hottamales76 https://www.facebook.com/hottamales76
  - conductr 6y ago
    Our family tradition is tamales after Christmas. Usually the day after while extended family is still around. We also eat out Tex-Mex on Friday night including day after thanksgiving also while everyone is still gathered. I think it’s not uncommon to have some similar tradition for Texans of all backgrounds. That Facebook page is wild. I could tell last time I went that the hipster foodies had discovered the place. But those lines are wild. It was never like that as a kid in 80s-90s. Any given drive by there was usually max of 2 cars, most commonly 0. There was no parking lot. Things like this are interesting part about getting old, seeing how change occurs over decades.
alangibson 6y ago
We used to buy them from a neighbor every week back in Texas. It was traditional for the older Mexican ladies to get together and make them on the weekends. Making tamales is quite a production, so you have to make a ton in one day and sell them over the week.
mixmastamyk 6y ago
Did the school allow that? I'm happy they did, but surprised.
01100011 6y ago
Yep. Every December the tamale lady would show up and sell out of the coolers in the back of her toyota pickup truck in the Ralph's parking lot. Also you have the Ice Cream or Corn vendors pushing a cart around the neighborhood. I miss SoCal... the traffic sucks but so much else is wonderful.

conductr 6y ago

Similar to my experience growing up in Houston where it seems everyone has a side hustling abuelita tamale connection. My parents grew up in suburb of Friendswood and this tamale truck [0] is a local legend. I remember early 80s it was the only thing on this FM road for what seemed like miles in either direction. I think it's 2nd generation owner now but I went by last year and it's still very good. [0] https://goo.gl/maps/fkMrZPm4S4mHAW68A https://goo.gl/maps/fkMrZPm4S4mHAW68A

jxramos 6y ago
every now and then there'd be people hawking tamale's at a store plaza's parking lot by our house. In our house we still repeat the phrase we heard from one of the sellers standing in the dark shadows under a tree in that parking lot saying "tamale, tamale, tamale". Pretty awesome that tamale truck has a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hottamales76 https://www.facebook.com/hottamales76
- conductr 6y ago
  Our family tradition is tamales after Christmas. Usually the day after while extended family is still around. We also eat out Tex-Mex on Friday night including day after thanksgiving also while everyone is still gathered. I think it’s not uncommon to have some similar tradition for Texans of all backgrounds. That Facebook page is wild. I could tell last time I went that the hipster foodies had discovered the place. But those lines are wild. It was never like that as a kid in 80s-90s. Any given drive by there was usually max of 2 cars, most commonly 0. There was no parking lot. Things like this are interesting part about getting old, seeing how change occurs over decades.

alangibson 6y ago

We used to buy them from a neighbor every week back in Texas. It was traditional for the older Mexican ladies to get together and make them on the weekends. Making tamales is quite a production, so you have to make a ton in one day and sell them over the week.

mixmastamyk 6y ago

Did the school allow that? I'm happy they did, but surprised.

01100011 6y ago

Yep. Every December the tamale lady would show up and sell out of the coolers in the back of her toyota pickup truck in the Ralph's parking lot. Also you have the Ice Cream or Corn vendors pushing a cart around the neighborhood. I miss SoCal... the traffic sucks but so much else is wonderful.