Tamales and Tequila- My Process in Layers on my Paper Pieces

Recipes for food and art!

Do It Ugly Project

Jun 10, 2025

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Hola Amiga!

So that little dinner gathering I had last week at my home turned into something a little bit bigger the following week. My neighbors decided that we should all get together and make tamales which is a BIG JOB.

So we did!

I have made tamales before with friends with Mexican heritage, but I don’t remember much about how they tasted. I do remember using vegetable oil in the masa and I wasn’t excited about it.

So I was definitely interested.

(Also, we recently ate some tamales that we had secured from a Centro vendor and they were really thick with mostly masa and I was not a fan).

Was definitely excited to see that we were using pork fat as the binder. We brought the fat to room temperature by using our hands to mixed it up and then slowly adding the masa along with some spices like salt, cumin, baking soda and so many limes. (Don’t even think about asking for a lemon in this town! SACRELIGIOUS!!)

Separately, the meat was boiled and we cooked down some dried peppers after emptying them of all their seeds and the salsa verde sauce was put together using tomatillos, onion, garlic and serrano chilis.

This was literally an all day affair!

I was especially interested in how we were going to cook (steam) the tamales since our neighbors don’t have a stove/oven. They simply use hotplates for their regular food (ovens are not always a thing here).

That is where the outdoor oven was introduced to us and their boys had gathered firewood from a close-by field to keep the heat high. All 80 tamales had to steam for 2 hours.

While we waited, there was bottles of tequila and cans of cervezas passed around (though not for me because I am having a sober minute right now).

When we finally ate the fruits of our labor, it tasted sweet!

Sooo good!

Just the right amount of masa with pork, chili sauce, and cheese. And the salsa verde sauce on top……sooooo good!

We were home and in bed by 8:30- it was perfect! lol

And then we went back to their house on Sunday to eat again!

You can see a little bit of the action if you visit my IG page and go to the highlight bubble called Tamales— or click HERE

I don’t think I can make tamales by myself, but I could definitely do it with friends and this salsa verde sauce needs to be a constant thing in my life.

If you have never made tamales before, hook up with a Hispanic friend for help and knowledge and get it planned! You won’t regret it.

What do y’all think of Substack? I find it so much more peaceful over here as opposed to other social media platforms and hope that you love it!

The Anatomy of an Interesting Painting (on paper)

It is worth mentioning that my style on paper is a little different than it is on canvas. Perhaps someday I will also do a detailed list of what I do different with canvas.

Overall what captures my attention in any creative work is what makes it unique. Realism (perfection) has always been boring to me though I respect the amount of talent it takes to draw a perfect photograph.

But in the end, it is not for me.

I love layers and hidden things that I will see the more I study a piece.

A lot of what I paint in my sketchbooks bores me, but I thought what could I do to make it more interesting and the answer is always MESSY LAYERS. The more layers, the better the work (In my own eyes).

I have shown this guy before on my IG— I am loving the idea of smashing together a cowboy and a sailor into one and seeing what I can come up with.

And while I think this guy is OK—- he doesn’t stop my scroll.

I have already laid down many colors of paint and scribbles on the background. I love when you can see that information coming through. There is something happening over the right shoulder but I am not quite sure what it is or was.

There is also a lot of warm colors that I might want to think about breaking up.

It is also just paint going on here and I want to add more in the way of mixed media to just see what will happen.

The easiest thing I could do here is add a puff of smoke with some collage. Easy Peasy!

And the yellow and orange stripes would work if I chose to paint the background a warm color, but I don’t want to lose what is already coming through, so I decide to change up the stripes. I could have made them darker for a more dramatic effect.

And since I this blue color on my brush, let me water it down some and make some splatters on this guy and the one next door also. I look at so much art and think to myself - that needs a splatter. lol

I also grabbed some vintage paper and gave him a hat band.

I am not completely 100% on this but I want something else in the background. I have been admiring artwork that puts all sorts of details in the background and when I typically try it- I don’t like it.

But heck, it’s a sketchbook, so let’s just see what happens- Adding stars from vintage wrapping paper and a fun envelope.

I was debating on adding stars, cactus or a small thunderbird. Maybe I will try out those ideas on another cowboy in my sketchbook.

I am ALWAYS a more is more type of girl and I am not done yet. I grab 3 colored pencils without thinking about what color too much. I just need colors that will stand out some to make some extra marks.

You could almost close your eyes for this part and just drag and scribble across the page.

Don’t overthink it!

And move FAST!

Now I am going to let it marinate for at least a day.