The Vargas Family Christmas Tradition

Every family has a Christmas tradition. Some people sing Christmas carols around their neighborhood while others bake Christmas cookies.

The Vargas family does things a bit different. We make tamales.

And not just a few tamales. We make TONS of tamales.

Why tamales for Christmas, you ask?

It’s actually a California tradition. I read an article this past weekend that dove into the history of tamales in California. Back in the last 1800’s and early 1900’s everyone ate tamales. And it wasn’t just people of Mexican descent who made them. Europeans, African Americans, Chinese, and just about everyone else was jumping into the tamale business and making a pretty good living doing it.

Christmas Tamales are so popular in Los Angeles, I’m expecting to wait in a huge line a minimum of an hour to pick up the masa (the dough we use to make the tamales) on Christmas eve morning.

It’s all a lot of fun. I have a friend who is now too old to do it, but for many many years he would hold a big tamale music festival. Where everybody would come over and make tamales and anybody who had an instrument was to bring the instrument so that they can jam together continuously from early in the morning till late at night.

But we still invite anyone and everyone over to share in our Christmas tamale tradition.

My mother started this tradition many years ago, and it’s been a blessing to keep it going. In a couple of days, our house is filled with joy, laughter, food, and love.

So what’s the lesson? It’s a simple one, but one that is more important than any marketing lesson you’ll ever learn.

Remember that we all work to live, not live to work. Spend time with family and friends. And not just during the holidays.

There’s a quote from a famous 80’s movie that I try to live by…

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Committed to your success,
Ernie “Christmas Tamale Party” Vargas | The Probate Fox