Mexican grocery shopping

One of bloggers that I like to read, Judy Laquidera of  Patchwork Times ,  has suggested on her blog, that she and any of her readers that are interested, will set aside a day and all make tamales on that day.

We would all be able to communicate through her blog, and ask questions if we have any trouble...and we'll all post photos of our finished tamales.  Tamales are usually made in huge batches since there are a lot of steps to making them...you don't want to spend all that time for one meal's worth of tamales.

It sounds like fun to me and I have been wanting to try tamale making. So I am getting my ingredients together.

One thing I couldn't find was the corn husks to wrap them in...so I searched out a Mexican Grocery.
This looks pretty authentic...there's even a car parked halfway on the side walk!

Mi Preferida Supermercado (My Favorite Supermarket). There was a restaurant in  the rear but I didn't look in  there.

There were a lot of items in there that I wasn't able to identify and wouldn't have any idea what to do with.

Those packages on the bottom are some evil looking dried peppers!

Lot's of produce I am unfamiliar with....

These must be a sort of cactus, they are covered with short spines!

A wall of small packages of spices and powders.  Should I be buying some of this for tamales?

I did recognize the corn husks when I found them, and also a bag of masa harina...the corn flour I will need for the tamales.

I also picked up a couple of cans of tomatillos that I use when making a different Mexican dish (tomatillo pork), and a package of pre-made corn tortillas just to have on hand.

It was a nice store...clean, well stocked, polite employees. They even had a butcher shop/ meat counter  there. 

Now, I need to keep looking at recipes...and maybe watch a few YouTube videos to see tamale rolling techniques.

And I might have to buy a steamer basket.