Here’s What Happens When You Wait Until the Last Minute to Buy Masa Preparada

This year my sister and I decided to get all the things we needed to make our tamales on the 24th. With the guidance of our mom, we got the husks, the meat and the chile needed to make her famous red tamales- however we put off one main ingredient and now we are scrambling- the MASA!

While my mom knows how to make masa from scratch, we rarely make it from scratch. We usually buy it from El Super, formerly known as Rancher's Market. It's good and it gets the job done. However, this year, we wanted to get real fancy and get our masa from an actual tortilleria. Let me tell you, it has been a hassle!

We thought if we place an order for it early, we'll be able to pick it up on Christmas eve, when we make our tamales. We were wrong. Nearly every tortilleria in El Paso (or at least the ones we wanted) do not take reservations for masa, they sell masa and you pick it up on the day needed and if they run out, well you're S.O.L.

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Other tortillerias close early- holiday hours and whatnot, so I suggest if you go out hunting some masa for yourself, ALWAYS CHECK their hours otherwise you'll be greeted with a "CLOSED" sign on the door.

Maybe it was our fault for waiting for the WEEK OF CHRISTMAS to get our masa, or maybe we should not have strayed from our usual and stuck to what we know; maybe the universe decided for us all along. In the end, we are getting our masa from El Super, like always; it's more reliable. But take it from me, plan ahead- because it might get crazy out there! Felices Fiestas!