For 51 years, Magdalena Garcia has been making tamales in Toledo for Christmas.

"If I don't make tamales for Christmas, it's not Christmas for me," she told me. "My grandma and mom always had tamales at Christmas."

For the Garcia family of Northwood and many other Mexican-American families across the country, tamales are a Christmas tradition. "Making tamales is like that of making Buckeyes [candy] at Christmas," says her son Noel Garcia, a Toledo firefighter.

On Christmas Eve, the tamales, which have been frozen, are steamed and cooked in a kettle; once cooked, they are served on a platter, often with chicken mole, Spanish rice, refried beans, with a side salad. It's a meal that everyone loves.

Earlier this month on one of his days off, Mr. Garcia assisted his mother and his sister Norma Ramirez in the laborious process of making the popular dish that consists of various fillings coated with masa dough and wrapped in softened corn husk.

There are three major parts to making tamales: the corn husks, the masa, and the filling.

Because Mrs. Garcia makes so many tamales every year, she buys her corn husks on trips to Texas. Born in San Benito, Texas, she brings home a burlap sack that holds 40 pounds of corn husks. They are less expensive that way. But you can buy the husks at Meijer or any of the local Mexican stores, she says.

The corn husks have to be soaked overnight. "I rinse the silk off them," she says. "When the corn husk is dry, it's too hard to roll."

The masa flour is bought from a tortilla factory, but can be found at area stores as masa harina. She adds other ingredients such as lard, broth, salt, and chile powder.

The spices and lard are mixed with the masa in a beautiful earthenware bowl called a casuela. (While Mrs. Garcia uses lard, some cooks are mixing half lard, half Crisco, or even trying to make it with a soy-based margarine or butter to get less fat. However, spreading the masa thinly over the corn husk means there is about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of lard in each tamale.)

Once the desired consistency is achieved, some of the masa is spread on each softened corn husk. Mrs. Garcia uses a masa spreader while her daughter uses the back of a spoon. "That's a lot of work," says the mother. "It's too slow."

"I still do it this way," says her daughter. "You've got to practice."

About 1 pound of masa and 1 pound of meat is used for each dozen tamales. "Some people spread the masa dough thicker than mother does," Mrs. Ramirez says. "So they don't get as many tamales.

On this day, Mrs. Garcia has made enough masa and pork filling and soaked enough corn husks for 10 dozen tamales.

(Mrs. Ramirez says her mother makes up to 300 pounds of pork meat for the holidays. "She gives a lot away at Christmas," the daughter says. "It's a big project.")

The meat has been cooked and ground. "Some people chunk it and shred it," Mrs. Ramirez says. "My mom likes to grind it and saute it with spices."

"It is a tradition to smash spice in a molcajete (mortar and pestle)," she says. Using this process, she grinds whole pepper, cumin, and garlic.

"A lot of people use powder [spice], but it's not the same taste," her mother says.

This family fills the tamales with a pork mixture made from cooked lean pork shoulder. But you can also use chicken filling or vegetarian versions. "On my husband's side, a nephew likes the pork filling with raisins," Mrs. Garcia says.

While mother and daughter spread the corn husks with masa, Mrs. Garcia's son fills each tamale with the filling. "Then we start rolling. We set them on cookie sheets in packages by the dozen," the daughter says. "We freeze them uncooked and steam them the day she needs them. A lot of people like tamales with coffee. Some like them spicy with ground-up habanero or jalapeno peppers."

Some people fry tamales with a little oil and serve with two eggs cooked over-easy, a dish known as huevos rancheros.

To cook tamales, use a kettle with a vegetable steamer rack turned upside down filled with two pints water (or an inverted cup surrounded by shredded corn husks). Stand the prepared tamales with the open end up. Top with a damp, clean dish towel and a lid and steam for one hour on the stove top.

The key to knowing when the tamale is done: "If the corn husk peels off, it's done," Mrs. Ramirez says. "At first it won't peel, but after 10 minutes of setting, it will."

"We put a lot of love into making tamales," Mr. Garcia says. "We make each one like it's for ourselves."

His father, Israel Garcia, used to help make the tamales, too. "Now he's the taste tester," says the daughter, Mrs. Ramirez.

In September, I visited a San Francisco farmers' market on Alemeny Street where a vendor - All Star Tamales of Pittsburg, Calif. - had a dozen versions of tamales steamed and ready for breakfast or a midmorning snack. I selected a chicken tamale and, with a cup of coffee, it was a great way to start the day.

In Northwood, Mrs. Garcia's tamales were drizzled with homemade tomato salsa. Nothing could be better.

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, at Christmas or in the summer, made with lard or not, authentic homemade tamales are a national treasure.

Kathie Smith is The Blade's food editor.

Contact her at: food@theblade.com or 419-724-6155.

First Published December 20, 2005, 2:34 p.m.