Christmas Traditions: Tamales
by Jim Mulligan
I would imagine that not many family traditions can be traced back ten thousand years. The Gates family, like many families who trace their roots to Mexico, can do just that. Lesley Olvera Gates, her husband Tony, their two daughters Maddy and Morgan, and their extended family, continue a tradition of Christmas Eve tamale making and eating that Lesley remembers as an integral part of her earliest childhood memories—and it literally has ancient beginnings.
