I am from Southern California. The traditional custom for Christmas Eve dinner comes from Mexico, but many here in the southwest follow it. A couple days before the 24th the women in family gather to make hundreds of tamales. Tamales are made with a wet corn meal called masa. We take dried corn husks and soften them by soaking in water. Many families use the bathtub. You lay two or three husks out flat and pat the masa on in a five inch square. You place a mound of filling in the square and then roll it all up in the corn husks. The ends are tied and they look a little like the crackers you have. The filling can be pork, beef, or chicken cooked in chili sauce or cheese and diced green chillies. Some people like sweet tamales which have apples and raisins. When you're ready to cook them, they are steamed in a large kettle steamer. Then after midnight mass on Christmas Eve the whole family gathers and eats tamales. Tamales are also given as gifts to co-workers and neighbors.