AUSTIN, Texas — It's a Texas-sized Christmas tradition — tamales for the holidays.

While some make them at home, others lineup outside restaurants to get their hands on the tasty holiday dish.

“We’ve just have had tamales as an annual tradition for many years,” Caren Garcia, an Austin resident said. “My grandmother would have them on the table.”

The Mexican-American Christmas staple, gladly adopted by all Texans, is no easy task to make. Many hands have been working days before to make it all possible. The Tamale House East started preparations on Thursday, rounding out its total tamale count at 7,000.

“I’ve had families come and say, ‘We tried to do it, but we came back to you. It’s too much work,’” Diane Valera, Owner of Tamale House East said. “It is a lot of work, but it does take a lot of love and a lot of commitment.”

The family recipe, passed down for generations, calls for everything to be made from scratch. It was all done in 72 hours, with a few late nights in the kitchen.

For this family, Christmas tamales are about bonding and passing the tradition on to other families.

“The fact that many Austinites, Texans, and many people all over the country are breaking bread so to speak, are eating the tamales. I feel like we are a part of their family tradition,” said Carmen Valera.

Tamale House East sold out of tamales on Sunday, but made an exception for a customer, whose mom is in hospice.

“We’re going to accommodate her request and try and make her Christmas,” Valera said.