Yule tamales not so hot without the corn shucks

Mexican-Americans are facing a serious shortage that threatens their traditional holiday menu - there aren't enough corn shucks for making tamales. And without tamales, Christmas just won't seem like Christmas to many such families.

The corn shucks are used to wrap the spicy, meat-filled tamales. David Guerra , a wholesale produce buyer in San Antonio, said there was no way he could keep up with the huge demand for the shucks this year.

To keep up the tamale tradition, some resourceful cooks may be planning to use some peculiar, nontraditional tamale wrappers - such as banana peels.