• Squash blossoms: bought from Produce Express (which is wholesale), but you can sometimes find them at a farmer's market or in your own garden. Or you can special order them from Nugget Market. Summer squash is notoriously prolific, so don't worry if you pick some of the blossoms. You'll still have plenty of squash.
• Nopales: La Superior is a great Mexican grocery with locations on Stockton Blvd. and Northgate. Pick plump cactus paddles that aren't shriveled. Carefully scrape off the thorns with the edge of a knife.
• Epazote: this is an herb with a creosote-like smell, but many uses. It's often added to cooking beans to reduce their gas production. You can also make it into a tea for the same effect. It grows very easily in Sacramento and is a perennial. You can also buy it at La Superior or Nugget. Look for fresh, but dried is sometimes easier to find.
• Corn tortillas and masa: Roseville Tortilla Factory makes thin tortillas that Diana especially liked. She also convinced them to sell her masa without the lard already added. That was because she wanted to add her own (the pork lard, see above). You can buy tamale masa at La Superior also, but it already has lard added. La Esperanza on Franklin also has masa. Note that masa for tortillas and tamales is slightly different in texture.
• Avocado leaves: sometimes you can get these at a market, but you'll probably have better luck sourcing them from a neighbor with a tree if you don't have one of your own. Diana said that these are sometimes toasted and added as an ingredient to tamales as well.
• Lard: There's a difference between hydrogenated lard and unhydrogenated. Look for the latter. It was bought at La Esperanza for the demo.
• Fresh and dried chiles: Some of these are often available in regular grocery stores like Safeway and Corti Brothers, but the best and cheapest selection is at a Mexican grocery. Note that anchos are sometimes listed as pasillas, which is apparently common in southern Mexico.
• Corn husks: La Esperanza or La Superior. There are LOTS in a package, so don't overbuy. They do last well at room temperature if sealed, though.
• Banana leaves: I saw large packages at La Superior, but you can also sometimes find them frozen in Asian markets. I'd try Vinh Phat on Stockton, since they seem to have everything.
• Tamale steamers, tortillas presses, other equipment: Most large Mexican groceries will have these, at very reasonable prices. The beauty of a steamer in the photo above came from a trip to Mexico, and you can certainly use a bamboo steamer, like the large ones in Asian markets.
• Dried spices: Diana prefers whole spices, which you then crush as needed. You can find packages of everything from whole cloves to anatto seeds at La Superior in the produce department, near the dried chiles.

La Superior: 4940 Stockton Blvd., 451-7259; 2210 Northgate, 929-7095
La Esperanza: 5044 Franklin Blvd., 455-0215
Vinh Phat: 6105 Stockton Blvd., 424-8613
Nugget Market: 1040 Florin Rd., 395-2875; 2000 Town Center Plaza, West Sac., 375-8700
Roseville Tortilla Factory: 313 Riverside Ave., Roseville, 783-3311