Tuesday In Santa Fe

This morning we got up early and went to the Santa Fe Farmers Market. 

There was a lady that was selling her hand dyed and handspun yarn. It was beautiful and very inspiring. Even this little guy liked her stuff! 

There were tons of fresh greens to choose from.

My favorite is the Intergalactic Bread Company.  She has the most wonderful breads.

I picked up green Chile cheese, apple elderberry, and pumpkin pinon. When we got back to the casita they were eaten up in minutes!

Here is all our loot from the market.

My parents too my cousin to the museum and my sister, niece and I stayed back home. We jammed out to some Gypsy Kings while my sister made brunch. 

She made Quiche with the jalapeno pepper from my garden.

A fantastic salad with a cucumber from my garden, some steamed veggies and whole wheat bread!

Later I spun some yarn that I had been working on at home while the girls watched. I gave them a mini lesson but hope to give them a really good lesson this week! They seem really interested and that excites me!

Of course I had to get a picture of my spinning briefcase.

We also went to the Jackalope for bit of shopping. They have Prairie Dogs there. They are really cute!

Then to Gabriel's for dinner we went! The best ever Guacamole. They make it for you right at your table.

I had black bean enchiladas. Yum!

Cheers!

Friday In Santa Fe

Today Jeff and I ventured off on our own in the Plaza. We had a lot of fun going in in all the different shops and I had the most fun...shopping...of course!! I really wanted to show Jeff all my favorite Santa Fe spots so, we went to Miriam's Well and I purchased more roving for spinning and a new book. The roving is beautiful. This picture just does not do it justice. The orange is called Persimmon and is 100% Merino. The blue is called Petunias and is 55% Merino, 25% Soy Silk and 20% Tussah Silk. Miriam said that she picked the roving up when she was visiting in Colorado. I really envy her. I would love to have my own yarn shop and teach classes. She is selling her business but unfortunately, I don't have the spare change lying around!

I purchased my spinning wheel last year from Miriam and she remembered! It really is a special little shop and she has the most beautiful things. You know, you can get a sense about people sometimes and Miriam seems like a very wise and well rounded individual which makes going to her shop even better. I was glad Jeff got to meet her, I thought he would enjoy her and he did! Don't worry sis, I plan to share all the roving with you! You just must come visit me soon!

After Miriam's Well, we went over to Todos Santos. Todos Santos is a candy store with a Dia De Los Muertos theme. I love the way they have decorated this little store. The candy is amazing too!! This year I purchased a little box of chocolate. I forgot to take a picture of it before I unwrapped it.....I was too excited!

I already ate the heart and part of the circle with the nuts on it. The heart is white chocolate with a dark chocolate center and also made with rose water!! Devine! The lady that was working was very nice. She is a local and gave Jeff and I the inside scoop on Santa Fe living. She also threw in a few free caramels because Jeff was wearing a Manu Chao t-shirt. We met a lot of really nice people today, come to think of it!

We ventured over to Dressmans Gifts and picked up a few souvenirs to take home. I really love the tin work with the Dia De Los Muertos art. So, I picked up a little something for myself. I seemed to be pretty good at that this trip.

After a bit of souvenir shopping, Jeff and I went to La Boca!!! Oh, we certainly saved the best for last. Get ready for a major geek out.

My absolute favorite spot in Santa Fe....

We started off with a bit of Sangria (surprise surprise).

Then, we had garbanzo carrot hummus with flat bread.

The next Tapas course was Fried Egg Chorizo and Potato.

Round 3 was Canalones with scallop and crab........oh....I went into a food coma at this point.

The special was Pimientos de Padron....green chile's roasted in garlic with sea salt. I ate a tiny pepper and it was packed with heat! Oh...my...goodness........my mouth was on fire for hours! But, it was worth every minute of it!

The owner/chef was there, James Campbell Caruso. My mom and I met him during the Santa Fe School of Cooking Culinary Tour last year. I think the cooking tour was coming to La Boca today because the owner was there and they were getting the tables ready. if you are ever in Santa Fe, the culinary tour is an absolute must!

After La Boca we did a bit more shopping. We stopped into the Santa Fe School of Cooking and I picked up some Blue Corn Meal and Whipped Honey. I can't wait to go home and make blue corn muffins with the honey!

When our day of exploring the Plaza was over, my parents picked us up and we went back to the casita. I learned a new way to spin called rolag. I will explain that later. Basically, you roll up your roving like a burrito and spin it. It works rather well, I am now a firm believer in burrito spinning.

Jeff and I went on a little nature hike. It was fun. We found lots of things along the way like an old Christmas tree still in tact with its tinsel.

A blooming cactus...Jeff cut one of the fruits off and got little tiny cactus needles in his finger. He was a regular Bear Grylls on our hike! Ha!

We happened across a tree stump with a few mountain rocks stacked on top of it.

And....just waiting for us on the mountain top...2 green lawn chairs. We felt right at home!

The view from the lawn chairs....

On the way back from our hike, we happened upon a few wine corks. Look like someone else was partying on the patio!

Tomorrow we are packing up and heading home. Oh, I wish we could stay longer. Someday, I hope to call Santa Fe home. It is just really beautiful here. Right now, I am blogging on the patio of the casita to a gorgeous sunset and about 70 degrees with a breeze. It would be nice if this moment could last forever!

Cheers to Santa Fe and its people! Until next year!

Santa Fe!

I am having so much fun in Santa Fe. My parents and I drove up here on Saturday. We arrived right about 3:00pm after an 11 hour drive. We are staying at the Sky Island Casitas. When we got here we were so taken by the fantastic casita that we were going to stay in for a week. We walked all through the casita and ended up on the upper level balcony, however, we also ended up locking ourselves out up there. In the end, my dad ended up scaling a wall to free us, so...it has been quite an adventure! The view is absolutely amazing!

This is the balcony we managed to lock ourselves out on but, with a view like we have here, how could you even care?

The view is even more spectacular at night. The clouds are so light and fluffy and the colors of the sunset are unbelievable.

We have a great little patio, where we plan to have many a party on the patio.

On Sunday we had brunch at The Chocolate Maven. I saw this on Giada's Weekend Getaways and had to go! I had the great start breakfast. It is plain yogurt, their wonderful homemade granola, and fresh fruit. It was so yummy that we purchased some of their granola and then went to Trader Joe's to get the other ingredients. After breakfast we went to the Museum of International Folk Art to see the Needles and Pins Exhibit. This was a wonderful exhibit with sewing, stitching, and knitting artifacts from over 100 years ago. After that, we attended what we thought was going to be a demonstration on how to make marbleised paper, boy were we ever wrong! Now, for my disclaimer, let me say that I have nothing against those that like marbleised paper or those that even are passionate about it and collect it but...none the less it was not my cup of tea. I know "to each his own" and whatnot. I also know that I do things that others think are a bore. This lecture was on the history of the paper itself, not on the actual making of the paper, like we thought. Well anyway...my dad has this talent of being able to sleep through all he is not particularly interested in. My mom is totally aware of this and told me " don't you let him snore". I was sitting next to him so I had the privilege and responsibility of keeping him from embarrassing us. Let me tell you, I was doing and excellent job...I really was but....the whole endless talk of paper was sucking me in to this deep abyss of nothingness and I was overcome with boredom. It was like I was almost in a trance and then...the most horrid yet awfully hilarious thing happened....right when the lecturer took a pause in his speech, yes...my father managed to drum up the loudest snore you have ever heard. It echoed throughout the auditorium. It was so loud I myself cannot even imitate it. It was one of those snores that was so loud it woke himself up to the point he was not tired anymore. It took all that I had in me not to DIE laughing. I tried not to look at my dad because I knew that he would have started laughing too, not to mention my mother! I honestly though that she would be mortified but she thought it was funny too. So, I guess we all struggled throughout the last 20 minutes not to bust out laughing and make a mockery of the whole event. So, needless to say, this vacation has been rather entertaining from the very minute we got to Santa Fe.

This is an incredible sculpture that is located in the Museum atrium.

Today, Monday, we attended the Santa Fe School of Cooking Culture Tour (the picture to the left is the cooking school classroom). It was fantastic. We Started out at the Cooking School and the Director of Culinary Arts, Rocky Durham, was our tour guide. They prepared us green and red chile enchiladas to taste, they were wonderful and we all received a copy of the recipe. I will certainly be cooking this when I get back to Texas.

We then walked to Los Mayas Mexican Restaurant where we had chips, salsa, a margarita, and the most wonderful stuffed poblano pepper I have ever tasted. It is called "Chiles en Nogada", meaning chiles in walnut sauce. It was stuffed with pork, plantains, and a number of things I cannot remember. The walnut sauce was wonderful, it was almost like dessert, just melted in your mouth. The owner Fernando even played a song for us on his guitar. It was fabulous.

After that we walked over to The Institute of American Indian Arts where Walter Whitewater served us Pinon Chile Beans. He talked of the Navajo culture and how the men do not cook, however, he prepared the most wonderful dish. The flavor of the beans were so savory. He even sang us a beautiful song. I was absolutely amazing!

After we ate our chile beans, we walked over to La Boca (Giada went there too on her weekend getaway) and met Chef James Campbell Caruso. We ate tapas and drank wine in the most intimate atmosphere. The tapas were wonderful! I think I may be able to convince my parents to go back for a little happy hour with wine and tapas, can't beat that after an afternoon of shopping.

Our last stop was the Coyote Cafe where we met Chef Eric DiStefano. I have to admit, this was my favorite stop (that is me, in heaven, at the Coyote Cafe. Our tour guide and chef extraordinaire, Rocky, is chatting some people up behind me). Chef Eric served us crab cakes....I thought that was it but then he brought out spare ribs! I was in heaven. The food was absolutely wonderful, not to mention he also served us white wine to go with our crab cakes and then red wine for the ribs. It was the most amazing afternoon. We met many really neat people, learned the history of Santa Fe cooking, and ate so much food we needed a wheelchair to carry us out! If you are ever in Santa Fe, this cooking tour is an absolute must. You will have the best time imaginable!

My dad played golf while my mom and I went on the tour. After the tour was over, we met my dad at the La Fonda Bell Tower for a drink. Then, off to the Pink Adobe we went for dinner and more drinks.

The fun will not end here! I have 4 more days to go!


Cheers!