The final Christmas gift

In amongst the gifts I gave Michele there were two vouchers for events at the Santa Fe Cooking School.
Today was the tapas demonstration. We watched Michelle Roetzner (right) prepare the dishes. Shestarted off with a great introduction to the history and development of the region. She was great, entertaining and provided great food.

Tapas are a traditional Spanish way of eating with origins that ostensibly date to the 13th century. They are small appetizers/finger foods, made from a wide variety of ingredients. In contemporary restaurants they are often combined to make a full meal. The class prepares Tapas with a Southwestern flare: Spanish tortilla, roasted pepper quesadillas with goat cheese, sauteed shrimp with orange-chipotle honey mustard sauce, meatballs with Romesco sauce, and apricot empanaditas.

We finally made it into the Basilica and enjoyed the ambiance and the light

To Taos and back again

We had a great day  traveling to Taos. Last time I went there (with Sue and Tiina- 2005) the pueblo was shut.












This time on the way it clouded over and we were driving through snow.









We drove to the bridge over the Rio Grande and were lucky enough to see white tailed deer on the way. ( Thanks Michelle Houghton- they were mountain goats- bad info from the guide :)











The gorge of the river in indeed "grande". I have seen the river before close up when we went ballooning in Albuquerque in 2008 (?).























We then drove to Taos pueblo and Dene took us into the church and left us with a map to roam. It is a small area easy to roam around. The snow on the adobe made for one great photo after another.

After our stroll in the snow we headed back into Taos and had lunch and a stroll around then back in the car to Santa Fe. I took ages to get warm last night but did finally.

Museum Hill

Having decided to go to see the museums in the area called Museum Hill where there are four museum, we decided we could walk it there and headed out. We stopped at the tourist information on the way and for a short breath catcher in a park along the way but it took us an hour and we were hot by the time we got to the first museum. The key word in this is hill!







First we stopped at  Journey’s End, a collaborative artwork by sculptor Reynaldo “Sonny” Rivera and landscape architect Richard Botkovetz, positioned at the top of the "hill". The hill is a deceptive incline. The artwork commemorates the struggle, drama and history that was and it the Santa Fe Trail. The 56 foot long bronze monument portrays the lead wagon of a typical caravan as it makes it final approach into Santa Fe and incorporates numerous life size figures of men, women, children and their pets greeting the caravan’s arrival. We related to the feeling of relief as we topped the steady incline of the hill. It was also a struggle to get a photo that didn't include modern power lines and buildings.





Luckily they had a coat rack where we could leave our coats. It was an interesting place. The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art  it was established for Hispano Arts from the southern Colorado and New Mexico region. Now the collection has been enlarged and  includes Spanish Colonial objects from around the globe dating from Medieval Times to the modern world. The weaving and the embroidered shawls were/are beautiful.










We left there carrying our coats and walked along a path through some snowy remnants to the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. By this time it was lunch time so we thought we'd pop in for lunch and then go on into the The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. However there was a huge crowd and we'd learned from our restaurant walk that we should leave our name and come back in half an hour.








So we went into the museum and really enjoyed the stories of the peoples of the Southwest told through Native American art and some of the collection of statues and pottery, baskets and artifacts.




Lunch was soup and fortified we headed into the Museum of International Folk Art . Its advertised as an exciting and colorful look at cultures from more than 100 countries around the globe through their folk arts. Featuring a diverse array of artifacts ranging from masks and ceremonial dress to sculptures and furniture, the collection of the Museum of International Folk Art is the single-largest museum collection of international folk art in the world. All of which is true but it didn't prepare us for the Multiple Visions: A Common Bond the long-term Exhibition in the Girard Wing.










The exhibition was designed by the collector and donor, Alexander Girard and we were indeed delighted by the richly varied displays in numbered cases- toys, and traditional folk art from more than 100 countries. Thousands of folk art figures enthralled us for ages and then there was the Japanese kite exhibition and the chocolate and the AIDS quilt. We left there at around 4.








  Looking at the works reminded me of Damian Meehan's (my brother) work.






 I think it is the capturing of every day life and people that were reminiscent for me along with the use of clay, the often bright colours and the sometimes quirky nature of the works.
These terracotta pieces I loved the simplicity of and hope to actually draw at some stage- their bold and simple lines appeal.











We walked home down hill this time but still had to walk along the verge of the road as the footpaths gave out part way there. Obviously people weren't expected to walk there :)

A restaurant walk

 I gave Michele a Christmas gift of a restuarant walk in Satna Fe.
We met at the Santa Fe school of Cooking where they gave us a bowl of soup and some wine then we began our walk to Restaurant Martin.

Restaurant Martin is the restaurant that Chef Martín Rios and his wife Jennifer envisioned: A comfortable, refined and pleasing atmosphere where local people and Santa Fe visitors can enjoy Chef Rios' award-winning progressive American cuisine. He has a long-standing reputation for his innovative combination of flavors, colors and presentation. He has multiple nominations for the Best Chef in the Southwest by the James Beard Foundation.





We had a delicious sampling of one of his dishes after a tour of the kitchen. Our next stop was Tanti Luce 221 situated in a gorgeous 100 year old adobe home in historic downtown Santa Fe, we were treated to tasting of green chilli crafted by Chef Tom Kerpon and sampled a lovely reisling.

Then a short trip to the historical La Fonda Hotel meeting in the newly renovated La Plazuela dining room. We met with Chef Lane Warner and sampled one of his specialty dishes sipping on sangria.













Our final walk brought us to Terra Cotta Wine Bistro  in a charming 19th century adobe building near the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and the Downtown Plaza. This unique Santa Fe restaurant features globally-inspired food, wine and beer, utilizing local and regional foods made from high quality, seasonal ingredients.

Boxing Day

 A number of firsts for me on this Christmas Day. One can really only reflect on one's Christmas a day later and so now on Boxing day I can think about the lovely day we had.

Boxing Day is traditionally the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts, known as a "Christmas box", from their bosses or employers. Today, Boxing Day is the bank holiday that generally takes place on 26 December. It is observed in the United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago and other Commonwealth nations.
In South Africa, Boxing Day was renamed Day of Goodwill in 1994. In Ireland and Italy, the day is known as St. Stephen's Day (Irish: Lá Fhéile Stiofáin) or the Day of the Wren (Irish: Lá an Dreoilín).

Here endeth the explanation of Boxing Day- I'll not go into the traditions many have which involve cricket or brandy.

We had a late breakfast and lounged in our room for a while and then walked to the shopping centre where the movie theatres are.

On the way, there was soooo little traffic that Michele took a photo of the empty street.


The building of Seret and Sons took our eye.

The first for me on a Christmas Day was going to a movie. We went to see Philomena and really enjoyed it. A perfect fit for the day- emotional and amusing. 

The walk back to the hotel was pleasant and a bit of a rest before heading of to our dinner.

 A very bad selfie of us at our dinner in Geronimo.

The fois gras

The slightly disappointing lamb chops

We forgot to photograph the banana cream pie before we attacked it :)

Christmas celebrations

We began our Christmas celebrations on Christmas Eve with a walk along Canyon Road.









People use luminarias or farolitos to decorate the path to their door as well as outlining the roofline of their home with these warm inviting lights. People in Albuquerque tend to call the paper bag lanterns, luminarias, but natives from Santa Fe insist the correct term is farolitos. Historically, a true luminaria is a series of small bonfires lining the roads but the terms are used interchangeably.

These lights have their roots in the 1800's. Small bonfires, like the current day bonfires on the corners of Canyon Road in Santa Fe, were used to guide people to Christmas Mass. Quite often they were set out during the final night of Las Posadas, the symbolic representation of Mary and Joseph seeking shelter in Bethlehem walking from home to home before Jesus was born. In later days, children carried small farolitos as they reenacted Las Posadas.