farming – travel.sketch.write

Santa Fe, New Mexico ~ Restaurants, Farmers Market

Posted on April 5, 2012 | by Sue | Leave a Comment

Tesuque Village Market, Santa Fe — Tesuque Village Market in the Santa Fe area

Deciding where to dine in Santa Fe is serious fun. Our generous hosts, Dorsey & Richard, have sampled all the best local fare and together we have a terrific time experiencing some of the local favorites…

Tesuque Village Market, 138 Tesuque Village Road, is a charming market and restaurant about 15 minutes north of Santa Fe. Located under a canopy of cottonwoods at the center of a quaint village, you can dine outside in warm weather or inside where the decor is funky Santa Fe. We visited twice for breakfast, both times enjoying various egg dishes – Huevos Rancheros with blue corn tortillas, Breakfast burritos with chorizo… and as I walked around I saw delicious looking blue corn pancakes and the ultimate french toast made with croissants. Nice sized portions for a reasonable price. Lunch and dinner are also popular, and there’s often a crowd. A kids’ menu is available. (photo above)

Tune-Up Cafe, 1115 Hickox St. Owners, Jesus and Charlotte Rivera, offer a comfortable, affordable, fun, and flavorful dining experience. The menu is an eclectic assortment of El Salvadoran (veggie or steak pupusa and banana leaf wrapped tamales), New Mexican (chile relleno, enchiladas, tacos) and American favorites (buffalo burger, flat-iron organic steak). The desserts are house-made by Charlotte – fresh-baked scones for breakfast, decadent peanut butter cookie sandwiches, custard filled cupcakes… Okay, I’m hungry!

Tune-Up Cafe, Santa Fe, NM — Delightfully inviting & delicious Tune-Up Cafe

Mucho Gusto Mexican Restaurant, 839 Paseo De Peralta, is another great little neighborhood restaurant where the locals go. One of the favorites is “The Bomb”, their famous chicken breast stuffed with jack cheese, poblano chiles, almonds, sun-dried tomatoes, and then topped with a mushroom chipotle chile cream sauce. Grilled salmon, grilled shrimp specials, moist chicken fajitas… the food is consistently good and not expensive. The sangria and agave wine margaritas get rave reviews.

The Shed, 113 East Palace Avenue, is known for their red enchilada plate with red chile… arriving on a piping-hot plate, swimming in a red chile sauce complete with beans and posole. One fan describes it very well, “At The Shed, the cheddar is melted to a creamy, liquid-like texture. Miraculously, the cheese stays that way throughout the entire meal; even as I polished off the last of the beans at the end, the cheese stayed soft and stringy within the sauce. The restaurant uses blue corn tortillas, which retained their texture and sopped up the savory mixture of chile and onions. Little kernels of posole were tender and flavorful. Even the beans, which are usually the most neglected item on a plate, were perfectly cooked—neither grainy nor mushy. Best of all, the red chili sauce was pleasantly spicy with just a touch of the natural sweetness that comes from using the best quality dried red chilies.” The Shed red chile sauce is famous around the world and available to buy online at their website.

Enjoying a dosa and lamb curry at Paper Dosa.

Paper Dosa, 551 W. Cordova Road, has quickly become a local favorite, serving a south Indian menu heavy on dosas, uttapams, and spicy curries. The interior is inviting, the service is good, and the food is consistently first-rate. Packed on the Sunday night, we opted to sit at the bar. A great first experience as we were able to see the dishes coming out of the kitchen! We began with the Cashew Calamari – calamari sauteed in a cashew nut based curry served with greens – absolutely delicious… then shared a dosa filled with collard greens cooked down in spices with sweet peppers – just as delicious… and a lamb curry made with green cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves and peppercorns. If I lived in Santa Fe I would be here every week!
Vinaigrette, 709 Don Cubero Alley, a salad bistro that raises the “salad bar” with delicious entrée salads. Their perfectly dressed gourmet salads boast innovative flavor combinations from the savory All Kale Caesar to the sweet Nutty Pear-fessor and balanced Salacho taco salad. It’s healthy comfort food that Chef Wade grows the bulk of on her own ten-acre farm on the historic Cano Acequia in Nambe.

Jambo, 2010 Cerrillos Rd, is African/Caribbean cooking at its finest. Chef Ahmed Obo served as chef at the Zia Diner for ten years, and now is treating Santa Fe to the food of his native land, Kenya. His mission is to give “quality ethnic cuisine for a good value,” and that is precisely what he does. His African and Caribbean dishes are authentic and richly flavored. We enjoyed the curried black bean & sweet potato soup, a delicious goat stew, a marinated chicken kabob flavored with cumin, coriander, thyme, garlic, lemongrass, paprika and allspice. Then shared a warm chocolate mocha brownie with vanilla ice cream sprinkled with fragrant cinnamon. Oh my, what sweet memories.

The Pantry, 1820 Cerillos Rd., has a diner atmosphere with a busy counter and tables, and is always full of locals and tourists alike. Their breakfast and lunch choices are some of the best you can find in Santa Fe. We enjoyed their red and green chile sauces and chorizo, ordering omelettes with spinach, green chile and chorizo. I just read about a new addition to the Pantry – cold brewed coffee. Evidently, the cold brewing process removes all the acidity and produces a smooth full-bodied flavorful coffee unlike anything we have experienced. Brewed in cold water for two days and mixed with different flavors like cinnamon, vanilla, and toffee. A definite must on our next visit to Santa Fe!

Pink Adobe, 406 Old Santa Fe Trail, was established in 1944 by Rosalea Murphy. Known affectionately by locals as “The Pink,” the restaurant has grown into a local and national landmark since its humble beginnings. Located in the center of the historic Barrio de Analco, across the street from the San Miguel Mission, which is considered the oldest church in the United States. Great martinis, and the Steak Dunigan receives excellent reviews (check out the photo on their website).

Harry’s Roadhouse, 96 Old Las Vegas Hwy, a review I read online sums it up nicely… “A funky, colorful, rambling restaurant, Harry’s Roadhouse is many things to many people. It’s part roadhouse, of course, part diner, part bar, and, in summer, part garden café. It’s also a popular gathering spot, an easily accessible halfway point for folks in town and those more far-flung. It serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, offering a huge range of foods and styles, a lot of which it does well. Maybe “nothing ever changes there,” as a friend of mine recently said — but, hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Recommended: buckwheat pancakes, wild mushroom pizza, gala apple salad, blackened catfish, and chocolate cream pie.”

Chile peppers, Santa Fe Farmers Market — Chile peppers for sale at the Santa Fe Farmers Market.

Ready to do some of your own cooking? Head to the Santa Fe Farmer’s Market. It is open year round on Saturday mornings at its permanent home in the Railyard, 1607 Paseo de Peralta (at S. Guadalupe St). Here you can find many varieties of fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables, some available year-round. In addition to seasonal produce, you can always find quality meats, dairy, and eggs; flowers and houseplants; traditional dried foods; superb baked goods; jams, jellies, and honey; natural body care and herbal products; and original crafts and homespun garments. During the planting season, you will also find compost, worms, and an extensive choice of bedding plants.

Peppers roasting at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market — Peppers roasting in September at the Santa Fe Farmer’s Market.

The Market is not exclusively organic, but many of the growers are Certified Organic, or Certified Naturally Grown, and they post their Certificates or Crop Lists. You can ask the farmers how they raise their crops. They have baskets of beautiful produce grown without chemicals.

San Miguel de Allende: Saturday Organic Farmers Market

Posted on February 3, 2012 | by Sue | 6 Comments

Entering the Saturday Organic Farmers Market one of the first things we notice is an outdoor dining area under the shade trees filled with people eating. Then the aromas of tortillas and gorditas frying on the griddles. Two Mexican families are cooking and serving up a storm of tacos, tamales, quesadillas, and huaraches – their tables covered with earthy brown pottery pots of all sizes filled with beef in red mole, guacamole, lamb stew, chicken in green sauce, chorizo and egg, grilled onions, spinach, beans… we quickly decide that this is the place to have Saturday brunch.

Fillings for tacos and huaraches at San Miguel de Allende Organic Farmers Market — Beautiful ceramic pots full of fillings for tacos and huaraches.

Gorditas at the San Miguel de Allende Farmers Market — Gorditas on the griddle.

Tamales and huraches at the San Miguel de Allende Farmers Market — Our delicious lunch of tamales and huraches.

Before or after filling your stomach there is the rest of the market to discover. A row of organic farmers selling their fresh vegetables – our weekly list includes avocados, kale, chard, tomatoes, cilantro, radishes, and a beautiful bag of mixed salad greens. Then there are the bakeries with delicious homemade desserts, breads, donuts, pastries, and pies. Other booths are selling natural skin care products made from distillations of cactus, wonderful small batch dark chocolates with ginger or orange, colorful embroidered pillow covers, rugs, and jewelry.

Penon de los Banos Cooperative at the San Miguel de Allende Farmers Market — Penon de los Banos Cooperative with their fresh produce.

Bakery at the San Miguel de Allende farmers market — La Buena Vida Bakery with their pastries, donuts and bread are hard to resist.

Organic honey at the Farmers Market in San Miguel de Allende — Organic honey and such fill the tables at the market.

Artesanal breads at the Farmers Market in San Miguel de Allende — Crusty artisanal breads to go with the organic cheeses.

One of the food stands is Via Organica where they sell fresh organic eggs and other foodstuffs from their store. We visit Via Organica store during the week to restock on organic fresh vegetables, pick up freshly made almond or peanut butter, gluten-free crackers & cereal and baked goods (gluten-free and regular). Their café serves delicious Mexican and international dishes which you can also get as take away. One visit we picked up some cilantro pesto which we have enjoyed on everything from veggies to pork. Via Organica is one part of Organic Way AC – a Mexican non-profit organization whose mission is to promote good nutrition through organic farming, fair trade, a healthy lifestyle and protecting the planet. During our stay in San Miguel they had several viewings of the film, Food, Inc., which lifts the veil on the U.S. food industry, exposing how our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment.

Having just spent time in avocadoland I can’t resist sharing this recipe from a blog I enjoy ~ With Style & Grace ~ Inspiration for a healthy and gluten-free life. Lisa adapted the recipe from Martha Stewart’s Whole Living.

Chocolate Avocado Pudding (Chocomole?)

Ingredients

2 medium avocados
5 tablespoons of cocoa powder
3 tablespoons honey OR 6 dates, pitted and soaked (to soften, if necessary)
3 tablespoons coconut milk or water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange zest
sea salt

In a food processor or heavy-duty blender – puree avocados, cocoa powder, honey OR dates, coconut milk, vanilla extract and orange zest until smooth. Before serving, sprinkle with sea salt. Serves two.

Surprisingly good and best made a day ahead so the flavors meld.

Gluten-free, dairy-free & vegan.

Enjoy.

p.s. While in San Miguel, I wrote a blog post each week, click on each week below to view photos and read about our adventures:

San Miguel de Allende: Le Segundo Semana

Posted on January 16, 2012 | by Sue | 4 Comments

Indian parade in San Miguel de Allende — Indian dancers and drummers parade in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

The day is just dawning this Sunday morning when we hear the sound of drummers very close by… Jay quickly dresses, grabs his camera and heads out the door. Men and boys dressed as Indian dancers and drummers are parading down a nearby street, creating a rich drum beat in rolling 4/4 time, as they dance and chant together. A ragtag procession of campesinas follow, carrying an altar on their shoulders. At the head of the parade an old man carries a wire contraption, from which he launches fireworks, signaling the imminent arrival of the parade to neighbors down the road.

The morning progresses with our walk down and around the Jardin Botanica, then breakfast at Cafe Buen Dia on Callejon Pueblito. During breakfast, a new acquaintance, Ruth, recommends the tamarind margarita’s on the rooftop terrace of La Posadita. We make a mental note. Ruth is a realtor in San Miguel and has a lovely property in the historic center of the town with two rentals. Comfortably elegant and private, you can view them on VRBO: Villa and Casita.

La Posadita restaurant in San Miguel de Allende — La Posadita restaurant has amazing views, good food and tamarind margaritas.

As the evening approaches we decide to walk over to Cuna de Allende and experience our first tamarind margarita as the sun sets. We walk up the narrow stairway to La Posadita, settle down at one of the rooftop tables and order our margarita. It’s wonderful and intense, not like anything I’ve ever tasted. Neither of us knows what a tamarind is. (I research later and learn it is the sweet & sour fruit of a tropical tree. It looks a bit like a carob pod and is an underlying flavor in Worcestershire sauce.) In the evening sky the city lights begin to glow and twinkle and the panoramic view from La Posadita is breathtaking. Next week when our friends arrive we will definitely return for dinner… and another margarita.

San Miguel de Allende at night. — View of San Miguel de Allende at sunset.

Walking home through the Jardin we once again step into La Parroquia to absorb its quiet magnificence.

Interior of La Parroquia in San Miguel de Allende — Evening view of La Parroquia interior

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in San Miguel de Allende — We arrive early for a piano concert at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church.

Donkey carrying potting soil in San Miguel de Allende — Donkey carrying potting soil for sale in our neighborhood.

Peñon de los Banos, is a women-owned sustainable organic farm cooperative, a short ride from San Miguel de Allende. Jay and I are part of a field trip, organized by The Center for Global Justice, visiting the Campo (farm), to learn more about their work.

Residents of this small dairy farm have been part of a traditional ejido system for generations. Ejidos are communal lands, for growing food, shared and co-managed by the people of the community. The system was developed during ancient Aztec rule of Mexico. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has forced the Mexican government to do away with the ejido system, and open the land up to foreign agri-business. To read the full story, see: Peñon de los Banos, a women-owned farm cooperative.

Greenhouse at Penon del Los Banos — One of 8 greenhouses at the Penon del Los Banos Cooperative.

Comida at Penon de Los Banos — Sharing a midday meal, "comida", prepared by the women of the cooperative farm.

Cafe Teatro Athanor, just around the corner from where we live (this month) is a gem of a theater that holds about 20 people or so. Most nights they show a thoughtful foreign film and this week we saw El Mural – a UK film about the renowned Mexican artist, David Siqueiros, and his time spent in Argentina painting a mural. A political, historical and romantic drama that we recommend. But on Friday nights they have a musical event – The Magic Mystery of Flamenco – featuring two female dancers/singers, a male dancer and a wonderful classical guitarist.

Flameno in San Miguel de Allende — Flamenco performance at Cafe Teatro Athanor.

Sunday morning ritual is a walk, and the Saturday morning ritual is the outdoor Organic Market. Entering the market one of the first things you see are tables of fresh organic vegetables – lettuces, spinach, kale, tomatoes, avocados, herbs… then you notice the tables and chairs under the shade trees and the smell of tortillas grilling and coffee brewing. Pottery pots filled with chicken in green mole, lamb stew, guacamole, chorizo and egg… next week we will skip breakfast at home and eat here. And that’s not all – there are homemade breads, cheeses, baked goods, natural skin care products, fresh eggs and a small selection of hand crafted items.

Many ex-pats frequent the market and today we meet John Scherber, an American ex-pat and author of San Miguel de Allende: A Place in the Heart. His book explores the possibilities of starting an exciting new life in Mexico by sharing the experiences of 32 people who confess why they left the United States and show how their new life is more fulfilling than they ever dreamed. Imagine sitting down for a heart-to-heart conversation with people who made it happen.

Organic Farmers Market, San Miguel de Allende — Saturday Organic Farmers Market in San Miguel de Allende

Ever since American Stirling Dickinson arrived here in San Miguel de Allende in 1937, the Mexican town has been a magnet for artists and U.S. expatriates:

“In 1937, after several months spent traveling through Mexico, a gangly, 27-year-old Chicago native named Stirling Dickinson, who had been somewhat at loose ends since graduating from Princeton, got off a train in San Miguel de Allende, an arid, down-on-its-luck mountain town 166 miles northwest of Mexico City.

Taken from the ramshackle train station by a horse-drawn cart, he was dropped off at the town’s leafy main square, El Jardín. It was dawn, and the trees were erupting with the songs of a thousand birds. At the eastern side of the square stood the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, an outsize, pink-sandstone church with neo-Gothic spires, quite unlike Mexico’s traditional domed ecclesiastical buildings. The first rays of the sun glowed over mountain ridges to the east. “There was just enough light for me to see the parish church sticking out of the mist,” Dickinson would later recall. “I thought, My God, what a sight! What a place! I said to myself at that moment, I’m going to stay here.”

Click on the title to read the entire Smithsonian article by Jonathan Kandell : Under the Spell of San Miguel de Allende.

p.s. To read our other posts from San Miguel de Allende, click below:

The New Landscape in Iowa

Posted on October 6, 2011 | by Sue | 4 Comments

Iowa wind turbine — Planting crops around the wind turbine, farmers reap the benefits of both the soil and wind.

Entering Iowa from the northwest corner, hundreds of wind turbines rise majestically from the endless corn and soybean fields that are a staple of the Iowa landscape. Pulling into an access road, we drive up to a newly installed wind turbine that looks like it is ready to be commissioned. It is a GE wind turbine, and the GE on-site engineer has obvious pride as he describes the wind turbine specs, design, and geology of the area that makes this site so amenable to wind power generation.

He explains that this wind turbine is located on the Coteau des Prairies, sometimes referred to as Buffalo Ridge. The ridge is composed of thick glacial deposits that gently rise to about 900 feet, from the surrounding prairie flatlands. The ridge runs eastward, from eastern South Dakota, through southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa. Numerous wind farms have been built along the ridge to take advantage of the high average wind speeds.

Iowa wind power accounts for about 20% of the electricity generated in the state and leads the US in percentage of electrical power generated by wind. Wind turbines will produce from 12 to 16 times more revenue per acre than corn or soybeans. And farmers can plant crops around the wind turbine, reaping the benefits of both. In addition, in the winter, winds are stronger, generating much needed revenue while the fields lay fallow.

Harn Soper of Soper Farms — Harn Soper at the site of Soper Farms organic vegetable operation

popcorn taster — Jarret, the facilities and livestock manager, with his daughter.

Meanwhile, we are on our way to Soper Farms in Emmetsburg, Iowa. This is the family farm of our friend, Jon. Soper Farms is a family-run enterprise, boasting 69 stockholders, ranging in age from 1 year to 90 years. They have served as absentee landlords of some 1,000 noncontiguous acres in Iowa. Jon’s cousin, Harn Soper, is in the process of converting 260 acres of Soper Farms from conventional corn and soybean row crops to organic vegetables and livestock. As Harn says at his website:

Without the hand of man getting in the way, nature very effectively creates, balances and evolves. It does so with all life forms interacting together. As farmers we have a choice between manipulating nature and managing nature in our pursuit to feed ourselves.

Our current farming model has evolved over many years onto a path of manipulation using GMO seeds and oil-based fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides as substitutes to nature’s abundant ability to nourish. As we’ve learned, this path, however well intentioned, has had a debilitating impact on our environment, our soil and the water upon which our farms depend. The plan that we are building today follows the restorative path to manage nature as a partner so we too may create, balance and evolve.

Soper Farms official "chicken dog" trying to get to his hens.

Soper Farms’ five-year plan includes building a grass-fed cow/calf operation that harvests 160 organic cattle and 9,000 organic pastured chickens per year. Plans also include adding 80 acres of organic vegetable production to their operation.

“We needed a farm store and the McNally’s Bake Shop building was a perfect fit,” Soper said. While the organic farm is the centerpiece of the endeavor, there is another side to the operation—an outlet for the farm’s produce. Soper purchased the McNally Bake Shop building in Emmetsburg, and is converting the upper level to offices for sales and marketing and the development of value-added products like baked goods, cheese, and meat. Soper Farms intends to provide organic products for food stores and restaurants in the immediate area as well as food markets within a four-hour radius. The bakery will continue on the first floor and will expand to include a deli that will offer their fresh produce, beef, and chicken.

soper farm farmers — Jarret, his daughter and grandfather - 4 generations of this family are involved on the farm.

As you may have guessed, local farming and local food are an interest of ours, and as we drive across the country, Jay is reading aloud a very engaging book – Ben Hewitt’s, The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food, published in 2010. It tells the story of a rural, working-class Vermont community -Hardwick, Vermont – that is attempting to blueprint and implement a localized food system. Book reviewer James Glave says it well:

This is what I love about The Town That Food Saved. It celebrates the possible and the necessary, it reveals the wonderful relationships and connections borne of an almost-complete local food system, but doesn’t shy from the enormity and messiness of the task. It reveals the rough outlines of how we might “take back” our food without descending into over-simplified strategies and pat advice about starting community gardens. What’s happening in Hardwick is less a conscious movement, and more a set of historical precedents embraced by a handful of eccentrics that happen to line up in the same direction. It’s an almost accidental critical mass, flailing its way forward.

Hewitt has written a second book – Making Supper Safe – here he exposes the vulnerabilities inherent to the US food industry, where the majority of our processing facilities are inspected only once every seven years, and where government agencies lack the necessary resources to act on early warning signs. The most dangerous aspect of our food system isn’t just its potential to make us acutely ill, but the ever expanding distance between us and our sources of nourishment. Hewitt introduces a vibrant cast of characters and revolutionaries who are reinventing how we grow, process, package, distribute, and protect our food, and even how we protect ourselves.

Ben and his family live in a self-built, solar-powered house in Cabot, Vermont, and operate a 40-acre livestock, vegetable, and berry farm. Check out his blog about life on the farm: Ben Hewitt – The Future’s in the Dirt.

Writing about Ben’s books reminds me of the Andy Couturier book: A Different Kind of Luxury: Japanese Lessons in Simple Living and Inner Abundance, which tells 11 peoples journeys. Artists, philosophers, and farmers who reside deep in the mountains of rural Japan living simply yet surrounded by the luxuries of nature, art, contemplation, healthy food, and an abundance of time. Read my post Japan – Lessons in Simple Living for more details.

Japan – Lessons in Simple Living

Posted on June 20, 2011 | by Sue | 3 Comments

Travels to Tokyo and Kyoto have given me and Jay a flavor for urban living in Japan, and in the Kyoto area the surrounding mountains and countryside suggested a rural way of life. And as we know from living on an island where some of us call the mainland “America” – remote, rural areas attract independent thinkers and alternate ways of life. So for a mix of reasons, when I heard that author, Andy Couturier, was visiting our local independently owned bookstore, Darvill’s, I was interested.

Andy’s latest book: A Different Kind of Luxury: Japanese Lessons in Simple Living and Inner Abundance, tells 11 peoples journeys. Artists, philosophers, and farmers who reside deep in the mountains of rural Japan living simply yet surrounded by the luxuries of nature, art, contemplation, healthy food, and an abundance of time.

As I learned at the book reading, many of the folks in the book spent years living in India and Nepal, and “what they learned there powerfully influenced everything from from their emphasis on making things with their own hands all the way to their spiritual and philosophical orientation toward life.” Now back in Japan they are living out their philosophy – providing for their needs with minimum interaction with the huge economic system that surrounds them and realizing great freedom.

As I read the chapters and savor the stories, I find myself thinking – what is my philosophy? and how can I live more simply and joyfully while reducing my footprint on our planet. Good food for thought, and, as Andy says of his book, “even if it only serves as a window onto a different set of possibilities and lets you meet some very extraordinary people, and perhaps gives you a smile or a laugh, that will have been enough.”

About the author: Andy Couturier has studied Buddhist meditation and many other Asian philosophical systems, and has traveled extensively in Africa, Southeast Asia, and India. He has been a researcher for Greenpeace and taught writing for more than a decade. He is the author of Writing Open the Mind: Tapping the Subconscious to Free the Writing and the Writer and has written for Adbusters, the MIT Press, Kyoto Journal, Creative Nonfiction, The North American Review, The Oakland Tribune, and Ikebana International. He directs his own creative writing center, The Opening, at www.theopening.org.