Sunday, May 04, 2014

A Saturday in Santa Fe




Softly plump women of a certain age in flowy skirts, hats, and arty jewelry, wandering through Indian galleries with dreamy expressions on their faces. A common Santa Fe sight and it makes me miss my mother terribly. She had a closet full of flowy skirts and I’m currently wearing a large hammered silver pin in the shape of a bird that was once hers. It keeps the neck of my dress closed. Come to think of it, the skirt on this dress is a bit flowy. Have I crossed the line? 

The last time I was in Santa Fe, many years ago, it was with my mother. She loved this city and had lots of artist friends here. I remember little about the trip except that I was in my twenties, restless, and sort of a pill. My mother and her friends seemed willfully uncool. Why did they dress like that? Why were they so worried about a little sun? Did they never tire of looking at ristras, silver earrings, and pottery? 

Total turnaround. I now love energetic, open, art-loving older women who travel and paint and aren’t trying to be cool anymore. It warmed my heart every time I came across a group of them yesterday, enthusiastically tasting chili-spiked chocolate elixirs or photographing adobe churches. What I’d give for a do-over of that long-ago trip to Santa Fe with my mother. 

The culinary highlight of yesterday was not the chili-spiked chocolate elixir, though that was pretty interesting. The culinary highlight was a blue corn donut with a blueberry-lavender glaze from the Farmers’ Market. It resembled an old-fashioned donut, but was a lot more substantial and complex. Craggy, purple, crunchy, gritty -- it sounds weird, but it was a winner. I am so irked that I didn’t bring my camera. 

The eating low point was a stupid seafood salad at a hushed, overpriced restaurant where I sat next to a table of merry women in flowy skirts. They were having a ball.

Today, I need to try a green chile cheeseburger at one place and some chile cheese fries at another and then my work is pretty much done. 

18 comments:

  1. I know just how you feel about wishing you could have a do-over with your mother. I lost mine very early in my life, and I think often of how I wasted some precious moments by being overly concerned with my own agenda. I think it is a quirk of human nature that we can only feel that way once we can experience that stage of life. Why oh why can't we be clairvoyant? It would solve a lot of problems, no? Anyway, that doughnut sounds delicious to me, not weird at all. Remember when I said I was taking a break from sweets? I lied. I have been eating the olive oil cake from Food52. I am so bad.

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    1. Speaking of do-overs, have either of you seen the movie "About Time," recently released on DVD? It's about time travel, do-overs, and a young man's relationship with his father. It will make you cry, but in a good way.

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    2. No, I haven't seen this, but just put it in my queue at Netflix. I need a comedy about now! Just saw August, Osage County, and I am exhausted.

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    3. Olive oil cake from Food52? I need to check that out.
      I didn't see "About Time" but I saw the preview maybe 30 times. I think I might have actually cried during the preview. Beckster, August, Osage County was punishing.

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    4. The olive oil cake is lovely, I think. It might not appeal to some. I didn't bother with icing it in any way. On day one, it has a crunchy exterior with a nice crumb. After that it begins to get more pudding-like, but it is still very good. And I feel so smug eating my olive oil cake for breakfast. You know, like cake could ever be considered health food - LOL!

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  2. FYI, the Farmers Market gets their donuts from Whoo's:
    http://www.whoosdonuts.com/

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    1. I figured this out and went to Whoo's yesterday -- I wanted to try every donut there. The guy was really nice, too.

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  3. I tried to post a message a minute ago and got a "502" error. Has that been happening to others?

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    1. Oh no, maybe THAT'S why I don't have 1000 comments. If it happens again, you can email me: tipsybaker@gmail.com and I'll look into it.

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  4. What I was gonna say was that you should have talked with one of those groups of women in your guise as a reporter but in fact for your personal edification.
    Seafood salad in N.M. doesn't sound so hot, but chili cheeseburgers do. And blue corn donuts, although sometimes I wonder why people mess with donuts.

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    1. That chile cheeseburger was the best. I need to write about it. I know re: donuts.
      I feel like I already know the women and maybe if I'd started talking to them I would have stopped liking them so much.

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  5. Santa Fe is wonderful. Don't worry about searching for green chili cheeseburgers, even McDonalds has them here. I wish I had a good recommendation for a place to buy on in SF.

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  6. I did not know those things were called ristras. I am going to show off so hard the next time I see one.

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