SantaFe.com

Nearly an inch of rain showered on the Santa Fe area Wednesday through early Thursday, providing a little relief for a bone-dry year in which precipitation levels have been way off normal.

Snow was falling in other parts of northern New Mexico, mostly at elevations higher than 8,000 feet. A location just outside Angel Fire and Sandia Crest in Albuquerque’s Sandia Mountains had received as much as 4 inches through Thursday morning, while Red River got an inch, according to the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.

“This has been the first significant rainfall you’ve had since the...

Friday, May 16, 2008
by Kiera Hay • Journal Santa Fe

What’s in a name? If you own a retail establishment, almost everything. Whether overtly descriptive, cutely whimsical, or a clever play on words, the name you choose can be a major clue to your identity.

So what, then, is up with Hey Jhonny, the name given to two of Albuquerque’s most spirited home accessory and furniture shops? Its meaning isn’t obvious and it can’t be puzzled out. You have to ask. But in asking, you get not only meaning, but also a great story. The name (their spelling) is an homage to co-owner Tom Ford’s late father, a man who spent his life serving the public as a Long...

Wednesday, March 1, 2006
by Rena Distasio • localflavor magazine

In the low shadow of the Ortiz Mountains along Highway 14, huddled into the nook of a shallow valley, lies the tiny village of Madrid. Few trees survive here on this rocky, parched land. In fact, besides the piñons and junipers dotting surrounding hillsides and the spindly-armed cholla growing everywhere, the landscape is virtually barren. Once a mining town, Madrid’s soil has been severely degraded for over a century. Piles of mining tailings towering at one end of the greenbelt attest to that. Grazing and flash flood erosion have also taken their toll. In the unrelenting glare of...

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
by Gail Snyder • localflavor magazine

Between the hubbub of Albuquerque’s big-city attitude and the enthusiastic growth of Rio Rancho’s sprawl, sits a rural oasis. In Corrales, abundant cottonwoods arch over bands of green and follow cattail-lined acequias. Horses flick their tails against buzzing flies in yards that seem to go on forever. Million-dollar mansions with intricate landscaping abut mobile homes where chickens cluck and peck–unaware of the pressures of development.

Corrales’s pastoral beauty and its unobstructed views of the Sandia mountains are threatened. Its very essence depends on a mix of farmland, open space...

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
by Pari Noskin Taichert • localflavor magazine

Brasserie: noun; F, lit., brewery, fr. MF brasser to brew (1890s). A type of informal restaurant or café, originating in France, serving simple, hearty meals.

A close friend recently graduated from massage school. Much to my delight, during her year of coursework, she would often share what she had learned that day in class–massaging in between thumb and forefinger stimulates liver and stomach function, gently pressing the big toe can ground you, the heart chakra is located on the ball of the foot, honey is a natural antimicrobial that can be used to clean wounds. One intriguing and...

Thursday, February 1, 2007
by Emily Beenen • localflavor magazine

Darlene Yachik knows business. And, she knows food. But the two skills combined do not completely account for her staying power in an industry that is competitive and often fickle. From the beginning, Darlene knew to add another important ingredient to the mix. Indulgence.

She learned the importance of the word when she first started her catering enterprise in 1974, providing hand-crafted trays of food for private aircraft crews served by the family aviation business in Roswell. Today, Indulgence Café and Catering is still going strong. Relocated to Albuquerque in 1989 and a fixture at its...

Thursday, June 1, 2006
by Rena Distasio • localflavor magazine

Trained midwife Donna Lockridge, co-owner of South Mountain Goat Dairy on La Farmita de Sue–os ( “it’s Spanglish for Little Farm of Dreams”) in Edgewood, crouches in a pen of straw with a beautiful chocolate brown mother goat. As Donna strokes her, hugs her and whispers encouraging endearments in her ear, the pregnant goat seems almost supernaturally calm.

“This particular breed reminds me of the Navajo women I used to help deliver–very quiet and calm all the way through,” Donna confides to the handful of friends, all women, crowding the kidding barn, informal “coaches” all.

Monday, May 1, 2006
by Gail Snyder • localflavor magazine

Aimee Tang is a woman with a plan. Well, perhaps not so much a plan as a lifelong mission.

The great granddaughter of Edward Gaw, founder of Fremont’s Fine Foods, Aimee is the third generation of her family to helm the establishment that has been an Albuquerque tradition since 1918. In fact, long before Bon Appetit magazine, Food Network, and Cuisinart invaded the average American household, Fremont’s was quietly introducing Albuquerqueans to culinary adventures beyond New Mexico’s borders.

Part of Aimee’s personal mission is to keep that tradition alive and well. With her easy warmth and...

Tuesday, November 1, 2005
by Rena Distasio • localflavor magazine

You couldn’t imagine a more perfect summer morning in Albuquerque’s North Valley: blue skies, a cool breeze ruffling the air, and a temperature not yet threatening in its heat, but rather, soothing and near-restorative, like a short tenure in the sauna after a day spent shivering in air-conditioned interiors.

And you couldn’t imagine a more perfect North Valley location: Casa Rondeña Winery, with its elegant architecture, lush lawns, and sparkling ponds and fountains.

At the helm, John Calvin, North Valley born and raised, internationally educated, and culturally reflective. Calvin has...

Monday, August 1, 2005
by Rena Distasio • localflavor magazine

Finish this analogy: Santa Fe is to the Santa Fe Opera as Albuquerque is to ___? If you can’t think of anything to fill in the blank, consider this. The Santa Fe Opera is a place where devotees of the arts, and general lovers of a good time, gather to worship on the altar of New Mexico’s glorious summers. They picnic and strut in their finery, then experience world class singing, staging and music in a spectacular venue.

What would be the corresponding answer for Albuquerqueans? The Albuquerque Museum’s new outdoor amphitheater, of course. Now we Duke City denizens have a place comparable...

Monday, August 1, 2005
by Kelly Koepke • localflavor magazine