Recent work

 

Top right and bottom left are oil on canvas; the others are pastel on board. You can see more of my art on my Facebook page, Karen Strecker Galleries.

Living in Texas.....

 .......means you spend as much time as possible away from Texas. Above, snowmobiling in Colorado on Christmas Day

 At Santa Fe School of Cooking, learning how to make chiles rellenos.

 Son #1 snowboarding at Purgatory, Colo

Tasty New Mexico food

Picnic at the Santa Fe Opera 

Hubster’s fave, The Frontier in Albuquerque

Madame Butterfly at the Santa Fe Opera

Christmas Eve in Santa Fe

At 12,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies

Santa Fe w hubs and son #1

Hobbies

My mom used to force me to take cooking classes; I think she was hoping to train her replacement. It must have worn off on me, bc I still enjoy it, especially if I get to eat what we cooked! I’ve taken a dozen classes at Santa Fe School of Cooking, going all the way back to 1991. It’s an excellent place to brush up on basic skills or learn fancy regional cuisine. 

Santa Fe Opera

The fabulous outdoor ( yet semi-covered) Santa Fe Opera House. What the photo doesn't show you is the incredible view of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, behind the open air stage, that serve as a backdrop for every opera. 

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Every couple of years or so, I get to visit Santa Fe during the opera festival held there, generally during August. One of the best destination opera festivals in the USA, not just bc of the quality of the stars / shows held there, but bc Santa Fe is such a beautiful place, with many interesting things to do. See art museums and galleries, tour historic sites, shop and eat gourmet food all day long, and see a breath-takingly beautiful opera, a different one each night! 

opera picnic before the show

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This year, I visited when my childhood friend Bill was there, working as a journalist. Bill and I have been attending operas together since we were 13 years old, and he has educated and shared his passion with me, as well as his opera tickets, ever since. Together we have seen Beverly Sills and countless others,  all the way to today's opera stars. 

I stayed at this marvelous little B&B just 5 minutes from the square in Santa Fe, called Ravens Ridge. It was a lovely, serene place to stay, peaceful and restorative from the social la ronde of opera going. Ravens Ridge B & B has a beautiful garden, full of hummingbirds, and serves breakfast each day out of doors in the garden. Beautiful rooms, delicious food. I highly recommend it and will stay there again next time I visit. As an added bonus, the owner of RR B&B is also an oil painter, and we spent many a happy hour discussing her work, as well as my own.


http://www.ravensridgecasita.com/

While in Santa Fe this time, I visited "Meow Wolf" , a sort of modern pop art installation meets indoor playground, full of tiny rooms with wacky themes, escape hatches, colorful lights, campy decor, and general creative fun. Here I am entering a refrigerator, about to slide down a chute into another room. There is always something fun to do in Santa Fe - I've been coming since I was a little girl, when my parents took our family, as many Texans do, to escape the summer heat. (Yeah, SF is a dessert, but at nearly 8,000 ft elevation, it's significantly cooler than Texas.) I've spent years visiting Ghost Ranch, Abiqueu, Taos, Ojai, museums and  art galleries, the Cathedral w the spiral staircase, shopping, sampling restaurants, etc. All the things one does in SF. It's good to know that there  is always something new to experience. 

Hobbies

During a recent trip to Santa Fe, I signed up for another class from the fabulous Santa Fe School of Cooking. I first learned about this place 20+ years ago, and took all their basic Tex Mex and SW NM Mex cooking courses prior to moving to the New York area, preparing myself for the dearth of Mexican food while living there. Those skills have stood in good stead ever since, and I was excited to add to my repertoire.

You can choose from a diverse selection of  classes, either hands on or demonstration, but I mostly prefer hands on - I think I learn it better that way. Both versions come with wine! In this most recent class, the topic was "Chile Rellenos Four Different Ways" - it must be noted that I had never particularly liked chile rellenos, prior to taking the course. (It was the only one that fit my schedule.) However, the four different versions we made were delightful, and significantly better than the canned crap one gets in most chain restaurants. Like so many things in life, making it yourself from quality ingredients makes a huge difference. I highly rec this store/ classes/ experience, if you are in Santa Fe, make an effort to take a class. I would even recommend it as a destination! It's a fun two hours, then you get to eat what you cooked.

https://santafeschoolofcooking.com/Cooking_Classes/index.html

Collecting Southwestern and Native American Jewelry

Many have asked me about my hobby of collecting North American southwestern jewelry. I love to wear my jewelry pieces that are made in a variety of colors and materials; it makes me so happy! Some dreary winter days it is like wearing blue skies and desert sands. I started collecting as a young girl, on family camping vacations to Colorado and New Mexico in the 1960's. Over the years, I have added more items from various sources and enjoy wearing them nearly every day. Once, a shaman said to me, "You must have unfinished chakra work in the area of blue/turquoise, as you wear it all the time. Think about what this is telling you about yourself." Good advice, perhaps.....

If you enjoy the beautiful colors and handmade, artisinal quality of American southwestern jewelry, by all means, collect pieces that appeal to you and enjoy them. I myself  mostly prefer older, "vintage" pieces, with that perfect combination of  detailed silverwork artistry, gorgeous stones, and aged patina. I do have a few very clean-lined modern items that I like as well. While many of my pieces have increased in value since I first purchased them, I do not advocate beginning a collection just for the intention of creating an investment that will increase at a certain rate or percentage over time. The market is too uncertain for that and as with anything, you have to really study to know what you are doing.

Frequently, however, folk will come to me and show me an item purchased from an estate/tag/yard sale, and ask me what it is worth. Something you have bought is always worth what you paid for it - that was the market price at that time. Generally, you get what you pay for : people are savvy enough these days to look big ticket, important items up before they price them. If you are truly interested in collecting southwestern jewelry for the pleasure of wearing it, I would spend time on the internet, browsing what is available for sale, in order to get an overall idea of what styles are available, and at what range of prices. Try a google search for "native American jewelry" or similar. If you wish to go shopping in  New Mexico in person, just remember: Sante Fe prices are twice that of Albuquerque, and Albuquerque prices are twice that of Gallup. I am not experienced with shopping in Arizona, Colorado, or Utah. Generally, the more chic and touristy the town, the higher the prices you will pay. Pawn shops will offer better "deals" than boutiques. Junky spots along the interstate sell items made in China. Don't be afraid to haggle or wave a wad of cash and say, "this is all I have." For online shoppers, if you can find an online business with a brick-and-morter store located in Arizona or New Mexico - you are headed in the right direction. I'd avoid items with a shipping location from China or India or anywhere else. You can find quite a lot of nice pieces on ebay - just use their tools to figure out what you like, and what are the recent prices for that item. (Use the sidebar filters: Ethnic, tribal jewelry. Native American. Old Pawn. Bell trading post. Harvey era. Etc.) The amount of information you need to make an informed purchase is worth a few hours reading, so you know what you are doing. Here are some highly esteemed sources to do just that:

Great general source of information, many topics, very thorough and accurate.
http://www.horsekeeping.com/native-american-jewelry-artifacts.htm


Information about turquoise stones, and what makes one stone valuable and another. less so
http://www.durangosilver.com/turquoisemines.htm

http://thestrayarrowjewelry.com/2013/01/03/turquoise-guide/

http://www.ebay.com/gds/The-Complete-Turquoise-Jewelry-Buying-Guide-/10000000177633105/g.html

http://www.silvereaglegallery.com/turquoise-mines-of-america/

Enjoy!

Texas for Travelers

                                          The Alamo

To my devoted readers out there, stateside, who are wondering why I am including all this stuff the natives already know about, and why I've put a lot more "Texas" content on this blog- the simple fact is, I've been looking at my stats. I have readers from all over the globe- imagine that! and my most popular blog entries involve topics particular to Texas, especially geography, travel, culture, cuisine, and stuff like that. I think people are reading this blog not just bc of my title, but maybe to help them plan a trip here. To that end, I am going to offer my opinion and advice as to where you should go and what you should do if you are visiting this strange foreign country. Note: I don't get endorsements from anyone, and I took the ad feature off this blog bc it was just cluttering things up and a waste of time.This is a general overview, only...I have specific bog postings, with more details, on individual locales/topics.

First off, if you are visiting Texas for the first time, you need to be forewarned about the vast distances in this state- larger than France-and how to get around from place to place. Just remember: "Public" transportation in this state generally means airports/airplanes to fly you from one city to another. A few cities (San Antonio, Houston, Dallas only) have limited rail systems for commuters, but hey! this isn't Europe. Don't expect to hop on a train, go someplace, get off, walk around, see the sites, then hop back on a train and go somewhere else. You will have to rent a car to visit any place that is not in a major city- and probably most urban places even if you stick to major cities. Our infant public transportation systems are designed to move folk from the suburbs to the central core downtown area, and back, during work day hours, only. Many rail stops are not linked to tourist sites, and do not run on weekends or at convenient late night hours. I just experienced this with a dear friend visiting from New York, who wanted to stay with me in Denton, but be able to use the local rail public transportation to go back and froth to Dallas and Ft Worth, and be able to stay out late and eat dinner, then return "home" in the evening. While we are all darn excited to have a train at all that comes out this far, it did not run after the typical commuter rush hour, and does not go to Ft. Worth. So be prepared and plan to rent a car, unless you have friends who live here and will loan you one of theirs or drive you around.

The next most important topic for planning a visit to Texas is : when ? Our summers are harsh and last 6+ months of the year. I cannot emphasize this enough. It is typical and normal for daily temps to be in the high 90's from March through October, the 100's -110's from June through September, in most of the state. I liken it to Provence or Rome in August if you have ever been to those places. If you have never lived in this sort of climate, you cannot be mentally prepared for what it is like, even if you think summers are "hot" wherever you are from. My sister-in-law (who lives in the Mid-Atlantic East Coast) came to visit us the first time with a suitcase of what she considered to be summer weight turtlenecks and pants. We had to take her shopping to buy more suitable clothes. She about fainted when we took her to the local public pool to cool down on a day it was 112 degrees. The water in the pool was 99 degrees and there was no shade. A few years back I was driving through the old historic downtown square in Denton and saw a German family - mom, dad, two little kids- standing in a dazed and confused manner, on the sidewalk at about 3 in the afternoon. I figured they were lost and pulled over, rolled down my car window and asked if I could help. Turns out they were on the verge of heatstroke and needed me to guide them to a place with air conditioning and cool drinks. They were so prostrate they couldn't think what to do or where to go next. So my first advice is : come in the winter, spring, or fall. Our fall and spring are what passes for summer in most places of the northern hemisphere. Our winters are like Florida or California- mild.

If you must visit in the summer, June is better than July and August. Pack thin, sheer, lightweight light-colored cotton or linen clothing. Shirts, shorts, dresses, swimsuits. All indoor (and some outdoor!) spaces will be air conditioned (much stronger/colder than what passes for a/c in Europe) and can be chilly if you are not used to it - so bring a thin sheer lightweight sweater or jacket. If you are not used to this weather, pretend you are going on a safari in Africa- you will need a hat to block the sun, sunscreen, a bottle for water, good walking shoes, etc. I have been to touristy spots such as NASA or the Alamo and seen folk from all over the world sweltering and sick from the heat. If you are used to carrying a fan, do so. Be prudent : Go to outdoor places (the Alamo, Sea World) in the early morning or late at night. Go to indoor places (museums, etc) during the mid-day or late afternoon.

If you plan to visit Texas as a first -timer, or for a short time only, I would start with San Antonio/ Austin in the spring time. (Of course it all depends on what you want to see and do, and what your interests are. I will break down each region by typical and not-so-typical things to do.) One note: all Texas schools, both public/private lower (elementary, high) schools and colleges/universities, take a  week long "spring break" sometime in March. During these weeks (often "rolling", in the sense that a million people/schools will be off one week, and a different million people /schools off the next), typically beaches and resorts in the southern half of the state will be jam-packed. Book hotels before Christmas to get a room. It will not be hot enough to swim at that time, but will be a pleasant temp to walk around. Texans also typically take time off/holidays at Christmas and in the summer, but often flee the state. In the winter, we go skiing in Colorado-New Mexico, and in the summer to anywhere on the globe that is cooler than Texas!

San Antonio

See the Alamo, an old Spanish mission which Texans consider their most sacred site. Sure it's indoors, but the line to get in is outdoors, and can be long at peak times. Dress for the outdoor weather. It is within walking distance to the River walk ( pictured below), a pretty area with restaurants and hotels. All in walking distance of each other. San Antonio is also home to Sea World and Six Flags, a zoo and an old home historic district; you will need a car to get to these places on the other side of town. Day trips from S.A. are : Mission Tours ( historic old Spanish churches), Texas Hill Country (beautiful rolling hills with wild flowers in the spring), some local caves, grottos, San Marcos (See Road trips: Schlitterbahn on this website), Johnson City, Luckenbach, Blanco State Park- Places with historic ranches, presidential homes open to the public, scenic outdoor locales. You will need a car for all this. I have blog postings on this topic that include hotel and restaurant recs.

Austin

An hour north from S.A. by car  is Austin, the capitol of Texas and home to UT. This is an old-new city with a modern semi-conductor industry and a fabulous music counter-culture. The SXSW (pronounced "south by southwest") indie music fest is in March, and tickets sell out before Christmas. The Texas capitol building is historically interesting, (taller than the US capitol) and there is a Texas History Museum you can tour. Guadalupe Street is "the drag" where a few old hippies still hang out from the 60's. Sixth Street is a vibrant bar and restaurant scene.Road trips include; more hill country towns, looking at bluebonnets ( in March-April), Lake Travis (great restaurant: The Oasis on Lake Travis- incredible views), Bastrop. I have a specific blog posting on these topics.

                                         San Antonio River walk

South Texas
This is only for the true Texas enthusiast, and I would not rec it for a short trip. You must have a car to get to/see these places: 1)The King ranch -one of the oldest, largest, and most famous ranches, still in existence as a working ranch, and they do have tours, 2)Goliad - this is where Texas history really begins. Fabulous mission and presidio. Beautiful countryside. Nearby towns on the way ( Gonzales, etc) great for antiquing. 3)"The Valley" large agricultural region that flows south of S.A. to Mexico border. When I was a kid, people used to go to Mexican border towns and shop (furniture, silver, ceramics, veggies, booze, crafts) but with drug cartels encroaching, I wouldn't do that these days unless I were a native and could blend in. 4)Corpus Christi - Pretty little coastal city with a great aquarium and nice beaches. However, the best beaches are at 5)South Padre Island- entrance near the Mexican border, at southern tip. Beautiful beaches, but in recent years, over-built with condos and touristy restaurants. Avoid during March unless you enjoy being surrounded by millions of drunken semi-nekkid college kids.6)Lockhart- several restaurants here claim to be home to Texas BBQ. You can sample them all and decide for yourself. 7)Brenham/College Station- home to that other great Texas University, Texas A &M. A charming little downtown with B&B, and the Antique Rose Emporium nearby.

Houston

Houston would be my second choice for the out-of-town traveler with only a short amount of time to spend in Texas. You can see all that is modern in Texas (NASA space center, the oil industry, world class medical center, a fabulous museum district) and much that is old and charming in Texas ( historic homes, great restaurants, lovely parks and gardens, a zoo, some world class universities.) Spring comes early to this coastal town, and most things are blooming by late February.The humidity is always 100%, but that means the temp is rarely over low 90's, so you chose your poison. Hurricanes a common feature, generally in Aug-Sept. Road trips from Houston: Galveston (has a historic old section, and great Christmas and Mardi Gras festivals). Coastal regions nearby are world class for winter bird watching. Big Thicket - dense piney woods in east Texas.

                                          Houston

                                          NASA Space Center

But where are the cowboys? The wild wild west you ask? Well, the real versions of that stuff exist on real people's farms and ranches, way out in the middle of nowhere, sprinkled throughout the state and are not generally open to the public. I am unaware of any theme park that is configured like the wild, wild west or some one's ranch....You can shoot exotic game on special big game ranches - I'm not endorsing any particular provider, just providing info so you can search the internet for yourself. If you really must have an old west experience for the kiddies, then I rec Ft. Worth.

Ft Worth

This city, "where the west begins" has an old-timey part of downtown with some log cabin looking stores and a herd of long horns that walk up and down the street each day. This is a good place to go for those sort of photo opps. This little city is a gem, home to a great zoo,  a fabulous museum district, and a world class opera festival that hosts both traditional and cutting edge performances each May.

Dallas

Although I call it home, I would not call it interesting to the outsider. I see it as hot and flat and ugly, with wind that blows year round. Maybe there is some appeal that I just don't get. Lots of folk come here to see the grassy knoll and the Sixth Floor Museum that tells about the day JFK was shot. We have great sports teams: the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Rangers, the Mavericks. Like all Texas cities, we have lots of shiny glass sky-scrapers and lots of miserable crawling freeways with too much traffic. Six Flags, museums, parks, flower fests, music fests, a zoo - like anywhere else. Personally, what I like about Dallas is this: it has some of the best fashion and house wares/furniture shopping outside of NYC and LA (due to the fashion mart, a wholesale source for the fashion industry) located here. Retail is king ! I prefer the variety of Tex-Mex food in DFW, (enchilada based, versus the fajita base of Houston) but that may be bc I grew up with it so it tastes like home to me. I think, overall, Houston has better restaurants, clubs, and an overall more interesting urban vibe. Day trips from Dallas: east Texas, a heavily forested region that is known locally for dairies, produce, small towns, and lakes. People often have their summer homes here. Historic towns include Tyler, Nacadoches, Caddo Lake. Shreveport or Oklahoma border towns if you like gambling.

West Texas

This region is not for the casual traveler. It is far flung, remote, desert-like, sparse in terms of towns and people. Many counties may have only one small town, if any at all, in them. You can drive ( at 70-80-90+ mph) for hours and never find a roadside gas station, restaurant, hotel/motel, or store. It will require research and planning on your part to figure out, in advance, where you will stay/eat/buy gas each leg of your trip through this area.  If you want to drive across America, and swing through some spots of local interest, I rec: Cadillac Ranch ( photo below) outside Amarillo; Palo Duro Canyon (similar to the Grand Canyon) outside Lubbock; Marfa ( famous for its "lights", an unexplained astral phenomenon), the Guadalupe Mtns and Big Bend National Park ( really, in south west Texas). Just keep driving and you can add White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, and other famous sites in New Mexico to your tour.

                                          Cadillac Ranch

Friends out there reading my blog: Please add your own suggestions to this posting under comments. I don't claim to have a lock on Texas tourism.

Texas Roadtrips- Austin

Spring is the time of year when folk start thinking "roadtrips" - and of course, spring comes early in Texas. This past year, due to La Nina, we had no winter to speak of as it was. When I lived in Houston, we thought of February as spring, and started cutting class to go to the beach in Galveston, coming into the dorm cafeteria for dinner with patchy first sunburns, hungover, and full of that secret naughty joy at having skipped school. March and April are fickle in north Texas- hot and windy one moment, raining and cold the next. Just as soon as you put away your winter clothes, it'll drop down into the 40's to spite you. Just as soon as you plant your garden, we'll have one more frost. Yet everyone is in a rush to get their roadtrip underway before it gets too hot...it's a very narrow window of pleasant weather in spring and fall....and if you wait until late April, you'll miss all the wild flowers that bloom in central Texas near the hill country. While all the college kids head out for spring break to beaches in the Caribbean and Mexico, everyone else heads to central Texas for all the joyous things to see and do.

Non-locals will want to see the city of Austin and the State capitol building (proudly taller than our nation's capitol in Washington D.C.) Locals have seen it all before. Don't miss the Texas History Museum and all that stuff. It's fun if you like western things. In the 60's and 70's Austin was like Berkeley, full of hippies and eccentrics whose legacy lives on the popular "Keep Austin Weird" t-shirts that are now ubiquitous. However, something happened in the 80's that made the folk in Austin turn yuppie-fied and less interesting to look at. Maybe it was all the technology businesses that grew up there, turning the area into a Texas version of Silicon Valley. It's still a city of great clubs, music venues (the popular SXSW, i.e. "South by Southwest" music festival was in full throttle when we went, in mid-March, but tickets had long been previously sold out. I desperately wanted to catch Springsteen at a small venue this year, but it was impossible to get in to that show. If you want to go, buy your tickets early!), great shopping and restaurants- but the real lure nearly all year round is the outdoors.

Austin and surrounding towns are full of clear, spring fed rivers and lakes that stay 68 degrees year- round. People commence water activities- canoeing, kayaking, tubing, and swimming - just as soon as it is hot enough to tolerate the chilly water. Some great spots to get started are San Marcos, Gruene, and all the little towns in between  Austin and San Antonio, and places due west- just driving down the road one can follow the signs for "put ins" (where local entrepreneurs will drive you to a spot to enter the Guadalupe River in the flotation device of your choice, then meet you at a "take out" location, several hours and miles down river, and haul you back to your car, often in a dilapidated old school bus or pickup truck.I've done this 1000's of times - it's safe. Bring a picnic and its a wonderfully fun day.)

The annual event of millions of bluebonnets blooming across the state is not to be missed. Like the cherry tree festival in Washington, it is difficult to describe how magnificent the flowers are, and mere photos don't do it justice. Something magical just happens. Bluebonnets are wild flowers, meaning they don't do well in gardens but prefer dry, scraggly hills out in open fields with plenty of sun.The start blooming in late Feb-early March in south Texas, and through early April in north Texas. The highway dept seeds roadsides each fall, so there are plenty to view as your race by at 80 mph on the interstate, but it's much more pleasant to hit some of the back roads through Meridien, Blanco, Johson City, Brenham, Gonzales and Goliad, to see them. Another great daytime picnic event. It's a rite of passage that locals have to get their child's picture taken in the bluebonnets each year. You can flip through your family photo albums and watch your kids grow up on the pages, in front of bluebonnets as time marches on.

Hubster had a conference this year at The Domain, a high-end luxury mall (I know that sounds redundant, but the way the word "luxury" is banded about lately, just wanted to clarify) on the north side of Austin. I tagged along, making ample use of his swanky hotel with fabulous room service. Had a spa day at Spa Reveil, shopped, swam, ate out, toured the sites. Yes, its a rough life. We joined up with some Rice friends for dinner at a local brewpub.....nice little roadtrip, all in all. Rice University Trivia: The University of Texas tower, pictured above, was actually designed by an architect from Rice. When viewed from an angle, the top portion of the tower looks ever so faintly like an owl, with the clocks on each side forming the eyes, the corner architectural features forming the owl's beak. Can you see it ?  Hahahahahaha!

Breakfast Tacos

I love breakfast tacos. They are plentiful around these parts, a tasty and quick breakfast item, but if you live far away and can't get them where you live, you can make your own. Home-made ones can control fat, salt, etc much better than fast-food ones, anyways. Once a month or so, I scramble up a whole carton of eggs on a weekend morning, and then freeze the finished product in small amounts in tiny little zip-lock baggies, pull out and zap in the microwave, later, as needed. When you make breakfast tacos, you can add whatever veggies you wish- almost like huevos rancheros : peppers, onions, potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes- you can customize to whatever you like.
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Here is the order in which to do it : (it all cooks in about 5 min, so chop veggies, lay out all ingredients, and be ready to go, beforehand): It is best to start the veggies, first, saute-ing in a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil, esp if you want potatoes. I cube mine into pea-sized portions, but they still take longer. Once the veggies are wilted, add the eggs (I also add a drop of milk) and scramble up. You can add shredded cheese at this stage, or later, in the actual taco. Meanwhile, take a bag of tortillas (flour or corn), and heat up several on a griddle, the type you would use for making pancakes or grilled cheese sandwiches. ** This is key !** Tortillas sold in a bag in the grocery store are not completely cooked. It is intended for you to finish cooking them in this manner whatever you use them for (fajitas, etc.) Ever noticed that they are thick and cardboard tasting when you pull them out of the bag ? Now you know why ! When you heat them on a griddle, they become soft, warm, pliant and delicious. No need to lay down butter or anything, as you would do with grilled cheese. (They are made with lard and enough of it melts out to prevent from sticking.) Just lay down the tortilla, heat on medium till it is soft to the touch but before it turns brown.
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Now , take the tortilla off the griddle and lay it on a plate. Spoon in some of the egg- veggie mixture. Add shredded cheese, meats if you wish, (sausage or bacon, chorisco if you feel authentic, but I make mine vegetarian. Cook meats separately. I fry up a package of bacon at one time, then refrigerate the cooked strips and add a tiny bit at a time to salads, sandwiches, breakfast tacos, etc.), a dollop of salsa, roll it up , and enjoy ! MMMMMmmmmmm. Really great with fresh hand-squeezed orange juice.
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Check out one my fave blogs, on the same subject : "Homesick Texan"

Earring Fetish 1

I've collected southwestern art and jewelry all my life, ever since my family took vacations to the Four Corners area when I was a kid. Mom started me out young, buying tiny little turquoise and silver hand-made rings and bracelets for my ballerina jewelry box. I continued this tradition throughout my adult life, making annual pilgrimages to "the source"....until the internet made physical trips unnecessary. Hubster can't really complain because his mother also loves southwestern jewelry and shops far more enthusiastically than I ever could. I tend to favor earrings because they are affordable, cuff style bracelets because I use the computer a lot and I can't stand bangly-dangly things that tinkle when I type.


A girlfriend of mine recently blogged about " 30 Days, 30 Pairs of Earrings" and I am inspired to reach similar heights. Earrings are the perfect pick-me -up....a great pair makes you feel fabulous, and they are nearly always affordable. I confess to have .....many pairs.




Here are some of my favorite sources:

http://chacodog.com/
http://sunfacejewelry.com/
http://www.perrynulltrading.com/
http://silversun-sf.com/
http://www.silvertribe.com/Turquoise-Jewelry
http://www.twodogssouthwestgallery.com/index.asp
http://www.durangosilver.com/rings_28_ctg.htm
http://www.themudheadgallery.com/servlet/StoreFront

These are each reliable quality sources with authentic high quality jewelry, rugs, baskets, pottery, sand paintings, kachinas, and other art work. My family, friends and I have shopped at each repeatedly for years. Remember, you get what you pay for with hand crafted items: if prices are cheap, the item is, too. Expect to pay more for something that is worthwhile to own.

Taco Soup

"Taco Soup", as my kids refer to it, is really a sort of chili with veggies added. My children love it and request it frequently. It freezes well , so you can make up a big batch, eat some now, and save the rest, for later. The garnish of shredded cheese and crumbled tortilla chips is key. You can serve this flavorful soup with cornbread and a salad for a delicious family meal. If you don't have pinto beans, make it with black beans or similar beans. You can also adjust the spiciness level to suit your tastes.

Cook Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Yield: Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, if ground beef is very lean
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans
• 1 can (11 to 15 ounces) whole kernel corn ,drained
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) stewed tomatoes - Mexican style if available
• 1 can (10 to 15 ounces) Rotel tomatoes (or tomatoes with green chile peppers)
• 1 pkg. (about 1 ounce) taco seasoning mix -(opt.)
• 2 1/2 cups water or more, to make soup broth

Preparation:

Brown ground beef and onions in a large pan with olive oil if needed; drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for an hour or so. When ready, serve in big soup bowls, and have a skillet of hot cornbread to eat, too.

That Eclectic Texas "Look"- decor

Resist the urge to think about cowboys, wagon wheel coffee tables, Indians, tee pees, large ugly iron and leather "western" furniture when you think "Texas" style decorating. My own personal style combines a bit of the southwest (including native American arts and crafts) with a little French, a little Mexican,  throw in a dash of eclectic global travels, some modern things thrown into the mix for good measure. You can scale it up or down, depending on the style of your abode. (My own home is a 60's suburban version of French Provencal, so weaving in the French makes sense, but has characteristically low 60's ceilings, so no huge hanging chandeliers for me.) Here are some great sources to help you get the "look"....above, Mexican Tiles
http://www.tierrayfuego.com/Ceramic_Tiles/index.htm
Just remember, a little goes a long way and these should be used like spices in a complex dish, with restraint.

Ballard Designs has been a long time favorite of mine. They seem to go through phases, for years it was sort of classically inspired (as in, Greece and Rome)catalog, then for a long time, recently, French with a more casual modern relaxed spirit. I snapped up a great French Provincial dining room set which, sadly, they no longer make. My other stalwart in this area, Pierre Deux, seems to be going out of business. Perhaps their pricier versions just couldn't sell in the prolonged economic downturn.
http://www.ballarddesigns.com/
I think they are based in Atlanta or somewhere in the South, so you get that southern flair in they way they mix colors and patterns.
A new favorite of mine is Viva Terra, a 'green' (as in , lots of reclaimed wood and recycled or fair trade made goods) slightly more upscale version of Pier One or World Market. I've been snapping up their stuff lately and the quality is great. Love their bold colors and patterns!
http://www.vivaterra.com/

Wisteria is another catalog that I seem to buy from every month. Based in Houston, I just can't get enough and wish they would expand their stores. However, if they did, that would probably spell an end to their many "one-of-a-kind" hand-made items. Similar mix : whimsical, multi-cultural, but with a softer palette.
http://www.wisteria.com/

For a bolder, truly Texan look, you have several options: The famous King Ranch ( as in, an actual historical family owned ranch that has been in business for over 150 years) now has a catalog of leather goods, clothes, and home furnishings.
http://www.krsaddleshop.com/Default.asp?
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The Arrangement in Dallas has been around for awhile and will even ship your purchases ( my mother-in-law periodically comes to town, buys stuff she has sent back home to Virginia)
http://www.thearrangement.com/
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Throw in some native American arts and crafts, especially rugs or pottery, and you are good to go: (Note: most of the Indians native to Texas were plains tribes, which meant they were nomadic, which means they didn't stay in one place long enough to develop an industry of their own goods. Mostly they were driven out and killed by white settlers, sorry to say. So most folk in the American southwest go with the Indians tribes who populate New Mexico and Arizona for that southwestern art look: Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, etc.) . Here are a few reliable sources our family shops from often:
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http://www.themudheadgallery.com/servlet/the-**BASKETS**/Categories
http://www.perrynulltrading.com/rugs-and-weavings-1
http://www.southwestindian.com/cat/Ceramics-For-the-Home.cfm
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Pendleton is a historic wool mill and blanket maker. They make many western themed products that are not to kitchy:
http://www.pendleton-usa.com/category/Home-Blankets/Native-American/1823/pc/1816.uts
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For all your cowhide rug needs:
http://rusticfurnituredepot.com/doorbusters.html?gclid=CKWL4d-a_LwCFRJp7AodamkAeA
Check back here if you are interested in this topic. When I find new stuff, I will post it here.

I'm on pinterest, and I have several boards dedicated to this style....look for me"GirlFromTexas"

Travels : Four Corners Area Pt I

You know GFT loves New Mexico - as many Texans do - and tries to get there every other year or so. The desert in the Four Corners area is somehow more beautiful than the very same desert as it appears in Texas, and the shopping and food are much better. The elevation from sea level starts to climb as you drive through the panhandle area of Texas, and you can feel the air getting clearer and the clime becoming cooler. On this particular trip, a strange personal "Trip to Bountiful" sort of road trip - the sole purpose of which was to scatter my father's ashes along the way, accompanied by my mother who despised him (they divorced long ago) but was so senile that she had completely forgotten this fact - mom and I engaged in both  revisits to sentimental places from my childhood, and retail shopping therapy. Along the way, we ate some fantastic meals.

The Pantry, in Santa Fe
There are hundreds of wonderful restaurants in Santa Fe; it is truly one of those destination towns, like New Orleans or San Francisco, where you can go to simply to eat - and dining alone will provide all the entertainment you need. Roll outta one meal, walk it off, window shop, look at art galleries, see some sites, roll in to the next one. Everyone has their favorite spots in this town, and over the years I have tried many of them. This year, was wanting to get out of my rut, a bit , so approached my visit with open eyes and ears. Struck up a conversation at the Hagen -Das ice cream shop on the square (it is a long standing family joke, that every single day at 3 pm, no matter where she is or what she is doing, my mother says, "Now seems a pretty good time for some ice cream!" Imagine a little old lady, deep East Texas drawl.) with a woman who owns an upscale jewelry store on Canyon Road - she gave us two tickets for free comps at a tapas bar, La Boca, that was new in town. How fun ! Adventures happen everywhere, if you open your eyes.
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In spite of my mother's complaint that we were eating "too much Mexican food", however (that's like saying, "too much Cajun/Creole food" in New Orleans ! Sacrilege ! Tired of what you are eating ? Then select a different dish! So many choices, so little time......), I seldom veer too far off the beaten path of southwestern cuisine in NM. Have eaten at the Indian restaurant in SF and it was mighty fine, but when I'm there, I'm rarely in the mood. Can get Indian at home !
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Just to liven things up a bit, this year I decided to head the organic route, wherever possible. Started off our visit at the Farmers Market in Santa Fe, where I have often found not only wonderful produce but great arts and crafts, as well. Sampled local offerings there, bought ristras, gourds, baskets (still a few weeks too early to buy the famous Hatch green chiles, which arrive in late summer/early fall)......Picked up several local publications, and perused them for restaurant reviews. One thing led to another and.....
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One of the new places I tried this year, as a result of reading a review in the local organic newspaper, was The Pantry on Cerillos. This mom-and-pop diner has been around forever, yet somehow I'd never eaten there. I tried blue corn chicken enchiladas, one of my all time fave dishes, and it was fabulous. Melt-in-your-mouth tasty; I'll definitely go back. Mom had tacos and liked them, too. This place turns up with positive reviews on a lot of web sites. Don't miss it - another great little inexpensive spot with fresh wonderful food, I'm adding it to my list of places to hit each time I'm in town. They serve local wines with dinner, which we sampled - much needed after a hard day of shopping . A plus ! Kid and family friendly, I hear they are good for breakfast, too .

The Plaza Cafe in Santa Fe
A completely unexpected surprise for me was eating breakfast at the Plaza Cafe on the square. I must have passed this spot 100's of times, and never paid it any attention at all (assuming anything on the square had to be too touristy and therefore, bad). The exterior is unassuming; I almost missed it. Inside, it's sort of retro 50's diner-ish. Mom and I bellied up to the counter and ordered pancakes, thinking they would be little doily sized things, al la IHOP, but no! Mine were blueberry, hers were apple. When they arrived, they were the size of platters and simply to die for ! Possibly the world's best pancakes.... I'm still dreaming about how to replicate in my own kitchen. Will definitely add this spot to my list of place to hit each time I'm in town.

Often, when I travel with hubster, we sample the local brewpubs - beer is his chief hobby (sampling, collecting and consuming, mostly, although he does make home brew, once in a while). It just so happened at one meal this trip where my mom and I were pooped and ready to rest up and eat, I looked around , and there was Second Street Brew Pub right in front of us. We popped in and enjoyed the shade in the pleasant shady dining patio, and fortified ourselves with huge club sandwiches that were pretty tasty. Oh, yes, the beer wasn't bad, either .

Demo chef at Santa Fe School of Cooking

One of the most fun things to do in Santa Fe is attend a cooking class at the Santa Fe School of Cooking. Part gourmet food/kitchen shop, part restaurant, part entertainment, if you are a casual or serious cook, you will get to see demonstrations, learn and practice many techniques for cooking southwestern food. A gf and I took a class here almost 20 years ago - that year I learned how to make enchiladas - from scratch. It included making and rolling my own tortillas.....it was a blast. This time, I enrolled my mom and me in a tacos class, but it covered such diverse things as: making red and green sauce, how to roast your own chiles, and several great recipes (including one for shrimp tacos which was to die for). We had a blast and I highly recommend it to anyone. Had thought about taking my surly teenage kids along for that one but chickened out at the last minute....should not have worried, there were several teens in the class, as well as a diverse assmt of geezers, gourmets, moms, and the usual hungry people this year.
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Hotel options in Santa Fe are plentiful, offering everything from spas and the truly luxurious to cheap cheezy motels, and everything in-between. A long-time vacation spot for the wealthy and those who love the art scene or skiing, there is something for everyone. I tend to favor brands in the Hilton family, only b/c I collect points there, but there is probably a branch here of every chain in America.

View from Far View Lodge Cafe, Mesa Verde
By far the most unusual dining and hotel experience we had this year was when we spent the night at Mesa Verde National Park. I've been visiting this place since I was a kid - never stayed in the park itself (always worried that it was too difficult to get a reservation, I guess, maybe with a waiting list years long). Growing up, we always stayed in Durango or Cortez. This year, perhaps due to the economy, I found plenty of rooms inside the park readily available on expedia or travelocity websites, at a discount. The only difficult thing about it was the fact that we arrived late at night - SOMETHING I ADVISE YOU NEVER TO DO, AT ALL COSTS. The front gate was open but no one was there, and we just rolled in (no one to sell us an entrance ticket). I then had to drive 15 miles deep into the park on twisty, turning mountain roads with no lights, no signs, no guard rails, only praying and hoping this adventure wasn't going to end like "The Shining" , "Thelma and Louis" or a slasher movie. After what seemed like an eternity and probably was - I am terrified of heights and was driving about 1 mph, as the roads were all torn up and "under construction"- we finally found Far View Lodge. In the dark, it seemed like nothing special. Checked in, went to our room, collapsed. But oh, how the light of day changes things ......... we woke up just as the sun was rising the next day. This hotel, turns out (couldn't tell night before, in the dark) is perched on a mountaintop in the park, with a view that spans the horizon. You can see canyons and ruins and into distant states. It is incredibly breathtaking; words alone don't do it justice. I was worried about getting some coffee as fast as possible (always my chief concern upon awakening), and discovered that inside the gift shops/ park buildings there are several restaurant choices, (some casual, some upscale) open to hotel residents hours before the park opens to the general public. Mom and I wandered over to the place that had a breakfast buffet and ate with scant few others, in front of giant windows that took in all the majesty of the sun coming up over the canyons. It was magnificent, a moment I will never forget.

Travels : Four Corners Area Pt II

La Placita, Old Town Albuquerque
Half the fun of any road trip is sampling a wide variety of cuisines and restaurants. I confess to being a strange mixture of both high-brow and low-brow tastes, in most aspects (cinema, literature, fashion, hobbies, husbands, and food !) and will happily dine at a 5 star restaurant or a roadside diner, enjoying each equally the same. Either end of the spectrum offers something unique and valuable that I want to experience. A trip to the Colorado - New Mexico region allows me to visit some old faves, and try some exciting new experiences as well. Sure, now and then one has to eat at a Denny's or a Waffle House, simply because nothing else is available. (It must be noted that I consider breakfast to be the only "safe" meal to eat at Denny's any or time any where, and as there are no Denny's at all along I-40 running through the entire state of Tennessee, and as hubster and I make that trek every summer, we endure what we know will be a long day of arguing as we cannot agree on where to eat, otherwise. Denny's is a "safe" choice in oh-so-many ways for us!) But it is a shame to waste a perfectly good road trip, with all the exciting food options that exist out there, on the familiar blandness of a chain restaurant.
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Hubster's family has long argued over which restaurant in old town Albuquerque is THE restaurant where they always dine. (One of the many things we share in common is childhoods spent out here, and a love of the cuisine.) Each time we go there, no one can never quite remember where it was that we ate last time we were there. Hubster's mom refers to a place she calls "El Ranchero", which she claims make the best chiles rellenos in all the world, yet there is actually no restaurant that has ever existed by that name (or similar) in that location. I know, I know, most in-the-know locals and well read tourists shun the Old Town area as tres passe, but I was traveling w my mom this summer, and she needed to hit some of the "old lady" spots she likes, too, so I indulged her. We found ourselves in Old Town, strolling around "power shopping" (you really have to see how fast and furious my mother does this, to believe it) one fine Saturday evening, and decided to stroll in to La Placita for dinner. This place hit the spot perfectly, serving us large sampler plates of the New Mexico cuisine we love so much, reasonably priced and perfectly rendered. My plate included chile rellenos as one of the items, and while this is not my fave dish, it was cooked and tasted just as it should be. I was pleased to note several Hispanic families with kids, and a young couple next to us who smooched the entire meal, who appeared to be locals, so I figured it couldn't be all that bad. It was a delightful meal, and about halfway through it, my mom sort of straightened up and said, "I have been here before ! A long time ago, when you girls were babies ! I remember it now!"
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Another family fave in Albuquerque is the Frontier Cafe, across from the University of New Mexico. Hubster reminisces fondly about eating green chile stew and I, the burritos, from that wonderful hole-in-the-wall cafe. A special note of interest : the tables, chairs, signs, menus, dishes, and all accouterments are EXACTLY the same as my long time Houston fave diner dive, House of Pies. It's as though each diner bought their initial set-up from the same restaurant supply store, the same year. Truly amazing.
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Plenty of hotel choices in ABQ, take your pick.

The Alley Cafe, Taos
It has long been a personal tradition of mine to hit Taos in time for lunch, or at least, cocktails, so I could sit on the balcony patio at Olgelvies Bar and Grill, on the plaza, and sip a margarita while enjoying the scenery (foreground: tourists, mid-ground: plaza, background: mountains). Never fazed me that the food was only so-so; the ambiance was worth it. I've been enjoying that place since the late 1970's. Sadly, it was closed this summer, so I had to find a new spot to dine in Taos. Conversation with a local shop-keeper (more power shopping w mom!) revealed that the economic downturn has hit Olgelvie's badly, they are trying to remodel, refinance, and keep it going, but it's all very up in the air at the moment. We manged to find a charming little spot called The Alley Cafe, literally in the alley behind the plaza, and ducked in out of a rain storm for green chile cheese burgers and margaritas, which were tres magnifique ! Fires burning in the fireplace were the prefect touch, as it was about 40 degrees and threatening sleet that day.
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One of the many fun things to do in the Taos area is to visit the wineries just outside of town, which are located along a back road, aka "the road to Dixon". Beautiful mountain scenery and charming little boutique wineries dot this highway. Family fave is La Chiripada, but I've been told others are wonderful, too. While my mom and I often order cases from off the LC website, it is a lot more fun and educational to attend a tasting session, and sample a wide variety of their many award-winning vintages. We did so this trip, and had a lot of fun - and came away with another case of wine ! The vintner recommended a lunch spot for us, named like Razzy's or something like that, (so new it does not have a website yet for me to check spelling) but it was closed the day we were there, so we had to press on.
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When staying in Toas looking for a romantic weekend, I've stayed at both of the very charming, historic, and luxurious old hotels : La Fonda, and Doc Martin's Historic Taos Inn. (I've been told there are great ski lodges in the area, which I'm sure have some mighty fine restaurants, but I tend to prefer to be in town, as I don't ski, and would rather shop, look at art, drink, eat, stroll about, etc. Bad knees......) The restaurants in each of these sentimental faves are lovely; never had a bad meal. It is a particularly pleasant thing to do in the fall or winter, and curl up by the fire.....
original photo of Bake's Lotta Burger....the current ones look about the same
While wending our way from Durango to Gallup (where the real shopping takes place; it must be noted that everything else is just a feeble warm up!), we often pass through Shiprock. Now, the road from Durango to Gallup, through Shiprock, is long, straight, flat, isolated and runs through the Navajo reservation for several hours/hundreds of miles (depending on how fast you drive !). I find the land beautiful, but many, not used to the serenity and undeveloped quality of the dessert southwest, might find it stark and lonely. It used to be that there was nothing, literally and figuratively NOTHING at all save sheep and hogans, the entire distance from Shiprock to Gallup. I did notice this year that someone has brightly built a gas station about halfway down this highway, around Teec Nos Pas. How many tourists, I wonder, ran out of gas on that road, over the years? Or get lost looking for the road to Chaco Canyon? Those in the know will fill up on food and gas, in Shiprock. Our family knows the area well, from the days when my brother-in-law worked at the hospital in Shiprock, and we visited him several times. Shiprock is not known for upscale cuisine, mostly just fast food choices, so this is when I eat at Blake's Lotta Burger, one of the few local fast food chains still extant. Yes, there are McD's and the other mainstays available, but why eat there when this one is so much better ? Cheese burgers are the thing to eat here, with green chile, and also pretty good shakes. (About halfway through this trip, my mom said to me, "Why is it that everything we are eating is Mexican food ?" When in Rome, ma, when in Rome.........)


As I mentioned earlier, part of the goal of this trip was to engage in retail shopping therapy, as we morned the passing of my father, who especially loved the American Southwest, used to paint there frequently when I was a child, and instilled a love of the area and culture in me at an early age.

If you enjoy shopping for Southwesetern items, whether it be rugs, pottery, jewelry, or other bric a brac, know this : prices in Sante Fe are twice that of prices in Albuquerque, and prices in Albuquerque are twice that of Gallup. Yes, Gallup is 2 hours west of Albuquerque - but worth the drive if you are a serious shopper.

Garcia's in Gallup
Gallup is a town that is strangely frozen in time : so much of its growth era was dominated by the magical "Route 66" that guided folk from Chicago to Los Angeles back in the earlier part of the 20th century. If you are searching for a modern upscale hotel or restaurant here, forget it. El Rancho claims to be "where the movie stars slept" back in the day, but I've been in there and it reminds me of Norma Desmond's nightmarish house in the movie "Sunset Boulevard." Too many dusty old stuffed animals leering at you, their glassy eyes, their yawning jaws.....you know they all come awake at night, when you are not looking, don't you ? Your best bet is one of the clean new mid-range chains near the highway; the main street through town, which is the actual "Route 66", is filled with quirky looking motel-courts from the 1920's through 1950's, which while nostalgic and cute, promise you lumpy beds, damp shag carpeting and funky smelling rooms with not enough scratchy small towels. There are 1000's of small diners in this town, each serving pretty much the same local fare. For such a seemingly small town in the middle of nowhere, the entire town can book up quickly (it is a regional hub, home to several major rodeos and Indian inter tribal conventions) so plan and book ahead if you go there. August is the busiest month - I'd skip August, unless compelling personal business took me there - although, August is known for great sales, when everything is half off.
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I always say to people that Gallup is where I go to shop, seriously shop, and they seem unaware that it exists. Gallup is off the tourist beaten path, close to several reservations, and the prices for anything (I'm talking native American handicrafts here, of an upscale variety : jewelry, baskets, rugs, etc) worth having are roughly 1/3 that of prices for the same item in Santa Fe. If you collect items of this nature, you know what I'm talking about, and it is not "tourist grade" inexpensive (made in China) crap sold in some mega store on the highway next to a gas station. The quality and the prices make Gallup, only 2 hours west from ABQ, well worth the trip. There are also many places that sell what local hand-crafters use to make jewelry, so if you are "into" beading, it's like being a kid in a candy shop. I have more than once seen an individual stroll into a store, ask for the manger, and bring out a crumpled paper lunch sack full of incredible jewelry this individual person just made, themselves, to sell to the store, to sell to people like me.
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There aren't any especially wonderful places to eat in Gallup, but this year, just by chance, we wandered in to a 1950's looking diner along the far west side of "the strip" named Garcia's, looking for breakfast, and it was wonderful. Car had been making an ominous sound the previous day, which was stressful, but that morning a helpful young man in a parking lot rolled under and looked at it (a loose plastic flap, that is all - had it checked at a dealership in Santa Fe, later, which confirmed and fixed it ) . We then ate at the spot nearby, and all my tension were quickly soothed by an incredible green chile omelet, great coffee, fresh squeezed o.j., home-made tortillas and fry bread. My mouth waters even now, thinking of it. All presided over by a charming and ebullient proprietor, Garcia himself, who visited with us and talked about how his food was actually good for you b/c it was all home-made, from scratch, no preservatives, no additives, no trans fats, etc. I was sold; he had me at the first bite, anyways!