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Light, Freedom, and Awakening Through Passover Seder Traditions and Food

By
Kylie Thomas
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0
Two tall purple candles burning in brass Star of David candlesticks, a traditional ritual element of a Passover Seder hosted in Santa Fe.

The lighting of the candles…the drinking of the first cup of wine…the horseradish, a reminder of the bitterness of slavery, and the charoset– a mixture of fruit with nuts – a sign that even in the midst of slavery, there is the sweet possibility of freedom.

A group of friends gathered for a Passover Seder dinner in a Santa Fe home, with a large window overlooking the high desert landscape at twilight.

The Tradition and Compassion of a Passover Seder

These are just some of the elements of a Passover Seder by Rabbi Carolyn Silver and Jill Heppenheimer for TABLE Magazine at the home of close friend Pat Stanley in Santa Fe. Silver and Heppenheimer have celebrated Passover their entire lives and for them this beloved holiday is an opportunity to gather in both somber reflection and joy.

A silver Kiddush cup and a printed Haggadah on a wooden dining table during a modern Passover Seder in Santa Fe.

Heppenheimer calls it muscle memory – that deep familiarity that comes when you’ve celebrated a holiday every year of your life. Passover, the spring festival commemorating the Jewish people’s exodus from slavery to freedom, isn’t only historic, it’s also contemporary when people are enslaved today in many ways and many places in the world. “Jews often feel that the telling of the Passover story is an important time to bring to the forefront of our religious practice an appreciation that the journey towards liberation never ends. Even if we aren’t personally enslaved, our fellow humans around the world are,” Heppenheimer says.

A small ceramic bowl of charoset, a traditional fruit and nut mixture served at a Passover Seder in Santa Fe.

A Gathering for All

“I invite Jews and non-Jews to come to the Passover Seder because I think the story of Passover is so significant, not only in the history of the Jews but in all our history – that idea of moving from bondage to liberation,” says Silver. Silver, a Santa Fe native, remembers that as a child, some 30-40 people would gather for Passover. “We always had the Seder at the temple and the women of the congregation would make all the food, including the gefilte fish, which smelled horrible but tasted great,” she laughs.

A guest holding a piece of handmade matzah during a Passover Seder dinner in Santa Fe, with a traditional Seder plate and wine glass in the background.

In the 70s and 80s many people started writing their own Haggadah, including Heppenheimer. “It elevated the role of women…and became more creative, more inclusive,” she says. For this seder, she and Silver wrote a Haggadah that reflects on the challenges of today. “When I write [a Haggadah], I say, ‘So what are today’s terrible things? Poverty…lack of affordable housing…the war against Gaza.’ And people call out, what are their concerns? Suicide, teenage suicide, drug addiction, you know? So we make it relevant, and we realize that many people are in pain – it’s not just slavery,” says Heppenheimer.

The Importance of the Passover Seder Today

In our current turbulent times, the Passover story has added weight. “We share this fear, and we share hope and the telling of the story is a lot about hope,” Heppenheimer says. It also calls for moments of self-reflection as they say Dayenu! (‘It would have been enough’) and consider what is enough? “What’s enough today?” Silver asks. “What is enough in our lives? And how do we teach that to our kids? How do we really say Dayenu! – it’s enough.”

A woman in a blue butterfly-patterned jacket lighting purple candles for a Passover Seder ritual in a modern Santa Fe home.

“What makes this night different than all other nights is that we’re supposed to be relaxed, which is historically a sign of those who are free,” Silver says. “The mood was relaxed as friends and soon-to-be-friends shared life stories over a meal based on historic medieval Sephardic recipes from European food historian Hélène Jawhara-Piñer. People slow-cook lamb with spices – cumin, chile, cinnamon – honey, and raisins, while making a Manjar Blanco (white pudding) with almond milk set with agar, then a garnish of pomegranate seeds and pomegranate glaze.

It was different from the traditional Ashkenazi Jewish Seder meals that both Silver and Heppenheimer have enjoyed in the past. “It was fascinating and a wonderful dichotomy of experience and it woke me up to thinking about the meal in a different context,” Heppenheimer says. And it’s that awakening and remembering that makes the Passover story so powerful. “It’s about remembering that we’re all connected and that we’re all significant,” Silver says.

Pat Stanley and guests raising wine glasses for a Passover Seder toast at her home in Santa Fe, with a sunset view of the mountains through the window.

A Celebration of History and Deliciousness with Hélène Jawhara Piñer

For this special Seder meal, we turned to Hélène Jawhara Piñer, food historian and PhD in Medieval History, and History of Food at the University of Tours in France,. The recipes we cooked and shared at this special Seder meal, were based on ancient recipe texts she unearthed while researching Sephardic cooking traditions. We asked this author of three books including Sephardi: Cooking the History. Recipes of the Jews of Spain and the Diaspora from the 13th century to Today to share why she is so passionate about food history.

“As a historian focused on food, I approach recipes as historical documents—cultural texts that reveal how communities negotiated identity, memory, and survival. I grounf my work on Sephardic culinary heritage, especially among crypto-Jews in the “New World,” in close readings of inquisitorial trials, medical treatises, botanical texts, and domestic records dating back to the thirteenth century onwards. These sources allow me to reconstruct not only what people ate, but why—and under what risks.

Two tall purple candles burning in brass Star of David candlesticks, a traditional ritual element of a Passover Seder hosted in Santa Fe.

What Food History Means to Hélène

For me, food studies offer a way to understand religious customs –and here the Judaic ones– as they were lived and practiced in the Early Modern period, in a special time and place. In contexts where Jewish practice was outlawed, culinary gestures became acts of resistance and transmission. In the New World, and Mexico mainly, adaptation to the local food was a key to keep Jewish food habits, most of them directly tied to Spain, Italy or Portugal food heritage. Within the New World, and especially in Mexico, adapting to local foods was key to preserving Jewish culinary habits, many of which were directly tied to the food heritage of Spain, Italy, and Portugal.

The difference in climate between the two regions required creative substitutions and culinary innovation. A dish, a texture, or even a cooking technique could encode ritual meaning, although remaining sometimes visible to outside observers. I treat recipes as layered archives: fragments of memory, faith, and adaptation embedded in everyday cooking.

Jill Heppenheimer and Rabbi Carolyn Silver leading a Passover Seder discussion with friends over a traditional meal in Santa Fe.

The recipes I study—such as manjar blanco which comes from crypto-Jews in Mexico City for Sukkot, Passover crackers to resemble the Christian host, cooking lamb stews in secrecy during Holy Week, or eating fish with corn tortillas—are not merely foods but strategies. They reveal how Sephardic Jews in the Americas adapted Jewish law to Indigenous ingredients, colonial environments, and the constant threat of persecution.

By working directly with original documents from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, I seek to restore these culinary practices to their historical and emotional contexts. Each recipe becomes a microhistory, illuminating how food sustained Jewish identity across exile, conversion, and silence—transforming kitchens into hidden sanctuaries of continuity and belief.”

The Passover Seder Recipes

Passover Indian Wheat and Herb Crackers

A picture of small Passover crackers in a muffin tin beside fresh produce.

The Castellanos’ Lamb and Lettuce Stew with Unsalted Bread

A bowl full of lamb and lettuce stew with strips of fried matzah around it.

Salomón De Machorro’s Fish Tacos

Three fish tacos in hard shells with purple slaw and tomatoes.

Manjar Blanco (White Pudding)

Three cups full of a white pudding with red pomegranate seeds on top.

Special thanks to Rabbi Carolyn Silver and Jill Heppenheimer for creating and sharing with us this Seder service. And thanks to Pat Stanley for graciously hosting us.

Story and Styling by Julia Platt Leonard
Recipes by Hélène Jawhara-Piñer
Photography by Gabriella Marks

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine’s print edition.

Patrick Mehaffy, American Coin Silver Cutlery Collector and History Lover

By
Kylie Thomas
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0
Antique collector Patrick Mehaffy examining a piece of historical American coin silver cutlery through a magnifying loupe.

Patrick Mehaffy is a self-described history junkie. He’s also an artist, writer, short film director, gardener, antique furniture buyer and restorer, furniture maker, and anthropologist. Blend all those nouns and you can understand why he has a 50-piece collection of coin silver cutlery.

Patrick Mehaffy Coin Silver Cutlery Collector

Speaking with Patrick comes with schooling—in a good way. We start with the early days of the American colonies, where there was no direct access to silver mines and limited access to raw silver resources. What you could find in circulation were foreign silver coins, rated at .900 purity, while British sterling silver was 925 parts per thousand. Though coveted as currency, colonists also began to melt and recast these coins into tools for daily life—cutlery, teapots, and candlesticks.

Just imagine silversmith Paul Revere’s advertising slogan. “Come hither with coins and go forth with forks!” How’s that for financial security? A kind of portable and utilitarian wealth that folks could use time and again. In a luster fight, the sterling silver would win, but who really cared when they could eat their mutton with a nice implement?

Where Does Coin Silver Cutlery Come From?

Fast forward to the mid-1800s. With the discovery of silver deposits in the American West, the practice of recasting coin silver into tableware began to slow. But the true death knell of coin silver was a combination of the Civil War, when fearing economic instability folks began to hoard coins, the rise of factory production, and a major push toward manufacturing an industry norm and sterling standard of .925.

Patrick Mehaffy’s antique American coin silver cutlery collection arranged on a wooden table with sketches, bread, and a slice of berry pie.

Today, you are likely enjoying your Cheerios with a stainless steel spoon. Patrick forgives you, though for him, it’s American coin silver all the way. “We use it all the time. It’s a beautiful lens for looking at history. I really like the idea of using something that people have used for the last 150 years. I like the pieces that are worn, that people have used.” He holds up a spoon with a distinctive and traceable (if you are intrepid) maker’s mark and says, “This was being used when Abraham Lincoln was alive. There’s a kind of continuity that I like.”

What’s So Special About American Coin Silver?

But were it not for friend and mentor antique dealer Vic Hansen, Patrick may never have begun this 40-year obsession with American coin silver. He lightened Vic’s load—once in suitcases stored in a basement—and unwittingly launched his current collection. “Since, I’ve just picked up pieces where I find them. Wherever I am, I am looking.”

Certainly, Patrick geeks out on all characteristics of any piece and we end up in a long discussion about how to read English hallmarks on sterling silver, the series of stamps involving the lion passant, the mark that indicates paying taxes, the city mark, the year indicated by a letter, which changes every 26 years, the maker’s initials, and so on.

But it’s the connection to our history and to the industrious, scrappy people we once were that means the most to him, “I just love it as kind of an expression of early America. These reflect an American economy, a Yankee economy.”

Intrigued? Don’t read this last sentence unless you are prepared to be hooked. Patrick says you can likely find a selection of American coin silver tableware at Stephen’s A Consignment Gallery should you want to start your own collection.

Check out more Santa Fe Collectors!

Story by Cullen Curtiss
Principal Photography by Tira Howard

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine’s print edition.

Suzanne Sugg and Her International Folk Art Textile Collection

By
Kylie Thomas
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0
Textile collector Suzanne Sugg displaying a vibrant hand-embroidered heritage textile in front of her extensive global fabric collection.

It’s rather delightful to square International Folk Art Market Placement Committee and Board Member, and former International Folk Art Alliance Advisory and Museum of New Mexico Foundation Board Member Suzzane Sugg with the Oklahoman child who sewed for 4-H club competitions at state and county fairs. Her mom also sewed and collected remnant fabrics, and as hobbyists they made their own clothes, sometimes reworking existing patterns. Years ago, Suzanne also owned a needlepoint and knit shop, and has designed everything from handbags to interiors. And early on she collected dolls from around the world, each piquing her interest in travel beyond her Midwest homestead. Clearly, these origin stories groomed Suzanne to value textiles, the absolute queen of her many collections.

Suzanne Sugg Textile Collector

“It’s all connected,” she says, but the textile tipping point was inheriting part of her husband Joel’s aunt’s textiles collection in the late 1980s. The aunt had traveled the Silk Road in the 1920s collecting reams of textiles. “She was interested in everything!” says Suzanne. (Spoiler: There’s a remarkable similarity between the two of them in that regard!) Collecting was not necessarily new to Suzanne and Joel as they loved and accumulated other collections—European antiques and fabrics, American illustrations, and since, Mexican Tlaquepaque and Spanish Majolica pottery, and Chinese children’s hats. But the Silk Road textiles were a welcome base upon which to build. A Museum Foundation trip was her first chance to do that.

Not long after Uzbekistan became independent of the Soviet Union, artists were reasserting their unique culture and seeking older artisans who could still dye, weave, and create heritage textiles. Fatullo Kendjaev, a rug maker and entrepreneur Suzanne met, studied the details of old paintings that included rugs to recall patterns formerly used in Uzbek textiles. She bought from him and stayed in touch. Today, he is an IFAM veteran.

A global-inspired living room featuring an antique velvet sofa draped with an Uzbek suzani textile and decorative tassels, part of Suzanne Sugg's private collection.

Touring Suzanne’s home, we stop at a needlepoint rug made by an Uzbek woman named Gulnora Odilova. Suzanne had purchased some of the artist’s pillows at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and later purchased this rug at the International Folk Art Market. Suzanne surmises that the piece could easily have been a year in the making, with several people at work on it simultaneously, each within their own specialty of hand dyeing the yarn, embroidering, and finishing.

A Worldly Art

Other parts of the world where Suzanne has pursued artists and textiles include Kyrgyzstan, South America, the Philippines, Morocco, Turkey, and India. Each year, she and her International Folk Art Market colleagues encourage promising artists to apply to the Market. Even on personal trips, she can’t help but work. In fact, after meeting artist Patricia Cheesman through an indigo-dyeing workshop in Chiang Mai, Suzanne encouraged her to apply. “She has artists working in the hills on their traditional designs and weaving methods and is helping them to move these pieces into the world and create an economy.”

Suzanne is surrounded by these stories and will continue to gather more, fueled by her voracious appetite for culture and artistry. She may have even hooked her granddaughter, who’s considering volunteering again at the Market this year. Thinking far ahead, Suzanne says the Museum of International Folk Art is interested in her textiles collection and it would be a perfect destination, though nothing is definite.

Check out more Santa Fe Collectors!

Story by Cullen Curtiss
Principal Photography by Tira Howard

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine’s print edition.

Coreen Cordova Folk Art Collector and Mexican Art Enthusiast

By
Kylie Thomas
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0
Folk art collector and jewelry designer Coreen Cordova in her vibrant Santa Fe home, surrounded by a colorful collection of Mexican alebrijes and statement jewelry.

Coreen Cordova’s middle name should be color. Her rainbow passion may have been launched during multiple Crayola moments drawing on the floor with her dad, who would alter Mickey Mouse with a purple face, orange ears, and chartreuse pants. At the age of four, Coreen knew this was blasphemous. Her father’s response: “Doesn’t it look better?”

Coreen Cordova’s Folk Art Collection

That “better” could have been due to the dopamine coursing through his brain, an idea Coreen embraces. She lives in a colorful kaleidoscope of folk art, predominately from Mexico. “It is honestly my happy place. It doesn’t matter if I’m depressed, if I’m sad, if I’m melancholy, when I walk into this house, I can’t be any of those things. I have to be happy. This stuff is my drug of choice.”

Coreen relays a dark period living in a Tiburon, California home with professional decor in beiges, tans, and brown. “After a couple of years of coming home and not even knowing it was my house—oh my god, I thought I had died.” She vowed to follow the exuberance of color. A jewelry designer with a 25-year-old workshop in San Miguel Allende, Coreen gets inspiration from the many hues as well as shades on the spectrum. 

The Beauty of Oaxaca

A book titled Oaxacan Woodcarving was the impetus to fly to the enchanted city of Oaxaca, Mexico for the first of 25 times. There she filled a crate with 200+ alebrijes. These fantastical folk sculptures feature bright paint with symbolic patterns as well as hand-carvings from the wood of the native Bursera tree. Among her favorites in this vast and flamboyant population are the walrus, the beaver, and her many, many anteaters, otters, rabbits, and owls.

A collection of colorful Mexican alebrijes woodcarvings, including rabbits and fantastical creatures, displayed on a purple shelf in Coreen Cordova's home.

Mexico City has seen less of Coreen—only 10 times, but its vivid gifts are equally represented in her home in the form of pillowcases. In one year, she bought 75 huipils, the traditional Meso-American top or blouse. Coreen’s been uplifting drab throw pillows by cloaking them in huipils ever since. “The only bad thing about spending the night in my home is that the guestroom bed has 37 pillows on it, all of which must be removed in order to go to sleep!”

The color chez Coreen doesn’t start and end with the collection. When Coreen bought her home nearly a decade ago, she intentionally left the walls white for an entire year to study how light moved through the house. Now, every room in the house is a different color. Golden and chocolate walls and a lime green fireplace in the living room, a purple guestroom, coral dining room, gold and orange kitchen, flaming pink and orange bathroom, and a turquoise one. 

Blending Two Countries Into One

“When I looked at living in Mexico and living in the United States, I said the only way I will live in the United States is if I live in the city that reminds me of Mexico more than any other city, and that is Santa Fe.” And so here in Santa Fe is where her collection grows. But who knows where all of these colorful artifacts will go in the future? The materials are fragile and most museums do not have the space.  

“I collect handmade joy, and that’s what it gives to me and what it gives to everybody that comes here. I’m not planning for the future of other people. I’m just living in this moment with these things and they bring me joy and happiness and they don’t necessarily need to go anyplace else. Though, right before I go, I’ll invite my friends over and say, ‘Pick your favorite animal, pick your favorite piece of jewelry, pick a pillow. Pick something that you will love.’”

Check out more Santa Fe Collectors!

Story by Cullen Curtiss
Principal Photography by Tira Howard

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine’s print edition.

David Arment and Jim Rimelspach Mezcal Skull Bottle Collectors and Enthusiasts

By
Kylie Thomas
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0
David Arment and Jim Rimelspach standing in their Santa Fe home next to a bar display of hand-painted Mexican mezcal skull bottles.

It was David Arment and Jim Rimelspach’s penchant for Tequila and Dia de los Muertos that resulted in their collection of 50 artisan skull bottles of mezcal. David says, “It’s organic with me. It doesn’t start with a plan. It just starts with me buying a couple of things, and then I want a few more.”

Mezcal Skull Bottle Collectors David Arment and Jim Rimelspach

The skull bottles are only the latest collection in this “pattern that repeats itself.” Over the nearly 40 years that David and Jim have been together, they’ve also collected African art, photography, contemporary paintings, and sculpture. And 2,000 Zulu telephone wire baskets, a selection of which they donated to the Museum of International Folk Art as well as formed the basis of the recent year-and-a-half-long exhibit iNgqikithi yokuPhica/Weaving Meanings: Telephone Wire Art from South Africa.

Who knows if this “pattern” would have blossomed and been nurtured if David and Jim had not been Dallas neighbors. Jim was an architect and David was moving out of high-tech work and into art consulting. “We started traveling together pretty early in our relationship and, as we traveled, we started collecting things that would remind us of our trips,” says David. Sounds benign enough but artisan skull bottles filled to the brim with mezcal? How does that “pattern” happen?

A collection of over 50 artisan-made mezcal skull bottles, intricately hand-painted and beaded, displayed on glass shelves in David Arment and Jim Rimelspach’s Santa Fe home.

A Chance Meeting That Starts It All

Not too long ago, David and Jim ventured to San Miguel Allende for the first of many annual trips. At a mezcal bar, San Mezcal, they met two distillers—Dos Once as well as Siriaco—that bottle in artisan skulls. (Incidentally, Dos Once literally means 2 – 11 or November 2, which is the date of the annual Día de los Muertos celebration.) They’ve gotten to know the distillery owners and have custom bottles that Mexican artists hand-paint or bead for themselves and friends.

On their last trip they traveled to a town called Dolores Hidalgo, an hour north of San Miguel Allende, where Dos Once was bottling mezcal. They had the privilege of choosing artistically finished artisan skulls, and spent the day watching the bottling and sealing. “It was a really in-depth experience to where I feel a real connection to what they’re doing,” says David.

It might give one pause to see David and Jim’s Tequila and mezcal bar in their home—a host to dozens of skull bottles—but if you embrace the fact that the skull in Mexico represents celebration, remembrance, and the continuity of life—not something morbid—and you absorb the other fact that these alcohols are routinely in offerings and ceremonies, you can begin to tap into the beauty of the special traditions. David and Jim also consider the social aspect of their collection—the desire to make the world a little smaller by developing a relationship with the maker. “It’s not really just about acquiring these beautiful things. It’s about connecting with people in a different part of the world.”

Check out more Santa Fe Collectors!

Story by Cullen Curtiss
Principal Photography by Tira Howard

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine’s print edition.

Santa Fe Collectors of Coin Silver, Textiles, Folk Art, and Mezcal Skull Bottles

By
Kylie Thomas
-
0
A dense and colorful display of Mexican folk art, including numerous hand-carved alebrijes wood sculptures, religious icons, and decorative crosses against a golden wall.

If you could amass a collection of your favorite things and surround yourself with them, what shape would your life take under their influence? For these four Santa Feans, the answer was, and continues to be, quite simple. They were led inexorably to these favorite things. Coin silver cutlery, textiles, folk art, and artisan skull mezcal bottles, continue to enchant them and enrich their lives. They might inspire you to start your own collection… or deepen one you already have.

Meet the Collectors of Santa Fe

Coreen Cordova, Folk Art Collector

Folk art collector and jewelry designer Coreen Cordova in her vibrant Santa Fe home, surrounded by a colorful collection of Mexican alebrijes and statement jewelry.

Coreen Cordova’s middle name should be color. Her rainbow passion may have been launched during multiple Crayola moments drawing on the floor with her dad, who would alter Mickey Mouse with a purple face, orange ears, and chartreuse pants. At the age of four, Coreen knew this was blasphemous. Her father’s response: “Doesn’t it look better?”

That “better” could have been due to the dopamine coursing through his brain, an idea Coreen embraces. She has surrounded herself in a colorful kaleidoscope of folk art, predominately from Mexico. “It is honestly my happy place. It doesn’t matter if I’m depressed, if I’m sad, if I’m melancholy. When I walk into this house, I can’t be any of those things. I have to be happy. This stuff is my drug of choice.”

Read the rest of Coreen Cordova’s Story.

A collection of colorful Mexican alebrijes woodcarvings, including rabbits and fantastical creatures, displayed on a purple shelf in Coreen Cordova's home.

Patrick Mehaffy, Coin Silver Cutlery Collector

Antique collector Patrick Mehaffy examining a piece of historical American coin silver cutlery through a magnifying loupe.

Patrick Mehaffy is a self-described history junkie. He’s also an artist, writer, short film director, gardener, antique furniture buyer and restorer, furniture maker, and anthropologist. Blend all those nouns and you can understand why he has a 50-piece collection of coin silver cutlery

Speaking with Patrick schools you—in a good way. We start with the early days of the American colonies. There was no direct access to silver mines and limited access to raw silver resources. What you could find in circulation were foreign silver coins, rated at .900 purity, while British sterling silver was 925 parts per thousand. Though coveted as currency, colonists also began to melt and recast these coins into tools for daily life—cutlery, teapots, and candlesticks. Just imagine silversmith Paul Revere’s advertising slogan. “Come hither with coins and go forth with forks!” How’s that for financial security? A kind of portable and utilitarian wealth that folks could use time and again. In a luster fight, the sterling silver would win, but who really cared when they could eat their mutton with a nice implement?

Read the rest of Patrick Mehaffy’s Story.

Patrick Mehaffy’s antique American coin silver cutlery collection arranged on a wooden table with sketches, bread, and a slice of berry pie.

Suzanne Sugg, Textile Collector

Textile collector Suzanne Sugg displaying a vibrant hand-embroidered heritage textile in front of her extensive global fabric collection.

It’s rather delightful to square International Folk Art Market Placement Committee and Board member, and former International Folk Art Alliance Advisory and Museum of New Mexico Foundation Board member Suzzane Sugg with the Oklahoman child who sewed for 4-H club competitions at state and county fairs. Her mom also sewed and collected remnant fabrics, and as hobbyists they made their own clothes, sometimes reworking existing patterns. Years ago, Suzanne also owned a needlepoint and knit shop, and early on she collected dolls from around the world,

“It’s all connected,” she says, but the textile tipping point was inheriting part of her husband Joel’s aunt’s textile collection in the late 1980s. The aunt had traveled the Silk Road in the 1920s, collecting reams of textiles. “She was interested in everything!” says Suzanne. (Spoiler: There’s a remarkable similarity between the two of them in that regard!) Collecting was not necessarily new to Suzanne and Joel as they loved and accumulated other collections—European antiques and fabrics, American illustrations, and since, Mexican Tlaquepaque and Spanish Majolica pottery, and Chinese children’s hats. But the Silk Road textiles were a welcome base upon which to build. A Museum Foundation trip was her first chance to do that.

Read the rest of Suzanne Sugg’s Story.

A global-inspired living room featuring an antique velvet sofa draped with an Uzbek suzani textile and decorative tassels, part of Suzanne Sugg's private collection.

David Arment and Jim Rimelspach, Mezcal Skull Bottle Collectors

David Arment and Jim Rimelspach standing in their Santa Fe home next to a bar display of hand-painted Mexican mezcal skull bottles.

It was David Arment and Jim Rimelspach’s penchant for Tequila and Dia de los Muertos that resulted in their collection of 50 artisan skull bottles of mezcal. David says, “It’s organic with me. It doesn’t start with a plan. It just starts with me buying a couple of things, and then I want a few more.” 

It might give one pause to see David and Jim’s Tequila and mezcal bar in their home—a host to dozens of skull bottles—but if you embrace the fact that the skull in Mexico is associated with celebration, remembrance, and the continuity of life—not something morbid—and you absorb the other fact that these alcohols are routinely used in offerings and ceremonies, you can begin to tap into the beauty of the special traditions. David and Jim also consider the social aspect of their collection—the desire to make the world a little smaller by developing a relationship with the maker. “It’s not really just about acquiring these beautiful things. It’s about connecting with people in a different part of the world.”

Read the rest of David Arment and Jim Rimelspach’s Story.

A collection of over 50 artisan-made mezcal skull bottles, intricately hand-painted and beaded, displayed on glass shelves in David Arment and Jim Rimelspach’s Santa Fe home.

Story by Cullen Curtiss
Principal Photography by Tira Howard

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine’s print edition.

How to Bake with Climate Change in Mind

By
Samuel
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0
A dark, moody overhead shot of a gray and blue tiled surface dusted with cocoa powder, featuring a small bowl of cocoa powder and a vine with green leaves in the upper corner, suggesting baking.

Before you settle in to read this article about saving dessert from climate change, please make Caroline Saunders’ recipe for Extra Dark Brownies with Coffee Mascarpone Frosting.

When frost settles on the windowpanes, I start leaving a container of cocoa powder, a bag of coffee, and a bottle of vanilla extract on the counter for quicker enlistment in cookie- and cake-making. These flavors are the primary colors of my winter baking.

They’re also at greater risk from climate change than many people realize. Cocoa, coffee, and vanilla have each become more expensive in recent years because of extreme weather. Equally alarmingly, some of their flavors are dipping toward mediocrity. We risk a slow erosion of the joy of dessert.

Baking While Helping Climate Change

In Brazil, the world’s top coffee producer, the coffee industry faced its second consecutive year of drought in 2024. By last August, the sprawling rows of coffee trees at many farms weren’t the vivid green they should have been. Instead, they were brown and crisp with a few dead leaves clinging to tangles of desiccated branches. The drought was the country’s worst on record and was caused by a treacherous blend of global warming, a warmer than-normal Atlantic, an El Niño weather pattern, and deforestation. All of this has raised temperatures and disrupted rainfall patterns in the country. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, the world’s second-biggest coffee grower, months of drought in 2024 were followed by severe, climate-fueled flooding from Typhoon Yagi.

These weather extremes have made coffee more expensive. Folgers, Maxwell House, and Nescafe are among the many brands that have increased prices. On average, U.S. shoppers paid 12.7 percent more for roasted coffee in June than they did a year prior. Instant coffee prices were up even more.

Cocoa and chocolate chips have gotten pricier, too. Cocoa futures prices — what buyers pay for cocoa to be delivered to the U.S. from producing countries — tripled in 2024, hitting an all time high before settling slightly this year at levels. They are still more than double what they were a few years ago. Increasingly, these higher costs are trickling down to consumers: Lindt and Nestle‘ both raised prices in 2025, and Hershey said in July that it would, too.

Lots of Issues Will Affect Our Pantries

Lots of issues are driving the global cocoa shortage. In West Africa, where 70 percent of the world’s beans are produced, insect-borne disease, smuggling, excessive rainfall, and illegal mining can all cut into harvests, said Kristina Dahl, vice president for science at the research organization Climate Central. So can excessive heat. A study published by Climate Central in February 2025 found that over the last decade climate change has added at least three weeks per year of temperatures above the optimal range for cacao trees during the main growing season in Côte D’Ivoire and Ghana. When temperatures are too hot, Dahl said, leaves that would typically shade the bean-containing cacao pods can wither. “Those beans can essentially get scorched,” she explained. “And so all kinds of things can get affected. From the yield of the crop to the quality and the taste.”

The taste and the price of vanilla have also been impacted by global warming. Eighty percent of the world’s vanilla beans come from Madagascar. There, climate change is making the regular barrage of cyclones more damaging. In 2017, Cyclone Enawo and its 145 mile-per-hour winds cut the country’s vanilla harvest by 20 percent and led to what the flavoring company Cook’s Vanilla dubbed “hurricane vanilla” — beans hastily harvested before they’d had a chance to fully develop, kneecapping their ambrosial flavor. The price of vanilla tripled in the wake of the storm, adding more volatility to an industry marked by price swings at the best of times.

Adapting to Extreme Weather When Growing Ingredients

For dessert’s sake, adaptation to increasingly extreme weather is the name of the game. In Brazil, irrigation is looking increasingly critical for coffee farming. Across the Atlantic in West Africa, planting heat-blocking shade trees could help cacao. In Madagascar, agroforestry could help protect vanilla orchids from stronger cyclones.

But adaptation, in whatever form it takes, can be expensive and difficult. That’s why Michael Hoffmann, professor emeritus at Cornell University’s Department of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is skeptical that further climate impacts to my favorite baking ingredients can be avoided — though he leaves the door open. “Costs are going to go up. Availability, quality will also change,” he said, “unless we really behave and make the changes we need as a society.”

Hoffmann said that coming to terms with the risks to our favorite foods could encourage us to “get political, get involved,” to demand those changes. And I tend to agree. What, after all, could possibly be more important than saving dessert?

Story by Caroline Saunders
Styling by Keith Recker
Photography by Dave Bryce

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Extra Dark Brownies with Coffee Mascarpone Frosting

By
Samuel
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Nine extra dark brownies topped with a swirl of coffee mascarpone frosting and a dusting of cocoa powder, arranged on a red ceramic plate for dessert.

Hard days call for not-too-sweet brownies with a tangy an creamy coffee kick. These Extra Dark Brownies are naturally free of gluten thanks to hazelnut flour, which adds a subtle suggestion of earthiness. (But if you don’t have hazelnut flour on hand, you can substitute the same amount of all-purpose or whole wheat flour and get equally delicious results.) The generous coif of Coffee Mascarpone Frosting spread atop the brownies is slightly tangy and light as a cloud, and the dusting of cocoa powder ups the elegance factor.

As you bake these brownies, learn about the importance of climate change and its effects on baking from recipe author Caroline Saunders.

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Nine extra dark brownies topped with a swirl of coffee mascarpone frosting and a dusting of cocoa powder, arranged on a red ceramic plate for dessert.

Extra Dark Brownies with Coffee Mascarpone Frosting

  • Author: Caroline Saunders
  • Yield: Makes 9–12 brownies 1x
Print Recipe

Description

Finished with a dusting of cocoa powder, these are an elegant treat that’s indulgent yet not overly sweet.

Ingredients

Scale

For the brownies:

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick, or 113g) butter, cut into chunks
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup (129g) bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp instant coffee granules
  • 1/2 cup (57g) hazelnut flour 
  • 1/2 cup (42g) cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt

For the frosting:

  • 1 cup (226g) heavy whipping cream, cold
  • 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
  • 8 oz (226g) mascarpone cheese, cold
  • 1 cup (113g) powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Generous pinch of salt
  • Cocoa powder, for dusting

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 8×8 square baking dish with baking spray and line it with parchment paper.
  2. Begin the frosting by combining the heavy whipping cream and tablespoon of instant coffee granules in a bowl and mixing until combined. Store this bowl in the fridge while you prepare the brownies so the granules can continue to dissolve into the cream.
  3. Prepare the brownies. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter has fully melted and a few bubbles have appeared. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips until they melt. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and let it cool for a few minutes before you add the eggs and teaspoon of instant coffee granules. Then, add the eggs and coffee granules and whisk until fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth and glossy, about 30 seconds.
  4. In another bowl, whisk together the hazelnut flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add these to the wet ingredients and fold the batter together with a spatula until combined.
  5. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan and smooth it across the top and into the corners using a spatula or offset spatula. Bake for 33-40 minutes, or until the brownies have puffed up all over and a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies has come out with just a few moist crumbs on it. Allow to cool to room temperature.

For the frosting:

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt on low speed just until combined.
  2. Get the coffee-cream mixture from the fridge and give it another thorough stir; then drizzle it into the stand mixer bowl while the mixer is running on low speed. Increase the speed to medium, and whip until the mixture holds stiff peaks (about 30 seconds to a minute).
  3. Spread the frosting evenly across the cooled brownies using a spatula or offset spatula. Then, using a sieve, shake a light dusting of cocoa powder atop the brownies.
  4. Slice and serve. For extra-neat edges, chill the brownies for at least three hours in the fridge before slicing them. The brownies will keep in the fridge, wrapped tightly, for up to five days.

Notes

If you’re making the brownies in advance, it’s good to save both the cocoa-powder dusting and the slicing for the last minute, and chill the brownies thoroughly before slicing, for neat edges.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

Recipe by Caroline Saunders
Styling by Keith Recker
Photography by Dave Bryce

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An Award-Winning Santa Fe Desert Home in Stone and Steel

By
Kylie Thomas
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A fine pit in the middle of the room lights up while a wood dining table sits in the foreground and abstract light bars hang from the ceiling.

A new home in Galisteo places the stunning landscape front and center in its design. Natassja Santistevan meets the team behind the Santa Fe desert home Fortaleza Tranquilo and takes us on a tour.

A living room with an open window all across the wall and two couches facing each other.

How Fortaleza Tranquilo Became One of Santa Fe’s Most Striking Modern Desert Homes

Tucked into the Galisteo Basin of Santa Fe, New Mexico — where the quiet desert plains meet the rolling hills and edges of New Mexico’s mountains — lies Fortaleza Tranquilo, a residence suspended between nature and sculpture. Built to capture sunsets and embrace the mountains, Mark Schwebel’s newest creation for Big Art Building doesn’t just meet the landscape—it swallows it whole, a feat of design that helped garner the prestigious 2025 Grand Hacienda and Best Kitchen awards. In collaboration with interior design consultants John Patterson and Jeff Valdez of Inspired Living Design, Schwebel has bridged the gap between stone and sand, inviting the raw power of the outdoors in with panoramic views of the Ortiz, Sandia, and Jemez Mountains. 

An outside patio with two lounging benches.

This 4,400-square-foot residence is built on the edge of the earth. The most immediate architectural spectacle is the innovative cantilever steel beam skeleton, a system that completely eliminates the need for view-interrupting columns. This structural bravery allows for the sweep of floor-to-ceiling glass that frames the desert landscape. The result is pure, unobstructed drama. If the glass walls weren’t enough, Schwebel further dissolved the difference between the elements with a gravity-defying 20-foot patio, a feat of engineering that feels like a natural extension of the living space. 

A woman in a white shirt and black vest talks to another in a black tank top while standing under a large black doorway.

A Matter of Materials

A structure built of steel and glass promises panoramic views, but it risks feeling cold and austere. As the design team acknowledged, “Modern steel beam structures don’t always achieve calmness.” This was the core challenge Schwebel’s team solved with a palette of rich, raw materials, bringing warmth back with elements of wood, stone, and plaster. 

A sink and long whtie counter with stools sitting in front of it.

Schwebel utilized the Big Art Building studio to craft custom cabinetry in exotic woods such as Black Limba and black walnut, which weave seamlessly with the steel, creating a harmonious connection between organic design and structure. Handcrafted light fixtures and hardware are deeply considered decisions that complete the look. The interior design by John Patterson and Jeff Valdez, prioritizes “clean lines” and a “sleek, contemporary style” that still offers a subtle nod to a softer Santa Fe style. The four bedrooms and 3.5 baths are not just spaces, but destinations with personalities of their own. 

A large wood room area with three large sculptures in the center of the room.

The open floor plan flows seamlessly, organized around architectural anchors instead of walls, a key element of Schwebel’s architectural ethos. At the core of the home, a single fireplace separates the space, serving as a cozy, geometric epicenter for conversation and comfort. Patterson noted, “We envisioned the house as if it would be an art collector’s household,” a vision that informed the selection of paintings and a dramatic entry sculpture creatively built from side tables. Emphasizing the stylish, minimalist furnishings, which were sourced from Santa Fe businesses such as Susan Eddings Pérez, Temple, Pfeifer Studio, and Gaia Contemporary, collaborators Valdez and Patterson masterfully contemplated the open layout, utilizing artwork to cultivate feeling and create intimate moments solely for the purpose of beauty. 

A man and a woman look at each other standing in front of two large framed pieces of art.

Thinking Bigger

The luxury culminates in the primary suite. Here, the drama of a coffered wood ceiling made of white fir and cherry laminated wood, a shepherd’s fireplace, and a jaw-dropping corner mitered window. Above all rooms, the team agreed this one was the favorite, “I have never seen a window like that, it is really special,” Valdez said. Through the walk-in closet with custom cabinets of Black Limba, is the bathroom’s daring design: a Big Art concrete bathtub that mirrors a floor-to-ceiling retractable glass window, creating a shared space with the desert vistas.  

The award-winning kitchen, a masterpiece of Brazilian stone countertops, Italian stone floors and walls, and custom cabinetry, confirms that this is a home for functional, comfortable living as much as it is for high design. With its soaring high ceilings, elegant, oversized island, and unobstructed views of the desert, the space transcends mere utility. It is a true sanctuary for community—a natural gathering point where dinner parties extend long after the meal is finished, and conversations inevitably linger. The thoughtful layout and exquisite craftsmanship create an environment so inviting that it is unquestionably the heart of the home, a space where family and friends will naturally gravitate and stay.  

A man and woman stand arm in arm looking over a patio mountain top view of the desert.

Collaboration as the Future of Architecture and Design

The creation of Fortaleza Tranquilo is a testament to exceptional collaboration. From the initial concept to the custom light fixtures, every element was intentionally curated by the design collective to breathe a rare sense of life into a modern structure. Their partnership, which began three years prior on a previous Parade of Homes project, quickly evolved into an easy exchange of feedback and creative ideas. This shared vision allowed them to overcome challenges, ultimately achieving a unified design that Schwebel explained as “Warmth, security, comfort, and wholeness.” 

Fortaleza Tranquilo is a home that defies easy categorization. It is, as Tara Early of Sotheby’s International Realty-affiliated Ricky Allen & Tara Earley Real Estate Group says, “Dancing between contemporary, but not hard edges. It has a soul.” Earley and Allen were the associate brokers responsible for the listing. The duo made the bold move to list the home while the concrete foundation was still pouring. This allowed buyers to witness the five-year project unfolding.  

Two men sit in white leather chairs as a third sits on the arm of one of the chairs.

It is an open space yet full of purpose and intimate moments, designed to evoke the same feelings Schwebel felt when gazing into the New Mexico landscape all those years ago. In a world where high-stakes real estate can be stressful, the experience here is transformative. As Earley remarked, “As a broker your heart rate is going a million miles a minute but in this house you can actually breathe.” The home’s ultimate achievement is this deep, pervasive sense of calm and tranquility. The ultimate effect of Fortaleza Tranquilo? Once you’re here, you don’t want to leave. 

A group of people cheers while sitting at a wood dining table with leather chairs.

Story by Natassja Santistevan
Photography by Ashley Hafstead 

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Throw a 2026 Oscars Watch Party with Effortless Luxury 

By
Keith Recker
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7 roasted oyster with corn and herb garnish on a blue plate and 2 oyster shells and a beer sitting on a dark colored surface. seafood dishes

Hosting an Oscar party doesn’t require days of prep or a catering budget. With a bottle or two of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut and five of our standout hors d’oeuvres recipes, you can create an evening that feels both elegant and relaxed—letting you and your guests focus on the glamour on screen, not the stress in the kitchen.

Host a Luxury Party for the Oscars

Why Veuve Clicquot?

Veuve Clicquot’s crowd-pleasing versatility makes it the perfect anchor for an Oscar spread. Its crisp acidity and brioche undertones pair seamlessly with both savory and rich foods, cutting through indulgence while enhancing delicate flavors. Whether you’re serving caviar or popcorn, this champagne elevates without demanding attention—much like a great supporting actor.

The Menu: Five Recipes That Set a Glamourous Tone

a wooden board on a piece of white and gray marble on a wooden table with six deviled eggs topped with caviar and garnished with chives

Deviled Eggs with Caviar start the evening with elegance. The creamy yolk and briny caviar create a sophisticated bite that Veuve Clicquot’s classic flavor notes complement beautifully. Prepare these ahead of time; they’re one-bite perfection during award announcements.

large lump crab pieced covered in brown butter and lemon zest on a small round pink plate and a long narrow pink tray with a broken crusty baguette, parsley, and lemon slices on a piece of light yellow spotted fabric

Brown Butter Crab Toast brings coastal luxury without fuss. Crab’s delicate sweetness is a textbook champagne pairing and serving it on crisp toast means guests can eat standing up while debating Best Picture frontrunners. Or an award whose winner seems surprising.

A roasted oyster dish with an impressive symphony of flavors and textures.

Roasted Oysters with Cornbread Leek Banana Pepper Crumble add drama, flavor, and substance. Oysters and champagne are inseparable partners, and the cornbread crumble adds unexpected texture and warmth—ideal for a long evening of conversation about the best red carpet looks and your favorite films. 

A flat-lay image of an Edamame and Kale hummus dish with carrots, cucumbers, and radishes surrounding the plate.

Edamame and Kale Hummus offers a lighter, verdant hors d’oeuvre option. It’s vegetable-forward, easy to make ahead, and provides textural contrast to richer bites. Serve with crackers and vegetable crudites.

A small glass mason jar holds a popcorn panna cotta with a white creamy base, caramel, and carmael corn on top.

Popcorn Panna Cotta, served in individual glasses, closes the evening on a playful note. This dessert-snack hybrid feels whimsical yet refined—perfect for the post-ceremony wind-down or during commercial breaks. Its creamy texture and subtle sweetness pair gorgeously with champagne’s acidity. Plus: a night spent celebrating movies should include some popcorn!

How to Get Ready for Your Party

Make sure you have enough champagne glasses (and champagne!) for everyone on the guest list.  Buy some black or white cocktail napkins, perhaps edged in gold.Collect your favorite small plates and forks. Have some candles ready to light when guests arrive. Maybe a bouquet of flowers too.

The popcorn panna cotta can be made a day ahead. So can the deviled eggs and hummus. Toast the bread for the crab thirty minutes before guests arrive. Roast the oysters and sautée the crab as people settle in. This staggered approach means you’re never trapped in the kitchen during crucial moments—like when the Best Supporting Actor or Actress award sneaks up on you. 

Set the Vibe on Awards Night

The beauty of this menu is its restraint. Each dish is memorable but not fussy. Veuve Clicquot’s approachability and familiarity means everyone can relax. You’re not serving a wine that steals the scene; you’re serving one that enhances the night. Your guests will only look back to remember the champagne’s elegance and the food’s deliciousness, not a sense of fussiness or effort. 

An Oscar party should celebrate cinema, not stress. These five recipes and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot deliver exactly that: luxury that feels effortless, food that tastes like you tried, and an evening where everyone leaves satisfied—whether their favorite film wins or not.

As the Best Picture nominees take center stage, try our Oscar Cocktails for 2026’s Best Picture Nominees, a collection of cocktail recipes inspired by the year’s biggest films. Think you can beat the odds on Oscar night? Check out Collier’s Cuts Oscar Predictions for 2026 to find our predictions in every category.

Story by Keith Recker

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