Yes, you can drink any kind of wine, anytime of the year, yet the vagaries of Spring make it ideal for keeping red wines on hand, whether for a chilly night by the fire pit or chiminea or to accompany a feast from the grill once it’s free from winter’s grip. Bill Smith shares some of his favorite finds.
The first wine I ever tasted that made me go, “hmm” with genuine curiosity and glee was Cline Family Wine’s Cashmere, a Rhone-inspired, GSM-blend (Grenache-Syrah- Mourvèdre) from vineyards in both Sonoma and Contra Costa counties. I have come to revere the lauded vineyards and their old vines that create some of my favorite, most distinct, California wines. Foremost among these favorite’s is Cline’s Small Berry Mourvèdre.
The Big Break Vineyard is in Oakley, where much effort has gone into preserving the region’s rich history of viticulture, with members of the Cline family leading those efforts. We should thank them for many reasons, not the least of which is the profoundly unique characteristic of wines from Big Break – a telltale hint of eucalyptus imparted by trees that border two sides of the vineyard site.
Mourvèdre does exceedingly well in the sandy, dry-farmed vineyard where summer heat is often mitigated by breezes from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The resulting wine is not just distinct, but stellar. Dark ruby hued in the glass, everything is wonderfully intense, including the color. On the nose, unique, even funky, herbal notes of mint and eucalyptus emerge, followed on the palate with blueberry and blackberry compote, and stewed plums.
I love a red blend. Whether from the Old World or the New, the right winemaker can make magic happen. Such is the case with the 2019 Memoir from Napa Valley-based Ackerman Family Vineyards.
In full transparency, founder Lauren Ackerman is a friend as well as a part-time resident in Santa Fe. It was at her home that I first encountered the exceptional estate grown Cabernet bottlings derived from her “Stonehaven” property in Napa’s Coombsville district. Ackerman’s Memoir label, more versatile and with restrain, benefits from the fact that 2019 is a stunning vintage for Napa. Based on traditional Bordeaux blends, the wine is Cabernet Sauvignon dominant (70%), followed by Petite Verdot (6%), Malbec (8%), Merlot (8%), and Cabernet Franc (8%).
With lots of juicy black fruit aromas and earthen notes on the nose and palate, it is medium bodied with some bold spice followed by jammy blueberry and then blackberry flavors. It’s a refined and lush experience in the mouth with balanced, harmonious tannins.
The origins of Lebanese wine making date back over 6,000 years. One contemporary winemaker emerged on the scene in 1930, when Gaston Hochar planted his first vineyards with knowledge from his time in Bordeaux.
Amazingly, grape cultivation and winemaking continued even during Lebanon’s sectarian civil war which lasted from 1975 to 1990. “It was a formative time for our wine and for its creator, Serge Hochar, who was only just beginning to trust his grapes (as he famously said) to ‘become what they wanted to be’.”
That history and fortitude is part of the legacy in the producer’s bottlings, including Hochar Père et Fils, a quaffable red blend launched in 1989 that is meant to be drunk much younger than the producer’s oak-aged flagship wines. Half Cinsault, 40% Grenache, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the fruit is from the Western Bekaa Valley. A beautiful and deep garnet color in the glass, there are aromas of spice and ripe black and red brambles. On the palate, cherries, bursting ripe blackberries, as well as black currant flavors are delicious with lively, fresh acidity and restrained tannins. It’s inviting in every way and best slightly chilled.
Some of the best and most interesting wines in the world are wines you’ve likely never heard of from small producers doing craft bottlings. That’s why when wine writers encounter such a producer making such a wine, we want to shout it from the rooftops.
The 2023 Lomos Colorados Cariñena comes from forty-five-year-old bush vines grown in granite soils of the Itata subregion of Ranquil. The concentration of this wine is insanely good – chock-full of ripe and vibrant cherry and with hints of cola and some pleasing vegetal notes from 50% whole cluster stem inclusion. A bit of spice on the middle of the palate, and the acidity, are pleasingly bracing, mellowed out by the freshness of fruit and well-integrated tannins. One of my favorite wines from 2025.
Andrea Franchetti is a master in crafting Super Tuscan wines from his Tenuta di Trinoro vineyard in Southern Tuscany. “Super Tuscan” is simply a way to describe blended wines from Tuscany that use non-Italian grape varieties and sidestep the traditional rules of winemaking in Italy. In other words, convention be damned.
Some refer to Le Cupole as this producer’s “Second Vin,” as the flagship eponymous wine plays first fiddle. Because Le Cupole captures much of the estate’s majesty but at roughly 1/10th of the flagship bottle’s $400 price tag, people widely consider it one of the best value buys from Italy.
A Merlot-leading (57%) blend, followed by Cabernet Franc (26%), Cabernet Sauvignon (11%), and Petit Verdot (6%), this is a gorgeous and bright fruit forward wine with lots of crunchy attributes – tannins, fruits, and spice are all there. Initial aromas of ripe red fruits mingle with sage and dried floral notes, but on the palate, the wine is intense with vivid fruits and a bright acidity.
Chase sprinkles lavender to finish off his cookies
An invitation to afternoon tea made by a pastry chef who just reached the finals of a television baking championship is an invitation you can’t – nor should – resist. And when the setting is a relaxed historic home in Santa Fe, you’ll want to linger with Chase Maus a little longer.
Pastry Chef Chase Maus Shares His Holiday Baking Championship Journey
If you could travel back in time and join Chase Maus when he was a kid sitting on the sofa watching the Food Network, wouldn’t you love to whisper in his ear, “You’ll be on there one day.” We all have dreams, but how many of us actually reach them?
A ‘log’ of chocolate tahini brownie for his signature chocolate croissant.
This Kentucky-born baker now calls Santa Fe home, where he works at Paloma and teaches hot yoga on the side. “When I was growing up, after school I would watch the Food Network almost every day between school and basketball practice,” he says. “And I found myself very relaxed by the material but also found that my brain was retaining it effortlessly,” he remembers.
A savory quiche with a pie crust recipe inherited from his grandmother.
Pastry Warmth and Welcoming Atmosphere
Chase’s love of baking was evident at a tea with family and friends, hosted at the home of Cate Schroeder, a bartender at Paloma and a mezcal and tequila whiz. The light-filled home was owned by Cate’s aunt and dates back to the 1940s. Like many Santa Fe homes it’s a repository of history and happy memories, from the furniture and paintings to her Aunt’s own handcrafted ceramics, which Cate inherited. One former owner even stopped to chat with Cate while on a walk, pointing out the rose bushes she’d planted when her mother passed away. As Cate puts it, “The space holds you in a way.”
Built following an open plan and all on one level, the house welcomed guests with a warmth matched only by the generosity of Chase’s baking. Hand-laminated puff pastry was served in Instagram-worthy croissants, or filled with generous ‘logs’ of his own chocolate tahini brownie, creating a buttery confection that walks a perfect line between sweet and savory.
And his scones, rich in dill and cheese, are more than a passing nod to the fluffy biscuits from back home—as if you’ve journeyed to Paris via Kentucky and then back again. Not surprising when you learn that by the time Chase was sixteen he was already cooking for his family. “To make her life easier, I just started to cook for my mom with the lessons that I learned on the Food Network.” He gathered recipes which he says have “a lot of Southern touch,” and are influenced by the cooking of his grandmother. “I just think she poured love into what she did. It wasn’t a lot of finesse, but it always tasted good.”
Taking His Family Legacy to the Holiday Baking Championship
It was his grandmother’s pie crust recipe that he made in the first episode of the Holiday Baking Championship on Food Network that garnered Chase that week’s team win. He’s noted all of those early experiments and family recipes in a five-subject notebook he still uses today.
But while this pastry chef loves savory cooking at home, it’s baking that speaks to him. He worked for a bakery in Newtown, Ohio before opening his own. It wasn’t long before lines were forming out the door for his creations. Yes, it was long hours and relentless demands, but also an opportunity to hone his craft, experiment, and develop his own unique style.
Chase credits his pastry skills in part to his dad, who was an engineer. “I’m a very scientific person and I think once I figured out that this profession was science, my whole outlook shifted.” His respect for the ingredients and processes informs his baking. “You have to understand what each ingredient does, and how it affects the outcome, before you can start playing with them.”
Baking as a Caring Language
But the science never overshadows his fundamental reason for baking – that it’s an act of supreme generosity. To laminate dough – essential to create the paper-thin layers in puff pastry – takes time, patience, and care. The final product is a hand-held sign of love from maker to eater, a lesson he learned as a child. “I was taught about generosity through food. I think especially my grandma, and how comforting giving can be for the person who gives and obviously for the one who receives.”
That generosity extended to his time on the recent Holiday Baking Championship series where he made it all the way to the finals. Throughout, he supported teammates – helping out with finishing touches or teaching them breathing exercises to keep calm. “You can tell he really supports the people that he loves,” Cate says. “Even in the show, he’s the one checking in on everyone.”
Chase Maus Finds a Home in Santa Fe
After the bakery closed, Chase moved to Santa Fe where his cousin, artist Emelie Richardson, lives. “It was a place for me to heal,” he says simply. It’s been a good move. He’s now with his boyfriend Garrett Young, a founding member of the immersive theater company Exodus Ensemble, and thinking about what’s next, including a possible cookbook. “I feel like I’ve found so much community so fast, which is really magical.”
Whatever comes next, it’s clear that the Food Network show has left a lasting imprint and reminded him of how immensely talented he is. “I spent so much time in my life worrying about whether I was good enough in the eyes of other professionals…I am a lot more assured in my talent.”
As good friends vie over the last slice of Lime & Pink Peppercorn Meringue Pie – a heavenly confection of swirly clouds of meringue blanketing a zestie lime curd – you know he’s right. Yes, it’s baking perfection but it’s more than that. It’s nourishing others and pouring love into what you do, one bite at a time.
Story by Julia Platt Leonard Photography by Tira Howard
When the days grow longer and the spring ingredients start to arrive, one tropical favorite begins to steal the spotlight: pineapple. Pineapple season typically peaks from March through July, though in some regions it can extend into early fall. During this time, the fruit is at its sweetest, juiciest, and most vibrant, perfect for adding to various recipes.
More About Pineapples
Native to South America and later cultivated extensively in places like Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Philippines, pineapple thrives in warm, tropical climates. Thanks to modern growing regions around the world, it’s available year-round but true pineapple season brings peak flavor and natural sweetness that simply tastes like sunshine.
Health Benefits
Beyond its bold, refreshing taste, pineapple is packed with vitamin C, antioxidants, and bromelain, an enzyme known for its digestive benefits. Its balance of sweetness and acidity makes it incredibly versatile too, allowing you to bake and grill it.
As pineapple season begins, it’s the perfect time to embrace this golden fruit at its best with these recipes.
One of our favorite ways of serving Pineapple after giving it a moment on the grill. The bit of char adds a smokiness to this sweet fruit that cannot be beat. To match, we’re adding on a pair of Grilled Pork Chops and a Grilled Peach salad on the side.
Head to your local farmers market to grab the ingredients to make your own agua fresca at home. Let the warm weather in with this refreshing drink that uses fresh fruit, sparkling water, and a bit of honey. Plus pineapple and strawberry blend well for their differing profiles of tangy and sugary.
Scallops are one of the best seafood mains for mixing with other ingredients with it’s subtle taste that takes on whatever it’s cooked with. We wrap tender scallops in crispy bacon and serve atop a pineapple and mango salsa with a bit of spicy jalapeño.
While you could rely on canned pineapple slices atop this decadent and moist upside down cake, we think cutting the slices from a whole pineapple makes it so much better. Brown sugar, butter, and cranberries finish things off so you can feel good about the dessert you’re serving.
Salsa doesn’t have to have tomatoes. Instead, substitute in pineapple for something different and tropical. Then mix in jalapeño peppers, red onion, bell peppers, herbs, and balsamic vinegar. This dresses up your swordfish without overwhelming it.
In case you prefer salmon over swordfish and don’t mind savoring another springtime favorite, try this dish for one of your weeknight dinners. The pineapple mango salsa here brings island flavors to a fresh fillet of salmon.
Kitchen built by Kameron Cheney for French & French.
Photos courtesy French & French.
Building or transforming a home is a complex process, requiring coordination and expertise at every step. Kelly Koepke talks to top designers who open their little black books and share their favorite New Mexico home experts to work with, whether you’re looking for plans for your dream home or finishing touches for a renovation project.
Building Your Dream House with New Mexico Expert Contractors, Designers, and More
Interior designers have a unique vantage point—they collaborate with a broad range of service providers, from architects and engineers to contractors and specialty trades. Their experience navigating these networks ensures projects run smoothly, on time, and within budget. Whether you need a trusted plumber, electrician, HVAC specialist, or general contractor for your remodeling, renovation, or new build, we’ve curated a list of local experts and some online resources, recommended by industry insiders. By highlighting these key service providers, we hope to simplify your journey—from initial plans to final touches—empowering you to make informed decisions and enjoy a successful project.
Upholstery, Soft Furnishings & Window Treatments
Fabricut is an online resource that provides clients with a single source for fabrics, trimmings, decorative drapery hardware, finished window treatments, wallcoverings, furniture, rugs and more to the interior design trade.
I’m the Blind Lady is a women-owned company serving Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and surrounding communities. They provide professional services including Hunter Douglas blinds, shutters, shades, as well as custom drapery.
Linson’s Design Source produces window coverings, upholstery, bedding, and more, with over 450 lines of fabrics.
Maison Smith Modern Mercantile offers home goods and interior design to create a beautifully curated space that blends form and function, from custom upholstery and home accents to wearables and also signature scents.
Neighbour Moderne is home to handcrafted furniture and home decor brought to life by skilled artisans. They build their pieces in limited batches, ensuring that each item is unique and built to last. They also offer a range of one-of-a-kind pieces sourced on buying trips to Europe.
Norbar Fabrics has served the trade textile industry for over 60 years, providing quality fabrics, trims, hardware, and excellent customer service around the globe.
Custom Window Coverings | Interior Design by Spatial Harmony Interiors | Photo by Nicole Bridges Photography
More Home Treatment Resources
Pandora’s is home to ‘functional art’ – the things we live with and sleep in and wear. Expect everything from luxurious alpaca throws as well as 1,000 thread count Egyptian cotton linen with top brands like Scandia down comforters and blankets and Belgian linen company Libeco.
Silverado Apparel and Home, formally based in Albuquerque and now in Texas, features handmade luxurious bedding, tabletop, pillows, soft goods, and custom designs for the home. They also offer high-end women’s garments and handmade accessories.
Soul Décor carries high quality custom shades, shutters, interior blinds, and exterior patio shade systems from leading manufacturers, and works closely with clients to find the perfect window treatment.
Custom Window Coverings has been serving Santa Fe for more than 20 years, specializing in Hunter Douglas blinds, shades, shutters, and more, with free consultations and a professional installation team.
Solar
Affordable Solar has installed more than 180 solar arrays in Santa Fe, with extensive experience working with unique structures, historical districts, and the requirements of Santa Fe inspection authorities.
Positive Energy Solar has been installs, services and repairs solar in Santa Fe and Albuquerque for residential, commercial, and government customers, including permitting, construction, and retrofitting.
Sun State Solar’s team boasts substantial expertise in installing and servicing high-quality solar systems throughout New Mexico. They customize each project to meet unique requirements.
Silverado Apparel and Home | Photo from Spatial Harmony InteriorsLa Luz Artful Lighting | Interior Design by Spatial Harmony Interiors | Photo by Nicole Bridges Photography
Lighting
Allbright & Lockwood’s lighting products span styles from old world to very contemporary. They are a destination for designers, architects, and homeowners to place the finishing touches on a room.
Ferguson Home offers a curated selection of quality kitchen, bath, appliance, fixtures and fittings, and lighting products in a welcoming, hands-on, collaborative environment to the trade and the homeowner, whether refining a space or starting fresh.
La Luz Artful Lighting sources unique and individual interior and exterior lighting from top lighting vendors from around the globe, as well as bulbs, in home consultations, and referrals for electricians.
El Tapanco Woodcrafts | Photo from Three Roots
Cabinetry & Woodwork
El Tapanco Woodcrafts is Santa Fe’s premier furniture restoration and manufacturing company specializing in repair, refinishing, and hand-crafting of custom furniture and beds, often using reclaimed wood and featuring hand-carved details.
Ernest Thompson products are known for their beauty and quality, transforming raw materials into fine furniture and cabinets using time-honored techniques in Albuquerque since the 1970s.
Hale Cabinets has built custom pieces in Albuquerque since 1980 – kitchens, vanities, furniture, libraries and bookcases, and murphy beds to match any style and décor.
Marc Sowers Bespoke Woodwork brings exceptional customer service and professionalism to their innovative, efficient and quality custom manufactured kitchen, bathroom and other cabinetry designs, headquartered in Albuquerque.
Woods Design Builders is Santa Fe’s oldest design/build firm, whose award-winning professionals bring their clients’ vision to life on time and within budget.
Fixtures and Fittings
Plumb Ahead in Albuquerque is known for its expertise in plumbing, cabinetry and lighting solutions, offering consults and design services that elevate your home using high-quality materials and seamless integration.
Santa Fe By Design offers innovative kitchen, bathroom and other fixtures and fittings, both interior and exterior, from a variety of brands and for a variety of budgets.
Dahl Plumbing Sante Fe features curated fixtures, artisan hardware, expert design guidance, and a shower head testing station.
Appliances
Builders Source is a trusted supplier of appliances to homeowners, builders, remodelers, architects, and designers. Since 1993, the company has offered competitive pricing, and unparalleled service.
Sierra West Sales’ high-end appliances showcase an exclusive collection of top-tier brands, each renowned for exceptional craftsmanship, innovative technology, and designs that stand the test of time.
Construction & General Contractors
Acacia Builders focuses on high-quality craftsmanship that ensures that each home reflects the perfect balance of modern design and lasting durability. Family owned and operated, Acacia has won several awards from the Santa Fe Home Builders Association.
Affordable Home Solutions, LLC specializes in remodeling, sunrooms, patios, and complete home construction, and is known for its professionalism, fair pricing, and quality work. Call 505-353-2346.
DMC are experts in renovation from planning, design, remodel and installation. They can create 3D renderings so you can see the result before you start the renovation. They’re also the exclusive representative in New Mexico for LEICHT cabinetry – the German firm know for creating functional and flexible cabinetry solutions for the home.
JM Evans Construction provides quality construction services in Northern New Mexico including custom homes, historical renovation, remodeling, commercial structures and tenant improvements.
Kameron Cheney’s more than 25 years in the industry in Albuquerque includes projects in the aviation, hospitality, education, healthcare, residential, multi family, and industrial sectors.
Sarcon brings a progressive approach to the complexities of building in New Mexico. For nearly 30 years, award-winning Sarcon has been building custom homes as both a design/builder and/or construction manager.
Tierra Concepts has won more than 100 awards for outstanding construction, design and creativity and has been a premier luxury homebuilder for more than 30 years. Tierra Concepts can design and build in any style.
Zachary & Sons’ award-winning team combines six generations of experience in the building business with cutting-edge techniques and expertise. The company builds custom homes in and around Santa Fe.
Norbar Fabrics | Interior Design by Spatial Harmony Interiors | Photo by Nicole Bridges Photography
Architects
Archaeo Architects is an award-winning firm whose work has been published in numerous national and international books and magazines. They work on fewer projects in order to provide greater focus for both their residential and commercial clients.
Geisler Projects is dedicated to authenticity, quality and above all, collaboration, whether the project is a residence, a retail environment, a restaurant, or a commercial space.
Praxis Design Build offers both design and general contractor services, having successfully designed dozens of beautiful, imaginative and award-winning custom homes, commercial projects, remodels, and restorations.
Plumbing/HVAC
Caitco Drainworks serves business and residential HVAC, plumbing, and sewer and water line needs, provides emergency services, as well as remodel and new construction plumbing and HVAC.
Insight Mechanical’s reputation for delivering reliable, efficient, and affordable solutions comes from their team of licensed and insured professionals committed to top-tier service from routine maintenance to complex installations.
Rich Duran Plumbing & Heating has been Santa Fe’s go-to expert for superior residential, commercial, and industrial plumbing, heating, and cooling services since 1994, specializing in plumbing, heating, cooling, cistern installation, and custom metal work.
Lighting by Ferguson | Interior Design by Spatial Harmony Interiors | Photo by Nicole Bridges Photography
Electrical
J & Sons Electric’s professionals provide a range of electrical project services from lighting, planning, inspections, repairs, remodels, new construction, security and landscape lighting.
Wagner Mechanical was founded in 1928, offering residential electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling systems around New Mexico. The company’s team of skilled electricians complete a range of electrical services from installation to repair.
Roofing
Brian McPartlon Roofing has been a family-owned and operated company since 1985. They are licensed, insured and bonded, using only the highest quality and durable products and offer free roof assessments.
High Pines Roofing & Remodeling’s extensive experience includes torch-down, TPO, EPDM, shingle, and metal (standing seam or corrugated) roof systems, seamless gutter system installation, skylight replacement, and stucco installation on new or existing homes.
Landscaping/Drainage/Hard landscaping
Serquis & Associates Landscape Architecture creates landscapes that not only enhance the environment but also enrich the human experience. Their team has worked across a range of private, public, and nonprofit projects.
Surroundings Studio is a multidisciplinary design firm transforming the built environment through innovative landscape architecture, urban design, and planning. Their experienced, collaborative team of landscape architects as well as planners create engaging, sustainable, and operationally smart designs.
Sometimes magic happens when we gather around the table. And that was definitely the case for a house party with artist Katie Rodgers and her friends.
Artist Katie Rodgers Comes Home to Santa Fe
A sense of place pervades the work of artist Katie Rodgers. Take the 12-piece pastel set she created for French pastel maker La Maison du Pastel, Henri Roche, entitled A Harvest of Color. The set gets inspiration from the summer she worked at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Farm, which she also notes as “the most magical summer of my life.” “Suddenly, I’m just playing in the dirt, and digging up carrots and beans and all these things, and they all felt very magical and whimsical to me,” she says.
Awed by the colors that emerged from the ground, she created a pastel set that captures the vibrancy of a New Mexico summer from a deep purple that hints at lavender, a gold the color of sunflowers, and then a red reminiscent of poppies blooming in the hot summer sun.
Her artwork, Life in Contrast: New York/New Mexico, juxtaposes a busy street scene in Soho, New York, with the majesty and drama of Diablo Canyon. Even her Color Gradient Meditations – each one a rich exploration of a single color in all its nuances as well as tones – feel suffused with the natural world.
A Party Worthy of an Artist
It’s no wonder that the setting for a springtime party with friends is outside on her front porch at the historic home she rents in Santa Fe. The table was festooned with vases of flowers, wooden cutting boards holding croissants, small pots of strawberry jam, wedges of quiche, and wooden bowls of leafy greens dotted with thinly-sliced rings of hot pink watermelon radishes.
The occasion was a going away party for Katie, who was on her way to New York City. The vibe was classic Katie: casual, warm, and laid back. “What makes a good party or dinner is just making people feel comfortable and creating a good environment,” she says. “It’s not really about how perfect something looks or feels.” Katie credits her time in New Mexico with helping her to let go of ideas of perfection and says that her rented home – an old adobe built in the early part of the 20th century – was part of that.
It’s a house filled with warmth, from the adobe walls flecked with straw, to the uneven floorboards that speak of generations who have lived there. “I call it the hand-drawn house, which is very New Mexico – nothing has a straight line,” she says. “All the doors are a little crooked. And I love that so much because it feels natural. It feels like it grew from the earth.”
Embracing Creativity That Never Stops
It’s not unusual for Katie to bring her wooden crate of pastels to the table along with paper to encourage artists and non-artists to play. “It’s fun to watch people who never create art and it’s fun to see them loosen up about it, but they’re also very serious and get into it.” This is also a way for Katie to share her passion for pastels, which for her mirrors her love of gardening. “Pastels, to me, feel kind of like dirt – like you finger paint with them.” It’s an intimate act that brings artist and also medium into close connection. “There is something very elemental because you’re actually holding the substance in your hands versus a paintbrush or pencil,” she says.
For this party, Katie brought out a quote box filled with inspirational and thought-provoking sayings. The box was passed from guest to guest, each one picking a card, then reading it aloud. The box was a gift from a woman who sold her one of her favorite tables. “I became a little obsessed when I lived here in New Mexico and I would buy different farm tables,” she says. Katie describes a “sort of magical connection with tables” and says that for two of her finds, the owners insisted on visiting her first before finalizing the sale. “They felt really attached to the tables, and wanted to come see the space and make sure it was going to the right place.”
Back to Home Again
While the tables were too large to fit in a New York City apartment, Katie decided to keep them. They were housed by friend and party guest Jared Hagood, who owns and runs Lineage Seeds. And while Katie did make the move to New York City, she decided after a few months to return to Santa Fe, drawn back by the big skies and a landscape that inspires her life and work. She now has a new home and the tables – safely cared for by Jared – will be back. Ready for more parties, more celebrations, as well as like Katie, home again.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.”
“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.
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.
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.
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.”
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.’”
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 exhibitiNgqikithi 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 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.”
