New Mexico's Original Clay Cookers

The clay cooking pot was shades of brown and black with gold flecks throughout - its design, a cousin of cazuelas from Spain and Romertopf terra cotta clay cookers. Available in Cafe Pasqual's Gallery, Santa Fe, above Cafe Pasqual's, it was crafted by Apache medicine man, Felipe Ortega, who has kept the same price on his piece for 14 years. Several shelves in the tiny gallery held his work, while pots created by a student (and slightly less expensive) lined another wall.

Ortega's breath literally shaped these pots, which sell for $100 per quart. Once fired, the indigenous clay makes each pot microwave, oven, and stove-top safe (although they should not be put in a dishwasher), because of silica that naturally occurs in the clay - a precursor to glass which makes it especially sturdy.

Despite their rugged appearance, Ortega's pots were surprisingly lightweight. Their generations-old design included a ridge near the top that remains cold to the touch, even with hot food sitting inside the 'bowl' of each pot. The indigenous clay also is naturally salty, reducing the need for added salt during food preparation; in fact a pot of beans cooked in one of these pots requires almost no seasoning.

Sometimes, old ways of preparing food are definitely worth a second look.

New Mexico's Vortexes

Much has been made of the clear, natural light and spectacularly blue skies in New Mexico, which have drawn and inspired artists for decades. But could it be that natural energy centers throughout the Southwest have equally compelled artists?

Often called 'vortexes,' these sites are thought to be spiritual 'power centers,' which enhance and support spiritual practice and healing. Individuals who are sensitive to this energy may feel it all along an energy vortex line that some people say follows the Rio Grande River as it winds through the Rocky Mountains, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Taos, and several small towns, including Chama.

Georgia O'Keefe's beloved Abiquiu/Ghost Ranch area is also known for its vortex energy. In fact, juniper trees like this one, at Ghost Ranch, supposedly respond to vortexes through their growth patterns. The stronger the energy, the more spiraled their branches become, sometimes to the point of bending them. Vortex enthusiasts also find these unusual energy sites in the Four Corners region, including Mesa Verde, and also in Sedona.

Day of the Dead

Since I learned about the importance of Dia de Los Muertos in New Mexico, two years ago, I'll never look at pumpkins the same way again. Mexican-Americans throughout this country honor loved ones who have died on November 1st and 2nd - 'the Day of the Dead' - because they view death as the continuation of life.

Around Halloween sugar skeletons appear throughout the Mexican community, in preparation for this celebration. Families who visit cemeteries together, on the 1st and 2nd, may share picnics there too. Bread of the Dead, music, and entertainment are other ways to celebrate.

Altars are created for each deceased person, with photographs of that individual, and his or her favorite food and drink. Each altar also features natural elements of earth, wind, water and fire. A crop represents the earth, a moving object represents the wind, a container of water is meant to quench the soul of the deceased, and a candle represents fire.

It's a ritual that has thrived for 3,000 years.

Hanging Chiles in the Land of Enchantment

New Mexico visitors are accustomed to seeing red chiles that decorate adobe buildings in the form of 'ristras,' as they twist and twirl in gentle breezes. But there's more to strings of hanging chiles than decoration. Throughout the rural countryside between Santa Fe and Taos, chile growers know the best way to dry their chiles for use in cooking is by tying them together on long strands, and then allowing them to hang until they wrinkle and shrink under the state's intense sun rays.

For farmers with crops that yield a dozen or even 16 bushels, vertical strings may not sufficiently accommodate the massive quantities of chiles that must be dried. Clotheslines morph into drying apparatus and random pieces of rope strung below house eaves offer extra drying space. During the early fall harvest season chiles simultaneously become revered cooking ingredient and integral decorative element throughout New Mexican farm land.