Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/617358
172 Left, The Santa Fe Farmers' Market offers a potpourri of locally grown produce; Above, smudge sticks are bundles of herbs ritually burned for cleansing purposes. ens, tending a large pot over an open fire, was the perfect keepsake for my own kitchen after an amaz- ing evening at the Santa Fe School of Cooking. There, I spent three delicious hours with chef Michelle Chavez as she led the "Cooking Inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe" class and treated her students to dishes like corn soup and baked chicken with lemon. "They're very simple, they're very elegant," Chavez said of O'Keeffe's recipes. "Much like her painting." Santa Fe School of Cooking, santafeschoolofcooking. com, 505-983-4511 SAGE BUNDLES The Santa Fe Farmers' Market is a riot of music, color, and the smoky aroma of green chiles roasting in the open air. There, I met the char- ismatic Matt Romero of Romero Farms, as he roasted organic green chiles over a fire in a hand-cranked metal drum and traded one-liners with a captivated crowd. "No photos while I'm bent over, OK?" he said with a laugh as he scooped the hot roasted chiles into a pan. I also met Pilar Abadia, who made beautiful smudge sticks—thick bundles of herbs that are ritually burned for cleansing—from wild local sage and juniper and delicate dried flowers from her garden. After I bought one, we chatted for a long time, and as I said goodbye, she pressed another smudge stick into my hand. "Take it, mijita," she said with a warm smile, calling me "my little daughter" in Spanish. "It's a little present, mijita." Santa Fe Farmers' Market, santafefarmers- market.com, 505-983-4098 PLASTIC BAG OF "HOLY DIRT" Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims travel to El Santuario de Chimayó, an adobe Catholic church about 27 miles north of Santa Fe, where the soil itself is said to have healing powers. Many pilgrims walk, especially during Holy Week, from as far as Albuquerque, 90 miles away, to experience this place. In the site's prayer room, im- ages of those who've been healed, notes and letters, and dozens of dis- carded crutches and walkers hang from the walls. In a tiny adjoining room, dubbed el pocito, visitors can scoop some of the tierra bendita (holy dirt) out of a small hole in the floor to take with them or rub on themselves for its healing powers. El Santuario de Chimayó, elsantuari- odechimayo.us, 505-351-9961 TRAVEL photograph by Harvey Morgenbesser (left), by Alexandra Pecci (top)