Exploring Santa Fe and Biscochito Recipe
3 Days in Santa Fe: Food, travel, meow and a recipe for Biscochitos
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My husband and I recently road tripped across Texas to Santa Fe and since several friends were interested in our itinerary. I decided that I would share our trip and pics on my blog because along with food, travel is one of my favorite things.
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| Cotton fields and wind mills of west Texas |
The multi cultural influence is embodied in the art, architecture, cuisine and traditions of Santa Fe. There is plenty of sunshine and outdoor activities, spas, history and culture. And restaurants...so much exquisite food. So grab your cowboy boots and your Pepcid AC and let's go!
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| The Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas |
Getting there from Texas:
Santa Fe is a 10 hour drive from our house in north central Texas, so stopping at The Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo was a given because a) Pop Art and b) if you’re a Texan, it’s the law.
I suggest that any time you’re driving anywhere, you check out Atlas Obscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/ to search for the weird and wonderful on your route. I like to explore offbeat spots and take pics and I also like to get out and stretch my legs because I’m 108 years old.
Free Admission/Spray paint for sale/Christmas card pic, done.
Long and dark shiny and black
Open up your engines let 'em roar
Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur
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| The vintage looking radio was playing 50s music when we checked in. So cute. |
It’s fun to drive up and down ‘the strip’ (a wild night out in Tucumcari) and take pics of all of the cool neon signs at night. We ate dinner at The Pow Wow Restaurant and Lounge because it was the only place around open on a Sunday night that wasn’t fast food. The food was good and the margarita was even better. The ambiance was fun and lively and the mosaics painted on the walls are truly incredible. Life size paintings of current and former favorite customers are painted to look like they are sitting in the booths.
Stick with something simple like a taco salad or some tacos and be prepared to almost be force fed a hot delicious sopapilla with honey for dessert, even if you aren’t hungry. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
In addition to gorgeous scenery, you’ll find cute little towns with restaurants, taverns, jewelry shops, coffee shops and more. And the road was in good shape, so don’t let a two-lane highway spook you. We really enjoyed Madrid ("MAD-rid") and its shops. The green chile burger and the atmosphere at The Mine Shaft Tavern and Cantina can’t be beat. It’s a nice place to stop and shop, eat and stretch your legs.
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| The Mineshaft Tavern is a fun place. Just ask Barbie. |
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| Green chile burger and fried green chile on the side. Outstanding! |
The town of Los Cerrillos was fun, too. The Casa Grande Trading Post is a really cool antiquities/mineral/gemstone/junk/antique glassware store and a museum and petting zoo. https://www.casagrandetradingpost.com/gift-shop
Okay, more like a few animals in a pen that you can buy food for and feed, but they’re cute and the chickens are fluffy and adorable. The little town’s streets look like a movie set (in fact, the movie Young Guns from the 80s was filmed here) with a church, old opera house, a saloon, a place to horseback ride and some shops. There’s even a bed and breakfast, if you want to hang out for a day. Cerrillos Hills State Park is nearby and offers some hiking areas, too.
From Los Cerrillos, it’s a short drive into Santa Fe. We stayed at The Inn of the Governors, which was perfect for us. The hotel was small enough to feel intimate, breakfast is included, you can park on site and not have to worry about driving anywhere and (big one) the beds were comfy with oodles of pillows. Plus, we got to say ‘Ello, Guvnah! a lot and that made me happy.
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| Biscochitos |
A welcome gift at check in is like an adult Lunchable with tastings of sherry, nuts and dried fruit and incredible cinnamon cookies called Biscochitos (see recipe below), which are the official New Mexico cookie and my new obsession. I've already made two batches of the cookie dough for Christmas. We had a kiva fireplace in our room and the coffee at breakfast was good, too, and that’s important. https://innofthegovernors.com/
It’s a short two blockish walk to the Santa Fe Plaza from the Inn of the Governors and loads of shopping and restaurants. A few places that we really liked:
Lunch at The Shedd - make reservations if possible or prepare to wait. Right in the middle of town by the Plaza. Great people watching and the food was fantastic. Their prickly pear margaritas were spot on. https://sfshed.com/
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Dinner at Casa Chimayo (the Chile en Nogada!!!
OMG) My favorite meal of the trip. https://casa-chimayo-restaurant.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral
So incredibly delicious. I would eat here again and again. The young lady who runs the restaurant gave us extra chips and salsa to go. The salsa is exquisite with a deep smoky flavor. The prickly pear margarita was wonderful and the flourless chocolate chile cake with ice cream AND whipped cream was out of this world.
· Dinner at Julia’s at La Posada. The bar and hotel are haunted by Julia Staab, and you can even stay in her room, which is extremely haunted. Julia and her husband Abraham built the mansion in 1882 that was converted into the hotel in the 30s. The hotel has a policy that if a guest staying in that room comes downstairs in the middle of the night and requests a new room, they are given one immediately with no questions asked. More on this later. The restaurant and bar are a comfortable and quiet respite.
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Loretto Chapel and it’s famous and mysterious staircase. Come listen to the story and see pictures of the staircase when it didn't have hand rails. OMG! Imagine walking down that in a nun's habit after some communion wine.
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I always have some 'splaining to do
The Cathedral of St. Francis is a gorgeous mix of Romanesque Revival and Southwest style with fantastic stained glass windows and some damn impressive bronze doors. Worth a visit if you are interested in architecture. The grounds are lovely, too.
· Georgia O’Keeffe Museum- Lovely and intimate. We spent about an hour there viewing the art and visiting the really nice gift shop. At this time, you have to purchase tickets in advance and both Meow Wolf and the O’Keeffe Museum are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so keep that in mind.
There is some sort of mystery to be solved, but you can also just roam around and enjoy it. It's a blast and appropriate for all ages. Hint: If you want to try to solve the mystery, start off looking in the mailbox in front of the house.
We found 'portals to other dimensions' by walking through the refrigerator, a closet, sliding into the clothes dryer and crawling through the fireplace.
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| *not actually a dick or named Dick |
Santa Fe is definitely a place you can wander around all day and stop for lunch or a margarita (try the prickly pear margaritas, they are wonderful) so be sure to take extremely comfy walking shoes!
We did a Ghost Tour (walking tour) with Stefanie Beninato https://www.sfaol.com/todo/beninato/beninato.html 505-988-8022
Stefanie has a doctorate in US West History and was a Travel Channel Ghost Tour Guide. And if ghosts aren’t your thing, she also does History tours, Bars & Brothels, Bread & Chocolate, Garden Tours, Historic Headstones, Women in New Mexico tours and Jewish Legacy Tours. We really enjoyed our tour with Stefanie. Tours run $30-$35 per person plus tip.
Our tour ended up at La Posada, which is a beautiful historic inn with a lovely bar and restaurant. And it's haunted by a woman named Julia. See my totally fake photoshop ghost in the pic below?
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| Gerald and I had a contest to see who could photoshop the best ghost and I won |
There are many other things to do and see in Santa Fe that we
didn’t get to, but we enjoyed it very much and it was a
nice mix of relaxing and activities. We picked up some lovely souvenirs, including a new piece of Native American jewelry, chili ristras, green chile sauce in jars and a cow skull. Because who doesn't want to have a cow skull hanging in your bedroom??
We stopped at Palo Duro Canyon in Texas on our way back and
spent the night in an ever so cute little cabin on the rim of the canyon. VRBO
Lighthouse Mini Cabin at Palo Duro Canyon Rim. It was very comfy and $109 per
night. The cabin was equipped with everything you could possibly need and was Instagram adorable. The stars at night are indeed big and bright. Cozy cozy cozy xo.
https://www.vrbo.com/7681259ha?adultsCount=2&arrival=2021-12-17&departure=2021-12-19&unitId=7144993
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| It was cold, but I stayed out until dark |
From Palo Duro Canyon, it was about a 5 hour drive back home. In the words of Captain Kitty, my favorite book from childhood, 'We’ve been away, but I must say that home looks good to me.'
Biscochitos!
Spiced with cinnamon and anise seed with a crumbly shortbread texture, it's easy to see why Biscochitos are the official state cookie of New Mexico. I came home and quickly made a batch for the holidays and they are delicious.
What You'll Need:
3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3 teaspoons crushed Anise Seed
Zest of one Orange
1 1/4 cup Vegetable Shortening (they are traditionally made with lard, so use lard if you want)
3/4 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Sugar and 3 Tablespoons Cinnamon for finishing
What You'll Do:
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and then stir in the anise seed and orange zest. In a separate bowl with a stand mixer or using a hand held mixer, combine shortening (or lard) and sugar. Beat on high for about 3 minutes until it's reached a light and fluffy consistency. Add the egg and the vanilla and mix well.
Gradually add the flour until it's all combined but don't over mix. The dough will be similar to a pie crust dough texture. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Combine the 1 cup of sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl.
Remove the dough from the frig and work with 1/3 of it at a time, placing the other 2/3 back in the frig to keep chilled. Moving quickly, roll the dough out and use a cookie cutter to cut out and place on the prepared baking sheet. If the dough gets too warm, simply pop it back in the frig for a few minutes before putting in the oven.
Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes. Don't over bake! These are done as soon as the edges start to turn golden brown.
When they are done, remove them from the oven and pour a spoonful of cinnamon sugar over each cookie, spreading it over the top with the back of a spoon. It will stick better while the cookie is still warm.
When the cookie is cool enough to handle, place it in the bowl with the cinnamon sugar for a complete dunk and then back on some wax paper and let them cool completely.
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