Category Archives: West

Contact!, SETI, the “Wow” Signal of ’77, wild and weird New Mexico

What is New Mexico, anyway? A kind of sprawling “grand opera” of science, mystery, ancient tradition, and persistent puzzlement – seen through the lenses of wild-eyed physicists, dedicated astronomers, legions of New Agers and light-workers, centuries-old Spanish, Pueblo, and nomadic Indian cultures…

Bourbon chocolate pecan cookies – a love letter to Cuprum, Idaho

Deliciously addictive gluten-free (or not) chocolate chocolate chip cookies with bourbon, pecans, and coconut, and a memoir about two journeys to one of the smallest and remotest communities in the lower United States: Cuprum, Idaho.

Welsh Rarebit indulgence — the West isn’t funny

Sumptuous, velvety Welsh Rarebit sauce, perfect for a supper on a cold winter night … and some thoughts on why the West, unlike much of the South and Northeast, isn’t very funny.

Real New Mexican Green Chile Stew – Schrödinger’s Cat on Skis

Authentic New Mexican Green Chile Stew – an easy-to-organize party for your tastebuds! And an excursion into quantum weirdness at Ski Rio in far northern New Mexico.

Tuscan Lamb with Parsley – Fear and Sighing in Olympia

My wife and I lived in Olympia, Washington for two years when she was assigned to work with the state’s public health department. There were other cities available to her – in California, New Mexico, and somewhere in the Midwest – but we chose Olympia, knowing in advance that it had the sort of rainy, dreary, soul-crushing climate that might wring the very last milligram of joy from your being.

High and Heady Taos, New Mexico – Best-ever Southwest Black Bean Soup

  Years before we moved to midcoast Maine, my wife and I lived for several years in Taos, New Mexico, which sits at a heady-ish altitude of 7500 feet on a vast mesa of sagebrush and chamisa, sliced down the middle by the 800-feet deep Rio Grande Gorge. Vastness is endemic to the Taos area, […]