Things to do this fall:

Edible Santa Fe invites you to send us your recipes!

Each month we will invite our readers to share their favorite dishes – December is devoted to edible gifts, as in cookies or confections, your homemade Kahlua or egg-nog, or what ever you give to eat at the holidays. January will be devoted to comfort foods, February to chocolate and chile, and March to soups. Each month we’ll test and taste and share two winning recipes – our winners will all enjoy a subscription to Edible Santa Fe, restaurant gift certificates, local chocolates, cookbooks, and more. Everybody that submits a recipe will be entered for a chance to win a ski weekend for two at the Taos Inn – which we’ll give away on Valentine’s Day. Visit www.ediblesantafe.com and look for our ‘Contests’ button to find out how you can participate!

Edible Radio joins the crew at Huffington Post, and you can now find our shows on the HuffPo site – which at last count had more than 24 MILLION visitors a month, and growing!  If you haven’t tuned in yet – do. Edible Santa Fe publisher and host of the ‘Kitchen Sync’, Kate Manchester recently talked with Amanda Hesser, former New York Times Food Editor and author of the recently published ‘Essential New York Times Cookbook’,  and the esteemed Diana Kennedy, author of the recently published  ‘Oaxaca Gusto’.  Other hosts include Tom Philpott, editor of Grist.Org; Kurt Michael Friese, publisher of Edible Iowa River Valley and Board Member of Slow Food, USA; Elissa Altman, (see below); and Jane Black, staff writer on food at the Washington Post. You can subscribe to the posts or listen to shows on demand at EdibleRadio.com or HuffingtonPost.com, or subscribe and download via Itunes.

Edible Communities  is thrilled to start work on four new regional cookbooks with Sterling Publishing to be published in 2012 & 2013, and we’re equally as thrilled to have Elissa Altman as our managing editor for each of them! Elissa is an award-winning columnist, humorist, and commentator on all things culinary. She has contributed to Saveur Magazine, the Hartford Courant, Beard House Magazine, the New York Times, and was a longtime senior editor at both HarperCollins and Clarkson Potter. She is the founder of the blog PoorMansFeast.com, and hosts the ‘Read ‘em and Eat’ show on Edible Radio.

Edible Institute takes place in Santa Barbara this year! Join us for a weekend of talks, presentations, workshops, and local food & wine tastings — by some of the local food movement’s most influential thinkers, writers, and producers. January 29-30, Hotel Mar Monte, Santa Barbara, CA. Featuring keynote speaker Joan Gussow with Ashley Atkinson, Jane Black, David Cleveland, Philip Brasher, Debra Eschmeyer, Barry Estabrook, Dan Imhoff, Dianne Jacob, Ralph Loglisci, Annie Novak, Molly O’Neill, Russ Parsons, Tom Philpott, Tracey Ryder, Bryan Walsh, Molly Watson and more. For more info and tickets:: www.ediblecommunities.com.

New Mexico Tourism Department Launches The Culinary Treasures Trail

In the restaurant world, “new” and “hot” always grabs attention, but older places create the character of an area, and provide the foundation on which newer dining establishments can thrive. To celebrate these classic restaurants, the New Mexico Tourism Department has just launched its Culinary Treasures Trail at www.newmexico.com/culinarytreasures. A follow-up to last year’s wildly popular green Chile Cheeseburger Trail, the new Culinary Treasures Trail promotes restaurants that have stood the test of time, independent spots that have become beloved in their neighborhoods and beyond. Many of these are operated by the founding family, or by someone handpicked by the founders to carry on their legacy. In all cases they are at least 40 years old.

Among these Treasures, you’ll find cafes, diners, drive-ins, and also one of the state’s most elegant dining venues, The Compound in Santa Fe, with its imaginative James Beard award-winning chef-owner Mark Kiffin. In Taos Ski Valley, ski legend Jean Mayer still presides over the alpine-style dining room of his Hotel St. Bernard, as he has for more than 4 decades. Some famed outposts for New Mexican cuisine are featured, like La Posta de Mesilla, Rancho de Chimayó, El Farolito in El Rito, El Paragua in Española, and El Comedor de Anayas in Moriarty. There’s the delightful Pappas Sweet Shop Restaurant in Raton, nearing Colorado on the north, and Billy Crews Fine Dining and Cocktails in Santa Teresa along our southern border with Texas and Mexico. A handful of classic drive-ins like the Twin Cronnie in Clovis, which served the Firebirds in the 50s, are still going strong. From west to east, great spots remain from the golden age of Route 66, the El Rancho Hotel Restaurant in Gallup and the Dog House in Albuquerque, for instance, and onward to the Silver Moon Café in Santa Rosa and Del’s in Tucumcari. Historic Pie Town on Highway 60 was designated an honorary Culinary Treasure for its long history of cafes serving—you guessed it—pie. About 75 restaurants are included on the Trail.

The Tourism Department’s website wizards created lively graphics and an interactive map to locate the honored dining establishments, as well as a glimpse of each restaurant’s history, style, and food.  So why not plan a road trip this winter? Visit www.newmexico.com/culinarytreasures for all the information you’ll need!

New Mexico Restaurant Week is Back!

The ‘Meal Deal’ Goes Statewide, February 20-March 20

Some things bear repeating—especially when it’s an event that celebrates New Mexico’s extraordinary restaurants and gives thousands of people the chance to experience them at a substantial discount.

After a highly successful debut last March in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico Restaurant Week has quickly matured into a month-long, epicurean extravaganza, featuring dinner deals, daytime events and exciting giveaways throughout the state.

The event is divided into four consecutive, Sunday-to-Sunday celebrations that begin in and Las Cruces February 20th – 27th) and continue in Taos (February 27th -March 6th),  Santa Fe (March 6th-13th) and Albuquerque (March 13th-20th). Participating restaurants in other communities will be included in one of the regional Restaurant Weeks. To see the entire list, visit the New Mexico Restaurant Week’s website, www.nmrestaurantweek.com.

“Last year, both local and out-of-town diners embraced the opportunity to sample new restaurants at an affordable price in Santa Fe and Albuquerque,” said Michele Ostrove, president of Wings Media Network, the Santa Fe-based PR firm that organizes New Mexico Restaurant Week. “Hundreds of people went out several nights to take advantage of the deals being offered. And, in response to those who lamented that Restaurant Week wasn’t being held in their towns, we’ve expanded it throughout New Mexico and made it an eight-day event in each area.”

Participating restaurants will “put their best food forward” with three-course dinners at budget-friendly prices: two for $25, and $20, $30 or $40 per person, depending on the restaurant. Special rates also will be offered at several hotels throughout the state. In conjunction with ski season, New Mexico Restaurant Week 2011 provides a compelling excuse to plan an economical vacation or “staycation” and fully experience the rich bounty found in the Land of Enchantment.     

As with last year, the fun starts well before dinner, with a variety of events including chef demonstrations; wine, beer and spirit tastings; cocktail contests; cooking classes and more. New in 2011 is the “Dinner’s on Us” program, with participating retailers and other businesses offering Restaurant Week gift certificates as incentives and rewards for customers.

To view the Restaurant Week dates and prix-fixe menus of participating restaurants, find hotel deals, sign up for special events, and enter the New Mexico Restaurant Week Sweepstakes, go to www.nmrestaurantweek.com.