Turn on your damn heaters!
You looked at a tree lately? And we're not talking about you drove up toward the Santa Fe Ski Basin and snapped your Instagram photos here, we're talking the decidedly easier glancing out your window or looking up from your shoes—fall's here, and it's about time. We sleep better when it's cold. We like sitting in front of a fire. We like wearing bulky sweaters that hide our weird bodies and we like having a valid excuse to not have to go see our friends that goes something like, "Oh, hey, it's just been pretty cold is all." It's good.
We also like this green bean and potato stew our partner made the other night (side note: It was supposed to come with bacon, but the veggie bacon we tried tasted so awful and forced us to finally address the cold, hard truth that most meatless meat is gross) and we like that we can have pumpkin pie pretty much anytime we want. Not that we couldn't before—we're adults, after all—but there's something about the fall that makes us like it more.
We are, in fact, in such high spirits that we're not even raining down blows upon the people in our life who casually act like they've always used the word "autumn," and we're fixing to dry clean our dry clean-only coats. We're drinking stronger coffee and holding the mug with two hands as we gaze out upon the colorful explosion of the season. The pilot light's lit, oatmeal has become more regular and that extra blanket on the bed feels nice. We're into it.
And we're curious (we're always curious) about your fall rituals, dear readers. Give us some tips to maximize our season and maybe we'll try to wrestle up that stew recipe (in vegetarian and not-vegetarian forms) for you. Y'dig? Y'do.
Anyway, catch a video below about winter stuff from Martha Stewart that ought to really excite white people.
Winter Veggies!
As more and more people live off the land—by which we mean cultivate a little garden that'll maybe feed one person for a day or two—we have some suggestions for things that'll grow in the winter so long as you're vigilant.
Onions and the like!
We hear this is the perfect time of year to get these things growing, and that they'll pretty much look after themselves during the winter. Here's an interesting bit about wild onion from the Santa Fe Botanical Garden.
Peas!
If you plant 'em now, we're told you'll have ready-to-go peas come springtime. As an added bonus, we'll give you a tip: Cook up some peas and dump them into a bowl of mac 'n' cheese. Stir together and thank us later.
Asparagus!
Weird pee smell be damned—if you've got the guts for glory and the patience (and a healthy amount of space), these delicious spears could be yours. Now, keep in mind that a healthy asparagus bed can be pretty big and take a few years to really pay off, but it's important to fill our time during the slow, sure march to death.
Carrots!
We hear that if you have a greenhouse, the Adelaide variety of carrot can be sown right about now. If not, you'll have to wait, which makes this tip only half-helpful. But, like the characters of the book Half Magic, you'll learn that half-helpful is half more than no halves. What? Sorry. Anyway, carrots are good for your eyes, so …
Also
-Take note that the Santa Fe Farmers' Market's hours have changed to 8 am-1 pm. That's important to know, especially in the colder months. Also, you should be pumped you don't have to get up at 7 am because the early morning is stupid.
-Locally founded coffee outfit Caveman Coffee is now offering its first-ever already-ground roast, and it's called Mammoth, which we think is cool. You can order some here. You can also be aware they describe it as having chocolate, lemon and almond notes. Badoom!
-We understand that everyone who loves bagels has serious loyalty to wherever they think the best bagels are, but dang, Fork readers—you really let us have it this week. Sorry we liked Boultawn's bagels. Sorry. SORRY!
-You heard about the Root 66 food truck? They're new and kicking off operations starting tomorrow (that's Oct. 5) at Santa Fe Brewing Co.'s downtown taproom The Brake Room. They'll be there all weekend starting at noon (except for Sunday, when service starts at 10 am) By the by, it's vegan. Score on for Fork reader Jim.
-Know any other cool secrets or info about the local food world? Hit us up!
More Tidbits
-We got some info about how the world of gluten-free may be more complicated than we thought (though special nod to the people in our lives who have told us all our anxiety issues can be fixed by going gluten-free). The info came from this place, where this really intense-looking doctor apparently has all the answers. We present this info with no extra commentary and encourage you to decide for yourself.
–USA Today counts down the styles of American burgers, even having a section devoted to steamed hams. If you know what we mean, we can be friends.
-Sounds like Dine Brands, which owns IHOP and Applebee's, is looking to expand to include a third brand. No word on exactly what that looks like, but this is potentially good news for our grandma and her friends.
-We knew about Moon Pies, but now we're a little obsessed with moon cakes. CNN digs deeper into the deal right here.
-Alton Brown is back! I mean, not that he went anywhere, but he's bringing back his seminal Food Network show Good Eats—only now it's reloaded, whatever that means. Find out more here and think about how that Cutthroat Kitchen show is mostly just a douchebag parade.
-Guy Fieri is the worst. Just sayin'.
-Apparently AR and VR will affect the food industry, though we can't imagine much that's more irritating than a thing that got us all hungry without actually being food. Still, this article from late last year has some perspective.
Finally
Look, we're tired because of the weather change, so we don't have much more clever to say right now. But still, thank you all so much for reading and engaging with us. It makes us feel quite chuffed.
____________________________________________________________
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork's Correspondence
Number of Letters Receieved
39
*And only 25 of them were auto-replies from people on vacation!
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (edited slightly for length)
“I’ve had better bagels.”
*Thanks?
Actually Helpful Tip (only slightly edited for content)
We’ll include a content/trigger warning here, so please feel free to tune out if certain things (assault) are difficult for you (and we wish you luck in your journey)………………….
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Fork reader Sam sent a very interesting article about the correlation between sexual abuse and assault survivors and obesity. Thanks, Sam—we sincerely appreciate you helping us widen our viewpoint.
____________________________________________________________
Our food writer Mary Francis Cheeseman (who does not write The Fork, by the way, but nice try, people who think they’ve unearthed the secret identity) visited Santa Fe’s newest (and only) Tibetan restaurant this week. Tibet Kitchen sounds gooooooooood to us. As always, if you hit ’em up, let us know how it went.
A fork for all seasons,
The Fork
