The Fork

Open In Case of Election Blues

We’re All Gonna Need a Drink

Freelance journalist Jamie Cattanach (formerly of New Mexico, now of, like, Oregon, we think) posted a Tweet on Tuesday, Nov. 3 that we think really encapsulates a lot of what we were feeling that day:

So what did we do to handle some of the sadness? Duh—we reached out to the Liquid Muse herself, Natalie Bovis, to see what pairs well with election fatigue. For the record, things are about to get blue. Surprise! We don’t like Trump. Not at all. We really don’t. And for us it’s not about politics, it’s about how he’s a horrible person. Anyway—here’s what Bovis says:

“Although we ‘Democratic Donkeys’ didn’t get the blue tidal wave of our dreams, the blue trickle is enough to fill our cocktail glasses! As months of anticipation turn to days of frustration, let’s lift our spirits with this celebratory cocktail…and, as Biden would say, keep the faith for the next four years.”

Kick Up Yer Heels, created by Natalie Bovis, The Liquid Muse

  • 1 1/2 oz gin (you can sub vodka, blanco tequila or white rum, if preferred!)
  • 3/4 oz OM Meyer Lemon & Ginger Liqueur
  • 1/2 oz blue curaçao
  • 3/4 oz lemon juice
  • Egg white
  • Garnish: red sprinkles
  • Rim a cocktail glass with red sprinkles.
  • Pour all ingredients into a shaker and “dry shake,” vigorously to foam the egg white.
  • Add ice, then shake vigorously, again.
  • Strain into rimmed cocktail glass for a red, white and blue sip of patriotism.

As you can see from the image above, it’s beeeeeeeautiful. And hopefully by the time you’re reading this, things are looking up in America. USA! USA! USA!

Oh! And if your’e looking for more from Bovis' Liquid Muse brand (including the excellent annual Taco Wars Event), find her website here and the Liquid Muse Cocktail and Culinary Club here. And who knows...we might just have more awesome drink recipes from Bovis before you know it.

Apropos of...things.

Also

-In more news about restaurants doing Thanksgiving meals to go, La Casa Sena has thrown its hat into the ring with a $220 spread for 8-10 people including green bean almondine, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, baguette, an herb-roasted turkey and your choice of pecan or pumpkin pie. among other items. You can call 988-9232 to order, but know that you must do so by Nov. 22.

-We might have already told you this (we talk a lot and sometimes forget everything we’ve told you), but that’s OK because if we did, it still bears repeating—the city will extend temporary obstruction permits for Santa Fe restaurants. What does that mean? Well, it means that the places that have been permitted to do special outdoor dining areas (like La Boca, for example) will get to keep doing that. If you’re a restaurant person reading this and thinking “I wanna get in on that permit!” email Director of Tourism Randy Randall at rrandall@santafenm.gov.

-Do you know about Coquette? It’s a coquettish (we assume from the name) bakery that is famous for doing cakes-in-a-jar (and it’s pretty good!). But owner Caitlin Olsen would like to throw a delivery vehicle into the mix, as well as develop some things like packaging and promo—and the new crowd funding/investment site MainVest is here to help. If you wanna learn more about either of those things, click here.

-You know about food halls? They’re like food courts, kind of, but way nicer and fancier. Apparently we’re getting one called Chomp in Santa Fe this month at the Luna center on Cerrillos Road (that also has an Ohori’s just to give you a landmark). Our kneejerk reaction is that that’s cool and we’re excited it’ll have places like Chang’s Dumpling House, Bottega del Vino, Jambo and more. Our followup reaction is that we’d be nervous to sit in close quarters with a bunch of strangers (reportedly only 26 will be allowed inside at a time for now). No matter, though, as we’re sure it’ll be all about to-go for awhile.

More Tidbits

-According to USA Today, turkey farmers are worried about what the holiday’s smaller scope will mean. See, fewer people are traveling this year (and probably shouldn’t be traveling at all)—and that means smaller plans, smaller birds, fewer dishes and so forth. It’s yet another example of how this virus sucks, not that there were every any grounds by which to defend it. Anyway, we don’t eat turkey, but we’d point out that in New Mexico we have Embudo Valley Organics, aka the home of the happy turkey. Order from there if you’re the ordering type.

-Costco has reportedly dropped Chaokoh coconut milk over concerns that forced monkey labor was playing a role in how the milk hit your glass. We realize there’s a certain kind of person out there who will laugh and scoff at the idea of forced monkey labor, but it’s honestly really bogus to abuse animals that way. Don’t get us started on factory farming and all that, but anyway...we did a little digging through the excellent site snopes.com wherein we found that it’s true Costco no longer carries the stuff, though as of Monday, Nov. 2, they’ve yet to publicly say the monkey labor was behind the change.

-IHOP will reportedly shutter nearly 100 locations across the country due to—you guessed it—COVID-19 economic reasons. No word on whether or not Santa Fe’s location will weather the storm, but our grandma would absolutely be beside herself over such a loss. As for The Fork? Well, we’re not above bottomless pancakes, though our brother developed his fear of speaking to waiters in an IHOP as a kid. “I didn’t want to have to say things like ‘I’ll have the rooty-tooty fresh and fruity kid’s breakfast, please,’” he tells us. “It really messed me up.”

-The frozen fish recall from Trader Joe’s that you may have heard about recently does not affect New Mexico. If you’re in Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont or Wisconsin, you might wanna check out your TJ fish. Don’t get too worried, though, because it was apparently recalled for not listing wheat and milk as ingredients when those things are in there. For people who might be allergic to those things, though, this is no joke. No illnesses have been reported...yet.

-We’ll never forget the time we were turned away from a Santa Fe bar for not meeting its dress code. Joke’s on them, though, because they closed not long after that and we’re still very much alive. But that doesn’t mean the practice isn’t rooted in racism and doesn’t unfairly target Black customers. Eater.com’s Jaya Saxena digs into the issue. God, we love eaterdot-com. Hey, eater-dot-com? Y’all are great and we send people to your site all the time. Ask our regular readers (being our mother and our mother’s friend Susan).

-We couldn’t bring ourselves to read this HuffPost piece about whether drinking coffee is making our anxiety worse (because we can’t find good drugs anymore and caffeine is all we have left), but we figure it might be helpful to some people. Good luck, anxiety-ers. We know it’s hard enough without coffee.

Finally

In the print edition of SFR, it’s dumpling time. Yeah, if you missed it, SFR’s culture editor is all about the veggie dumplings at Chang’s Dumpling House.

A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence

Number of Letters Received 29 *One more than last week!

Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader) “Tell us your name!” *No.

Actually Helpful Tip “It’s time to get drunk, Fork.” *Girl, you’re right.

Drunkenly masterful, The Fork