BREAKFAST ON CHRISTMAS morning might be my favorite holiday meal. After all the excitement of Santa’s arrival and finally opening presents, breakfast might seem anticlimactic. But growing up, I always looked forward to eggs, Irish potatoes, bacon, sausage, and toast. Nothing fancy, just tradition.
My dad would start cooking everything as the last of the wrapping paper was being stuffed into garbage bags. My Uncle Joe’s family would walk from down the street for what was usually the first meal in a whirlwind holiday tour that eventually culminated at their house at the end of the night.
I’ve continued the practice with my own family even now that my kids are grown and present-opening isn’t what it used to be. Since arriving in New Mexico, we’ve added green chile and tortillas to the morning menu—anything less would be like getting a lump of coal from Saint Nick.
But it’s not just Christmas morning that gets New Mexico flavor during the holidays now. We’ve used New Mexico Magazine’s online recipe collection and the gift-worthy New Mexico Magazine Centennial Cookbook to add red chile scalloped potatoes and cornbread chorizo dressing to our Thanksgiving table and make green chile lamb osso buco the star of our Easter meal. (I haven’t yet tried the classic holiday hack of red chile on mashed potatoes, but that day is coming.)
Spice up the holidays with a bizcochito coquito.
Photograph courtesy of Adobe Stock/Atstock Productions.
This month’s “The Enchanted Table” feature follows Cheryl Alters Jamison from her first Las Posadas meal in Santa Fe more than 40 years ago to winning four James Beard Awards for cookbooks rooted in Southwest cuisine. The other holiday food stories provide all the ingredients you’ll need for a special New Mexico table of your own—no matter where you spend the holidays this year.
For me, I’m hoping to add Happy Accidents bartender Oscar Leon’s Bizcochito Coquito cocktail to our Slovak family’s traditional Christmas Eve vilija supper. I’m also excited to try Jennifer Levin’s latkes with warm green chile applesauce—maybe even for breakfast.
As Cheryl’s longtime friend Lenore Tapia suggests in her essay, “While we eat some of those dishes during the year, they seem at their best and most magical when shared at the holidays.”
When it’s cooked with love and care during this joyous season, food connects us. From any distance, we are united by our passion for the Land of Enchantment.
Read more: Gather around for a New Mexico–style holiday feast filled with bizcochitos, tamales, posole, tasty drinks, plenty of reminiscences, and new kitchen magic in the making. Don’t forget the chile!
