With Ariel Gore & Annie Murphy
All classes meet in the workshop space adjacent to Seven Sisters Candle Shop in Santa Fe’s Second Street Studios directly across the parking lot from Cloud Cliff/El Patio.

The Language of Your Life:
True Tales & Likely Stories

Meets Wednesday mornings 10 am – noon, September 8 – November 10

Taught by Ariel Gore

The language of your life–for beginning and advanced writers interested in finding their voice. Especially suited for those interested in fashioning stories from their own lives. This supportive and inspiring group is appropriate for writers at all levels.

10 Weeks $290

A $90 deposit holds your spot. The remaining $200 is due at the first meeting.

Class size is limited to 10, so please sign up early.

The Graphic Narrative Workshop

Meets Wednesday evenings 6 – 8 pm, September 15 – November 17

Taught by Annie Murphy

Have you ever dreamed of penning a graphic novel? Have you thought about the mystical and mythical side of comics? This creative non-fiction graphic narrative workshop is particularly appropriate for writers and artists interested in working with memoir, family history, biography, research-based stories, dream comics, or myth-inspired graphic narratives. Students should have experience in art of some kind and have the desire to move in a narrative direction–you don’t have to be a “good drawer,” you just have to have the heart and the motivation to draw a story in whatever style you choose.

10 Weeks $290

A $90 deposit holds your spot. The remaining $200 is due at the first meeting.

Class size is limited to 12, so please sign up early.

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Ariel Gore’s books, Annie Murphy’s graphic novella, and The Collective Tarot are available at Seven Sisters Candle Shop, 1807 Second St. #32 (across from Cloud Cliff/El Patio).

(505) 984 – 3183

Ocha: Introduction to the Orishas

Are you intrigued by African-based spiritual traditions, Yoruba magic, the Orisha, Voudou, or Santeria?

In this 8-week workshop, Frank Harrell, Santero and professor emeritus of psychology at the College of Santa Fe, will demystify Voudou theology and the Orisha Pantheon.

Whether you’re a curious academic, a simple seeker, a spiritual worker looking to expand her mystical know-how, or even a new Voudou initiate, this workshop will lead you into a new level of knowledge about this elegant spiritual tradition.

Meets Tuesday evenings 6 – 8 pm, September 7 – October 26

8 weeks for $230
A $75 deposit holds your spot. The remaining $155 due at the first meeting
Class size is limited to 15, so please register early.
Register & Pay deposit:

I figure if I’m in Santa Fe, I might as well learn to cook.

Started with some road-opening blue corn cakes with green chili chutney & they turned out pretty well…

I made the chutney the night before. The recipe is very liberally adapted from The Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook.

Just combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 50 minutes or until it looks like the thick relish it’s supposed to be:

New Mexico Chile Chutney

1/2 C. Salsa Verde (I used Trader Joe’s instead of homemade since I’m lazy like that)

3/4 C. diced onion

1/4 C. roasted, peeled, seeded & chopped green chile

3/4 C. turbinado sugar

1 C. apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons good salt

1/4 teaspoon cumin & 1/4 teaspoon coriander (You’d be fine with 1/2 teaspoon Garam masala instead)

1 tablespoon rum (optional, rum is sacred to eleggua, god of the crossroads, so it’s added here primarily for its magical quality)

1 teaspoon ground Chimayo red chile

If you want to serve your chutney right away, just let it cool a little. If you’re storing it in the fridge overnight, warm it a little before serving.

Road-Opening Blue Corn Cakes

We had it for breakfast, but I guess these blue corn cakes are supposed to be served as an appetizer. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

4 eggs (vegans can use two bananas blended until smooth)

2 cups of buttermilk (to make vegan buttermilk, combine 2 cups soy or almond milk with 4 Tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar)

1 C. spelt flour (our original recipe called for all-purpose flour, but we’d long-since abandoned the recipe!)

1 Tablespoon baking soda

2 teaspoons sugar

The kernels cut from one cob of corn

1/2 a red bell pepper, diced

2 scallions, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 C. cilantro, chopped

1/2 teaspoon good salt

2 Tablespoons Earth Balance, melted

OK, so, in a big bowl you want to combine your eggs and buttermilk, or your vegan substitutes, and whisk those together. In a separate bowl you’ll combine your dry ingredients–the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. You slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until there aren’t any lumps. Now you stir in your vegetables–your peppers and your chili and your onions and your garlic and your cilantro. Finally, whisk in your butter.

Heat your griddle or frying pan.

Keep the griddle lightly oiled with cooking spray as you pour your batter, about an ounce or two per cake, and cook for a minute or two on each side, or until the cakes are a little bit brown.

I served the blue corn cake with the yummy chutney and plain yogurt, but they probably would have been better with the chutney and sour cream (or Tofutti sour cream…)

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I have a writing workshop starting tomorrow, so I am going to use the left-over ingredients to make some chile-cheese blue corn muffins. I’ll post recipe if folks like them…