October 12 Final Day in Santa Fe Area

Sanctuary of Chimayo

No major plans today. We got a late start and drove north to Espanola, where we stopped at a Wal-Mart for shampoo. Then we headed east to a tiny town called Chimayo. They have a famous church called Sanctuary of Chimayo. The story is that in 1810 a farmer was praying and saw a light coming from the soil. He investigated and found a cross, which is now kept in the chapel. The legend maintains that the dirt around the cross has healing power. People make pilgrimages to the site to touch or rub the dirt on them for its healing powers. A small room is built on to the side of the chapel where there is a well of dirt. The adjoining room is filled with cast off crutches and braces. I got a little container of dirt to keep. It’s rather inspiring.

Chapel of Santo Nino de
Atocha

There’s also a Chapel of Santo Nino de Atocha almost next door. It has an interesting story also dating back to 1856 and parents and grandparents often come there to pray for their children or grandchildren who are ill or having surgery. They often bring a pair of baby shoes in offering to the Nino (child/baby) for whom the chapel was named.

Lots of the houses and shops in the area are decorated with chili ristras which are strings of red peppers. Some are 4 feet long. I tried some fresh ground chili powder today in a shop and it was delicious. I got the recipe to make a chili sauce that I can use for my chicken enchiladas. Also you can shake it on cheese, fruits, nuts. It tastes so different than what I buy at the grocery.

Rancho de Chimayo -
See all the chili ristras

We stopped for lunch at Rancho de Chimayo which is a very nice place just ¼ miles from the chapels. We thought it might be overly pricey but was not. It’s a very large place pretty much in the middle of nowhere. They make their own sauces and jellies to sell. I tried a new dish, Carne Adovado, oh my gosh was it ever good. It came with posoles and rice. It’s pork that is so tender in a red chili sauce that is thick enough that it doesn’t run all over your plate. Posoles is what we would call hominy and it was cooked with bits of pork in it. I almost licked my plate clean. Now I want to find a recipe for that. Bill had a huge burrito filled with shredded beef. He also said that this was the best of the 3 Mexican restaurants we’ve eaten in on our trip. They serve sopapillas with honey and they were so light and airy, I could have forced down another one.

Bill stopped for me to check out a shop where I bought 2 Christmas ornaments made of pressed paper. They’re white and mine is the Sanctuary of Chimayo and Bill’s is a buffalo. We normally pick up a couple of new ornaments when we travel but have to get light weight ones as some of the clay ones are so heavy you can hardly find a branch to put them on.

Home again and Bill started prepping the RV to leave tomorrow. I had taken chicken breasts out for dinner. Made a new recipe called Balsamic Chicken, which was excellent. Steamed some spaghetti squash and made a small dish of mozzarella and beefsteak tomatoes in balsamic vinegar and olive oil with crushed basil. Perfect!

Managed to get our antenna turned to pick up the station we wanted for the night. Shows are over and Bill is asleep and I should not be far behind!