Santa Fe U’ke ‘Ole-le

It’s that time of year! CHILE is roasting everywhere in New Mexico, and ex-pat New Mexicans are roasting chile anywhere they can find it. Even grocery stores in Los Angeles are selling Hatch green. We blistered up a few pounds and ate them on the spot.

Before

Durring

Here’s what it looks like now:

AFTER!     NB: Santa Fe Brewing Co. is among several local craft brewers making KILLER beer!

Southern New Mexico is known for it’s green chile, but Northern New Mexico is where the best red comes from.

Red and green chile are essentially the same plant, but red is left to ripen, and is then picked and strung into picturesque ristras to dry in the sun.  Fresh green is roasted and peeled, dried red is either powdered or pulverized into a sauce. (There just may be an article in the coming Ukulele Magazine were I go on about this, and it just may have a recipe included.)

I can’t wait for the first weekend in November, because that’s when Daniel and I go back to Santa Fe for the The New Uke Culinary Fiesta.  First order of business will be to teach everyone how to make red and green chile sauce.

There are still a few spots left for anyone who wants to sign on, and soon we will be announcing opportunities for “locals” to join the fun, including the full-on flamenco show by Miel Amarga (with Daniel on guitar) at El Meson, and a show by The Smoking Jackets at Tiny’s.

Full Smokin’ Jackets! Craig McClelland, Heidi, Daniel Ward and John Bartlit. fab shot by http://www.allisonphoto.com/

U’KULELI!      CHILI!

If music be the food of love… I think we are in no danger of pining away!

 

The Los Angeles Ukulele Festival (of Torrance)

First but hopefully not the last-

Daniel and I will be there teaching kids classes, and Daniel will be doing some flamencasizing as well.  Really excited to be doing what we love in our own back yard.  Check out the schedule HERE.

Hope our SoCal friends can make it! See you there!

Survival and Fate: Bill Graham

He was born a Jew in Germany under Hitler. His mother saved his life by giving him to an orphanage who sent him to France in an exchange for Christian orphans.  After France fell, he was spirited to America and grew up in the Bronx.

What happens next? He begins to make choices.

How do we become who we are? One way to understand our own fate is to examine the extraordinary lives of others.

This Saturday, September 5 at noon and 2 pm the Sukey Jump Band will be at the Skirball Center singing songs that Bill Graham knew, from Roszhinkes Mit Mandlen to the Sidewalks of New York to Oye, Como Va: Yiddish lullabies, R&B, Rock and Roll and everything in between.

Sing along, play along (we will have some Kazoos for sale so you can join the horn section) dance to groove.

Think about the life of this extraordinary person, and about your own fate- and how you are shaping it right now.