As the holiday season beckons, we think of family—our roots, traditions, arguments, gifts, collaborations, and the recipes we come back to year after year. This year, perhaps more than ever, we are conscious of the importance of family, its challenges, its beautiful messiness, and, for those of us who live at a distance or must self-isolate for health reasons, its absence. The importance of family extends into the ways we feed ourselves. The kitchen is the locus of many families, a place where we connect over tables, counters, stoves, familiar aromas, and generous platters. Family meals, whether prepared in collaboration over long hours at the stove or ordered out during a pandemic quarantine, give us sustenance during good times and bad. Families are also at the heart of many treasured New Mexico businesses. They can help businesses grow and pass on knowledge of cooking and farming.
