We’re not kidding when we say we planned our travel route to coincide with the New Mexico chile season. I grew up here and chile was a delicious part of my childhood. I remember big family gatherings to roast chile and even better, to eat chile. I love chile — red, green, hot, mild. Okay, maybe not the mild so much, but I’ll take it in a pinch. There’s chile roasting going on all over New Mexico right now. Everybody’s stocking up for the year. One of the biggest celebrations of New Mexico chile is The Hatch Chile Festival. It happens every year, first weekend in September. We ate green chile cheeseburgers, green chile fries, green chile burritos, and even green chile ice cream. Brian drew the line at the green chile beer, but I have no doubt it was delicious. The next day we were lucky enough to be invited to the Llañez family farm in Anthony, NM for their annual chile roasting party. When we got there, Carson walked over to the roaster, inhaled and said “That. Smells. So. Good.” Aww… warms my New Mexican heart. It was a great party! I ate so much — there was a posole with cheese and green chile that was awesome. We bought 30 pounds of chile, had it roasted on the spot, and then bagged it for the bus freezer. I know that sounds like a lot, but now that Carson likes chile as much as Brian and I do, we’ll be lucky if it lasts until spring!
—Ayrril
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- Saw this in a shop in Hatch.
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- Fire roasted chile on ribbon fries?! What’s not to love?
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- Brian and my dad in the High Desert Brewery beer tent at the chile festival. Their slogan is “None of Our Beers Suck!” We tried several — delicious! My favorite? the IPA of course!
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- These are chile ristras. They’re not just gorgeous — the chiles will dry evenly and then be used for cooking. I love just looking at them. We bought a little one for the bus!
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- Here’s where the magic happens. The chiles all go in, the roaster is lit and the drum turns continuously so they all get roasted evenly. The roasting process chars the skin so it comes off easily and gives the chile a beautiful smoky flavor.
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- Roasting…
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- My dad, Carson and I bagging the charred chiles.
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- That’s one happy New Mexican girl!
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- Many hands make light work! Thirty pounds sounded like a lot but we made short work of it.
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- Adios New Mexico! See you in the spring.
All Over The Map 
Sounds delicious! And I like the new look of Brian 🙂 Over here we see the most likely last warm late summer sunday…
It is so delicious! Ah yes, the beard… you should see him now, after a week in the wilderness! He looks a little like a mountain man. —A
You may like to have a look at that… http://issle.de/blog/?p=308