Learn down-home New Mexico cooking near Santa Fe

Feeling underwhelmed by cooking classes that are all about sipping Chardonnay? Meet Eremita Leyba-Campos and her daughter, Margaret Campos, who run Comida de Campos (“Food from the Field”) on their 19-acre farm in Embudo, New Mexico.

Here “class” means plucking juicy berries from the vine, slopping mud to seal the horno (adobe oven), mopping up spicy chile colorado with fresh rolls under the shady arbor, then jumping in the Rio Grande to fight off a siesta. Recipes are classics ― carnitas, chicos del horno, huevos rancheros, pollo asado ― and locally sourced ingredients include queso fresco, courtesy of Alicia, the family cow.

  

“I’m just a home cook,” says Campos. After a half-day of cooking, as the aroma of roasting pork envelops the outdoor kitchen, you’ll know what that means. – Michelle Pentz Glave

Half-day classes ($65; call for dates, directions; www.comidadecampos.com or 505/852-0017) include breakfast and lunch.

Keep Reading: