Features

By Russell Contreras
The Associated Press
Evil eye. Magical fright. A sick soul.
These are all afflictions usually treated by traditional Mexican healers known as curanderos. And this summer, an Albuquerque museum is planning an exhibit on the magical art of curanderismo, or the practice of traditional Mexican folk healing.

By Elizabeth Karmel
The Associated Press

My sister, Mary Pat, is the born baker in the family. She has a sweet tooth that she has polished into a fine baking skill. Everything she makes is delicious, but she is famous for her rugelach.

As is common with rugelach, the recipe is passed down from family baker to family baker. This recipe originally came from our cousin Vera, but my sister has lovingly tweaked it to make it her own. It is made with sour cream instead of cream cheese, making the pastry lighter and flakier than most rugelach.

By J.M. Hirsch
AP Food Editor

You can keep your decorated, stained glass, death-by-chocolate, triple-dunked biscotti bombs, or whatever this holiday season’s must-bake cookie will be.

Any time of year — and especially this time of year — I’ll take the delicious simplicity and vanilla-ness (no, probably not a real word) of a chewy, soft and sweet snickerdoodle over just about any fancy, overwrought confection. Even better is to pair that simple, underappreciated cookie with the most perfect of holiday beverages — eggnog.

By Margaret McKinney
Highlands University

The New Mexico Highlands University Mariachi Vaqueros de la Sierra presents a concert at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. in the university’s Ilfeld Auditorium, 900 University Ave.

The award-winning mariachi group will perform a variety of musical selections, including huapangos, rancheras, boleros and sones. The group will also perform a number of classic mariachi Christmas songs as well as arrangements of Christmas songs for mariachi.

By J.M. Hirsch
AP Food Editor

Nothing says “Yum!” like a bit of nomenclatural confusion... Especially with a side of near extinction.

But that’s what you get once you venture down the culinary path with bison, an alternative red meat that is showing up at more and more grocers  nationwide. And these massive shaggy creatures are such a delicious — and good for us — meat, it’s worth sorting it all out.

By Margaret McKinney
Highlands University

The New Mexico Highlands University Madrigal Choir will present A Classical Christmas concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18 at Ilfeld Auditorium.

The madrigal choir will perform Christmas anthems, oratorios and compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Henry Purcell, Camille Saint-Saëns, Samuel Barber, and John Rutter.

By Anne D’Innocenzio
AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK — Attention frustrated Black Friday shoppers who can never grab that hot product: Wal-Mart is hoping to relieve some of that anxiety.

The world’s largest retailer is throwing its doors open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than a year ago. It’s also guaranteeing shoppers that it will have three of the most popular items it sells if they line up inside the store during a one-hour event that day.

Submitted to the Optic

ALBUQUERQUE – For Justin Montoya and his mother, Rosemarie Montoya, winning a New Mexico Lottery prize was a scream.

The Las Vegas residents won $50,000 playing a $5 “Diamond Mine 9X” Scratcher that they bought after stopping for gas.  Justin Montoya, who paid for the ticket, let his mother play the game while he drove. 

When his mother revealed the five-figure prize, he said she erupted.

By Margaret McKinney
Highlands University

The New Mexico Highlands University Ray Drew Gallery features the pictorial history exhibit, New Mexico’s African American Legacy – Visible, Vital and Valuable, with an opening reception from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 10.

The Ray Drew Gallery is in the university’s Donnelly Library, 802 National Ave. The exhibit continues through Feb. 15, 2013. The gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Friday and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.