It’s no small feat to make the James Beard Foundation semifinalist list for best chef in the Southwest, but there she is—Albuquerque’s Jennifer James lit up the roster in 2010. To put this in perspective, New Mexico had only three nominees this year, including James Campbell Caruso of La Boca and Eric DiStefano of Coyote Café, both in Santa Fe. There were only 20 nominees in all of Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Texas and New Mexico.

Eating Chinese food on Christmas is a tradition in some American Jewish communities, since Chinese restaurants are the only places that stay open for it. Along with Jewish folks and much of Asia, most of world’s population doesn’t celebrate Christmas—which can be a bit hard to remember stateside.