Dear Ari,

In honor of tomato season, I've been experimenting with various forms of the BLT. I've tried adding avocado, hot peppers, cheese, ranch dressing, mustard and other logical players. Do you have any words of wisdom in this department?

—BLTrainer

Well yes, I do have a few thoughts on the BLT. First and foremost, the BLT is nothing without mayo, which interacts with the tomato in a very special way. And my preferred premade mayo is actually fake mayo: grapeseed oil Vegenaise, made by Earth Island.

Imagine for a moment that New Mexico is a sovereign land—a nation similar to the state we inhabit, but one that evolved strictly by its own devices, with no meddling from outsiders. It would be a place with its own official dictionary, wherein “Christmas” is formalized as a verb with several conjugated forms, as in: I would have Christmased my enchiladas, but August is such a green month.

Get Out There

It’s summer in Burque and myriad patios await your presence. Snap the kids out of their bought air-and-video game trance for an outing that culminates in the joyful consumption of healthful and delicious paletas—no, really!—or invite some colleagues and comrades out to smash the swanky local rooftop bar scene with you. If you’re looking for a more pastoral vibe, get your farm-to-table on in Albuquerque’s resplendent North Valley. Here are a handful of our favorite patios in The Duke City. Don’t neglect to slather on some sunscreen and install a rideshare app (such as Uber, Lyft or zTrip) on your smartphone ... in case you over-hydrate.

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