Virtual cookbook aims to bring NMSU together through food

Kirsten Holles’ trick to a perfect cheesecake is to keep the flavor simple, and don’t forget to add the sugar. 

“I did that the last time I made it,” she confesses, “and, believe me, it won’t happen again.”

When everything goes according to plan, however, Holles is something of a cheesecake expert in her family, having made the dessert for about two decades and counting. Holles, a senior family engagement coordinator at NMSU, shares her tried-and-true recipe in “Taste of NMSU,” a new community cookbook she developed for NMSU’s Family Engagement office. 

The virtual collection of recipes made its debut in early 2025, aiming to connect Aggies near and far through food. It contains about a dozen Aggie-approved dishes that skew mostly southwestern and savory, including chile rellenos, salsa, green chile chicken dip, cucumber salad and chicken Parmesan, to name a few. It also has a small dessert section, featuring Holles’ cheesecake.

Each published dish holds a special place in the hearts and minds of the Aggie families, students, faculty and staff who shared their recipes.

“I made cheesecake for the first time for my husband’s birthday when we were dating,” Holles explains, “and it’s become something I regularly make for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and sometimes just because it’s Wednesday.

“I hope this cookbook is one way to bring our entire Aggie community together globally by sharing all of our family foods and traditions,” Holles says. 

The cookbook is the result of a team effort led by Holles. She worked closely with two NMSU students, Md Ishtiaq Ahmed ’24 and Mary Prieto, to create and launch the cookbook on NMSU’s Family Engagement website, a process that took several months.

Holles sees the cookbook as a yearly web publication that will grow and evolve over time. She plans to issue a call for new recipe submissions each academic year and would like to introduce interactive components to the website to allow for more engagement among visitors. 

“I hope that over the years, we grow this to the point that I can categorize recipes,” she says, “and I want to get everyone, especially students and families, to share new recipes every year.”

“Taste of NMSU” is available at nmsu.link/taste. To share a recipe for next year’s cookbook, email families@nmsu.edu.