This recipe is inspired by a recipe for Sichuan Chili Oil in Meera Sodha’s new cookbook East. I had to figure out how to make it without Sichuan chili so this is what I came up with. I love it so much! Read on for a super delicious recipe that is going to turn into one of your favorite things to eat!
Category: Condiments
Our Annual Apple Picking Trip, 2020 Style, Plus Applesauce and Chutney!

We love to go apple picking in the Hudson Valley. We were excited to gather our haul but it turns out the orchard suffered a frost early on in the year and they lost their crop. So they trucked in bags of apples from their other orchards across the state and hung them in bags on the branches for us to “pick!” Par for the course, 2020!
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Blackberry Picking + Small Batch Artisanal Berry Jam!
The summer of 2020 is winding down and we are preparing to go back to school. In the words of Jerry Garcia, “what a long strange it’s been!” The last 6 months have been life altering to say the least. Being in lockdown in an apartment in New York City because of a raging pandemic was insane but I wrote a new book, spent every waking hour with my husband and son, and was forced to do nothing when there was nothing to do. On some level, I am grateful for that time but as soon as lockdown ended in June, we started taking trips outside of the city. We spent some time out east on Long Island where we hit up the farm stands and got lots of fresh corn and tomatoes and made several trips to the Hudson Valley, one of our favorite areas. This last time, my plan included picking blackberries!
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Basil Oil
You can think of this as a summertime public service announcement. If you have excess basil on hand, and you have made one too many batches of pesto, here is another idea. Basil oil! It is so easy, it is not even a recipe, but I will give you one anyway!
Garlic Scapes!
We went up to the Kingston Farmer’s Market last month and I was so happy to pick up a bunch of garlic scapes. They are one of my favorite seasonal offerings – the other is ramps but sadly, I missed them this year – and I brought them home and rationed them for as long as I could. Here’s what I made!