This week I decided to make a batch of habanero hot sauce with some of the habaneros I have sitting in the freezer from last season. I use this master hot sauce recipe as a guideline to make almost all of my hot sauces because I believe it creates the perfect base for you to create your hot sauce masterpiece.

Surprisingly delicious, unless told, most people have no idea that these fruit leathers are that different from the store-bought ones. Maybe they have a little bit more sourness and zing to them, but honestly, I find them way better than that over-processed, dyed, sugar-filled store version. The tangy flavor and chewy texture of SCOBY is perfectly suited to these on-the-go probiotic-rich snacks.

A 6-hour drive with no air conditioning across the Mohave desert in over 100-degree heat brought us to our new front door. We didn’t even unpack a thing. We were sweaty, dusty, windblown, and exhausted. I grabbed our camping stove, the camping kitchen set, and the soup.

We set up on the back stoop, overlooking our beautiful green backyard as the sun set, and ate this soup. It will remain on my favorite soup list forever.

One of my absolute favorite springtime soups, this bowl of emerald green feeds my soul.

I dropped a batch of homemade pasta off at a friend’s house, and her wife answered the door. She looked incredulously at me as I told her the pasta was made with stinging nettle. She is a huge trail runner and only knew the plant as something you didn’t want to stumble in. She almost looked like she wanted to hand the container back, and I don’t blame her, but I urged her to try it. Later I got the text. “Rachel, the pasta, it’s so incredible.” I felt like I had just won the plant a new friend, and put a huge smile on my face.

I have noticed that if I eat a proper meal for breakfast, I do a much better job with the rest of my day. More often than not my morning time becomes jam-packed and unless I plan ahead, breakfast is often the first thing that gets compromised. Once I started making these overnight oats any excuse to skip breakfast was non-legit. What is great about this recipe is that you can make a batch that will cover you for a few days.

I show my love through cooking for others. So if I wanna get a group of us together, it’s often, “Come over. Let’s eat tacos.” Everybody loves tacos. Without any extra work on your part, people can make them vegetarian by leaving off the meat. Or your guests can just not use the tortilla and eat fewer carbs. Serve them with corn tortillas, and poof, they are gluten-free. Whatever their diet, they can find a way to eat them.

I love infusing honey with different savory elements. It elevates what could be a cloying sweetness by adding body and complexity that gives your dish that “oh, that’s good” double-take.

The options are endless, in terms of the flavors you could use. Try chili flakes, Sichuan peppercorns, bay leaves, saffron, fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary. The sky’s the limit. Get curious. Get infusing.

I have happy memories of standing barefoot in the kitchen stirring pots of bubbly lava. Up there with melted cheese and boiling syrup, making polenta can be a dangerous affair. Though, it is well worth the effort. After a long hard day’s work, nothing refuels the body like a bowl of this creamy yellow deliciousness.