Why, hello there.

I went a little wild this summer over the sour cherries. What a fruit to make me think differently about fruit. Their tender skins are so delicate and thin, the unearthly red flesh underneath practically glows. Each one is cartoonishly perfect and makes my tongue curl just like a Sour Patch Kid. It’s what I think fruit would look like in Eden. We really don’t deserve their seasonal glory.

I swear, sour cherries only pop up a week out of the year, and I never buy enough. I’ll tell myself, “next time,” then poof, they’re gone. One thing this past year taught me was to never say “next time” again. When my husband, Ham, and I spotted some at the market, we literally filled up a tote as the people around us gasped with open mouths. The next few days were spent pitting and processing. There was pie and sherbet and cherry cordials, and—damn it, we should have bought two totes. (Thank you to everyone on IG for all your sour cherry suggestions!)

Next week, I’ll fill you in on all our sour cherry exploits, and every week after that, you can follow along as Ham and I explore something new. Say hello to Hot Dish, a newsletter where I’ll share what ingredient, technique, restaurant, or food show is getting us riled up at the moment!

Yes, I’m fortunate to share my perspective on food at a lot of places. On Ancient Recipes with Sohla, I make age-old recipes I’ve spent years reading about and finally taste dishes I’ve only ever imagined. Every month on Off Script with Sohla, I break a recipe down to its basics and teach you how to get creative with it. I’m writing a cookbook that’ll hopefully become your guide in the kitchen. Ham and I just launched a new show called Mystery Menu with NYT Cooking where you’ll watch us spontaneously cook together.

But this space will be different because I’m not tied to editors, producers, or worrying about whether something will be looked favorably upon by the Google gods. No offense editors or producers (and definitely no offense, all-knowing Google gods). I love you all! But sometimes, I want to go off the rails. Sometimes I nerd out and make fifteen different bundt cakes for no apparent reason. Or I jump out of bed at 4 a.m. because I just have to see how my smoked habaneros are fermenting. Ham and I might devote a full weekend to watching all of Top Chef season 10...again. Sometimes we need to buy all the sour cherries at the market and spend the week staining everything red.

Those are the times I’m going to be writing about—for you and for me! The biggest regret of my life is that I’ve never taken enough notes. So here I’ll be documenting all the cooking Ham and I do for no reason, project, or deadline at all. Thanks for joining us!

see ya,

sohla

A special thanks to Aliza Abarbanel for making my sentences make sense!