— Melissa Bryant

So the spices that I use in the fall are generally the same as I use throughout the rest of the year. Okay? Um, However, ratios can shift a little bit, right? I would choose to use more of these warming spices in the, uh, transition to autumn and then throughout the winter, uh, months. And, you know, things like ginger and peppercorns and long pepper. Um, there's cloves and and uh, um, let me see here. Well, those are certainly some uh, some key warming spices that I'll use and, you know, those will go into anything I make. If I make a smoothie, if I make some savory oatmeal, um, if I'm making a stir fry of some sort or if I'm making, uh, you know, a simmered dish, like a like a curry of some sort, then all of those might be adjusted up just a little bit. Uh, in order to bring a little bit more of this warming quality to the body. And sometimes, you know, I guess it must be this sort of seasonal body craving. Uh, where I just, I feel like adding a little bit more ginger and peppercorns uh, to my banana smoothie in the morning. Um, and I feel a little bit more grounded, a little bit more satisfied, uh, when I do that. So, uh, that's, that's fundamentally an Ayurvedic approach, right, to the cooking and the way that we will adjust things in the kitchen. Um, and then during the, and then I, you know, I might also use more tahini, uh, or sesame oil, uh, in preparations and in sauces, right, during the, the cooler months because sesame oil is warming to the body. Now, in the, uh, the summer months, I'll start to dial back ginger and the amount of pepper, you know, peppercorn, certainly chilies. I would dial those back in the summertime. And then even uh, the, uh, tahini and sesame based products, uh, during those warmer months, again, because those are, those are warming or heating to the body. And, uh, yeah, I guess I just mentioned some of the ways that I use those as well. They go into anything, um, that I might prepare throughout the day.