When I’m confronted with an abundance of fruit my first thought is, “Fine, whatever, I’ll make muffins. I can take a hint!” But this isn’t about my first thought, it’s about my second, much more important thought, which is “How the hell do I make a barbecue sauce out of this?”

And so it was with our legions of blueberries. The secret to getting a really nice deep flavor is to cook the sauce down for a good long time. That concentrates all the flavors and makes it lusciously thick like a BBQ sauce should be. I didn’t feel like cheating and using liquid smoke for the smokiness, not this time. Instead, chipotle powder giveth smoke and spice. If you haven’t been knocked over the head enough with this information, chipotle is smoked jalapeno peppers. In this case, they’ve been dried and ground up. I’m not a spicy heat fiend by any measure, but I guess I can handle my own. If you are wimpy then use only two teaspoons, or use smoked paprika, which is milder and also more readily available.

If you haven’t tried chipotle powder, give it a go! I got mine from Penzy’s and I’ve been using it in a variety of dishes; roasted potatoes, chili (well, obviously), scrambled tofu, split pea soup. It’s really been pulling its weight around the kitchen.

Fine, it didn’t photograph all that well. Lay off, it can’t be perfect!

Blueberry Chipotle Barbecue Sauce
Makes about 4 cups

1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch chunk of peeled ginger, minced
2 cups blueberries (I bet raspberries or blackberries would be great, too)
1/2 cup veggie broth or water
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 to 3 teaspoons chipotle powder (smoked paprika would work too)
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons sugar (or more to taste)
Salt to taste, if needed

Preheat a sauce pan over medium heat. Saute the onions in the oil for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the garlic and ginger, saute for a minute more.

Add the blueberries, veggie broth and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the chipotle, molasses and sugar. Lower heat and let simmer for about 45 minutes, until it’s reduced by about half. It should be nice and thick. Adjust sugar and salt if you need to. Turn the heat off and let sit for about 15 minutes before using, stirring occasionally.

I used the BBQ sauce on tofu and tempeh. For the tofu, I pressed it and dredged in 2 tablespoons peanut oil and 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Bake for about 20 minutes, then flip and coat with lots of sauce. Bake for 15 more minutes. Same for the tempeh, only I steamed that for about 10 minutes. I love the way basmati or jasmine rice taste with BBQ sauce, so make me happy and serve rice alongside.

Berry week! It’s like shark week, except more delicious. But I swear to god it’s just as dangerous. At our berry picking expedition I was stung by a hornet, pricked with thorns, tripped over a vine and scabbed at least one knee.

The other weird thing about berry week is that it begins on Thursday, skips the weekend and then continues on Monday. It’s more a berry business days.

Our first recipe is for Marionberry Lavendar Scones, and now that the weather is cooling down a bit for most of us, why not bake a dozen on Sunday morning? Lavender always seems like a foofy kind of ingredient, only suitable for the kind of person that talks about the “legs” on wine and the hickory undertones of chocolate. But, really, it’s just a nice fragrant taste that is the perfect backdrop for sweet tart berries. If you can’t get your hands on any, try 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped rosemary instead.

Scones are kind of a pain in the butt if you’re making them into triangles, so just do the scoop and drop method with these. They’re light and crumbly like a scone should be, and the batter isn’t too sweet but the light sprinkling of sugar on the tops is a perfect little sweet roof to bite through. We had to trudge through the mud to get the last of the marionberries so they might not be available everywhere right now. In that case, you can’t go wrong with blueberries, blackberries or raspberries.

Thanks to my berry cohorts, Kimmy Kokunut and Veganknitting! In the next few days, their recipe for Blueberry Ginger Jam. Kimmy actually did most of the work for these scones, I just closely supervised.

Marionberry Lavender Scones

Makes 12 scones

1 1/4 cups almond milk (or your non-dairy milk of choice)

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

3 cups flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup fresh culinary lavender, chopped

1/2 cup non hydrogenated shortening

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups marionberries, or berries of your choice
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Measure out the milk and add the vinegar to it. Set aside to curdle.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the shortening in small clumps, then use your fingers to cut it into the flour until it appears like small pebbles. (You an also use a food processor for this, but I prefer to use my hands.) Mix in the lavender.

Create a well in the center and add the soy milk, oil and vanilla. Mix with a wooden spoon just a bit, then add in the berries. Mix again until everything is moistened, but don’t overmix. A couple of dry looking spots are just fine.

Use a 1/4 cup measuring up to scoop the scones out on to the baking sheet. Spray it wth cooking spray first so that the batter comes out easier.

Sprinkle tops with a bit more sugar, then bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until tops are firm to the touch and lightly browned. Serve warm!