Eating: this, omg this, always this
Listening to: this.
Going to: This underground circus at the clocktower.
Psyched about: this (WHOLE FOODS DISCOUNTS!!)
Implementing: this (many of these are fantastic leadership tips- not just for managers!)
Dreaming about: NOLA + Cane & Table
xo
Audrey
What does ice cream mean to you?
Is it nostalgia- sitting in the trunk of your mom's SUV with the fam on a summer evening with mint chocolate chip dripping all over your tiny hands watching the motorcyclists drive past the beach?
Is it comfort- the Phish Food hug you need when you realize he's not the one?
Is it connection- every vanilla with rainbow sprinkles you see reminds you of your best friend that lives halfway across the country?
This might not be 'real' ice cream, but you wouldn't know it. It's ultra creamy mouthfeel combined with intense dark chocolate create an illusion of decadence- when really you're just eating frozen water!
Dark Chocolate Sorbet
(recipe from David Leibovitz)
makes 1 quart
2 1/4 c (555ml) water
1 c sugar (200g) (can sub coconut sugar here!)
3/4 c (75g) cocoa powder
1 generous pinch salt
6oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped finely
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
\\ DAY BEFORE - if your ice cream maker is not a self compressing kind, don't forget to put the bowl in the freezer so you don't have to wait another whole day to dive into this deliciousness!
\\ In a large saucepan, whisk together 1 1/2 c water with the sugar, cocoa powder and salt (for real- don't put all the water in now or you'll end up with mega hard unscoopable sorbet)
\\ Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Let boil for 45 seconds then remove from heat.
\\ Stir in chocolate and vanilla extract until chocolate is completely melted, then stir in the remaining (room temp) water.
\\ Transfer to a blender and blend (holding the lid on with a towel so you don't have a chocolate explosion!) for about 30 seconds, until the the color has lightened a shade or two.
\\ Chill the mixture thoroughly (at least 2 hours), then transfer to your ice cream maker and freeze according to the machine's directions.
\\ Serve with a pinch of flaky sea salt, crushed pretzels, or anything but gummy bears!
xo Audrey
Once upon a time I worked at an Irish pub.
There, I learned the most efficient way to clean a ketchup bottle top (soak it in hot water).
I learned how to pour a perfect pint with a shamrock on top (magic).
I learned how to stay awake for shifts that ran until 4am (chug a shirley temple with a splash of OJ in it at 11pm, brush your teeth at 1am for a quick minty rush).
I learned how not to have to make both decaf & regular (just make decaf, nobody can tell and placebo caffeine is real).
I learned how to direct attention toward my money making asset (neon orange bottle opener in my back pocket).
I learned how not to get caught kissing boys during my shift (behind the dumpster out back #classy).
I learned how to make everyone in a room feel special at once (remember what everyone drinks, always keep extra bud lights on ice for Tom, chill the stella glass for Kenny, play Marshall Tucker Band when Mark walks in, blow lots of kisses, don't forget the ice on the side!)
I learned how not to throw up behind the bar the day after my first St. Paddy's day as a legal adult (ginger ale + bitters with a side of oyster crackers).
I learned how to hack the menu that I'd been eating from for four years straight (tacos - meat + sweet potato fries = new secret menu item for all of the hippies at the bike store down the street & me).
I learned how to get the kitchen guys to sneak me sweet potato fry tacos on demand (giggle often, bat lots of eyelashes, try and speak spanish, send back ice water every half hour in the summer, salsa dance with them on slow shifts).
My diet has changed a bit since the days when I would survive on the bowl of dead fries in the window and the occasional stolen mozzarella stick. I'm tryna (sometimes) replace sour cream with cooling cucumber ribbons and fried things with roasted things. We're not that mad about it!
Sweet Potato Tacos
(makes 8 tacos)
\\ 8 corn tortillas
\\ 3-4 sweet potatoes
\\ 1 english cucumber
\\ 1.5 tsp cumin
\\ 2 TBSP olive oil
\\ 2 large tomatoes (or one giant heirloom tomato, like I used)
\\ 1 shallot
\\ juice of 3 limes
\\ handful of cilantro
\\ 2 TBSP olive oil
First, prep the Pico de Gallo:
\\ Dice the tomato, chop the shallot and cilantro, mix in bowl with the lime juice and olive oil. Add a pinch of salt, cover and let hang in the fridge until you're ready (or do what I did and eat so much of it with chips that you're not hungry for the tacos anymore).
For the tacos:
\\ Preheat oven to 375. Wash, peel & cube the sweet potatoes into 3/4-1" chunks. Toss in olive oil, cumin and a pinch of both salt and pepper. Bake at 375, flipping once, for about 40 minutes until crisp and browned on the outside and soft on the inside.
\\ Heat the tortillas- I did mine over the flame on my stove to give it a nice charred edge but if that's not available to you a minute or less in the oven will work just fine! Just heat them up so they can bend and party.
\\ Top tortillas with sweet potato, a few spoonfuls of pico & ribbons of cucumber (just clean the cucumber and peel it with a veggie peeler into ribbons).
\\ Serve with extra lime wedges and avocado, if you're so inclined.
MAGIC TRICK:
I leave my cilantro standing up in a glass full of water in the fridge, as if it were a flower that I want to keep pretty. It always lasts for over a week when I do this! I just grab off handfuls as needed.
xo
Audrey
Ask and ye shall receive. I'm back on the food writing bandwagon! Blogs are so 2008, but so is Taylor Swift and we're not over her yet!
Mostly I'm coming back to this space to connect. I have so much to share and I need a platform to share it. I'm always looking for food inspiration, so I figured you probably are too!
These days I'm eating 90% vegan and 10% pizza and tacos. Expect to find similar ratios here. Healthy, balanced, SIMPLE meals that you (yeah-you!) can totally make with a relatively minimal ingredient list. Last time I shared recipes (high school) I subsisted on 95% sugar and 5% cucumbers. I'm hoping this chronicle can serve as a source of inspiration for you and I both, to help you realize that eating (consistently) healthy doesn't have to mean bland salads, steamed broccoli, or million dollar a month subscription services.
I'm still deeply infatuated with dessert, there will be no shortage of sweets here BUT they will no longer be sickeningly sweet- that's just not my jam.
Let's get on with it, then-
Vegan Chocolate Chia Mousse with Coconut Whipped Cream
serves 2, for when you're tryna impress that hot yoga teacher you invited over for dinner and then promptly realized that the only dessert you're confident with is slice & bake cookies
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP chia seeds
1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
1/4 cup cocoa powder (as dark as possible, I use Varlhona)
3 TBSP honey
pinch salt
cacao nibs, for serving
1 can coconut milk, refrigerated overnight
1 tsp vanilla extract
\\ combine the first five ingredients in a medium bowl, whisk until they're friends.
\\ allow to rest in the fridge for at least an hour and a half, up to overnight.
\\ blend the chia pudding mixture until light and fluffy (mine fit in my lil ninja blender), you'll notice the color change and the pudding will smooth out a bunch!
\\ spoon the mousse into two cups, refrigerate for another hour (up to two days, covered)
When ready to serve:
\\ in a separate bowl, open the can of coconut milk and pour off the liquid in the can (save it for smoothies!)
\\ beat the solid fatty part of the coconut milk with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, mix in vanilla.
\\ top mousse with coconut whipped cream, cacao nibs & another pinch of sea salt!
\\ allow your guest to ogle you in delight because you are, undoubtedly, a magician.
may your heart always be j o y f u l,
audrey
I love sounds that make my body move in a way that stops me from thinking, and I love it when other people make me playlists so I'm going to do that for you! This new series will feature a playlist every Tuesday, one that fits a particular mood/feeling/time of year/place WHATEVER! Today's playlist is Head High Mid July, what I like to listen to on the loooong early morning drive to the beach for surfing and on the drive to Swell Taco after surfing.
Photo courtesy of Laura Whitwer of SassyPants Aerial
Stop waiting. The longer you wait, the more excuses you will find to not do the thing you want to do. Even if you feel like you need a little more practice, if you need a little more money, if you need a little more gumption, just try for now and see what happens. I'm a big believer in the school of doing. Perfect is near impossible, starting is not.
You're never ready.
There's never enough money.
It's never going to be a perfect time.
Three years ago I had been toying with the idea of starting a yoga practice for a while, but I didn't have the guts to go. I thought I needed to be more flexible and in better shape and drinking more green juice to be welcome in a yoga studio, which is THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING EVER. You go to yoga to learn how to do all of those things in a way that works for you. I went on a whim with a groupon thinking I'd finish out the unlimited month and move on to my next exercise regime. What I didn't expect was to find an entire community full of love and a spirituality within myself. If I had waited for the "right time" or for the "right body" to start practicing, I'm sure I would've missed out on so much of the light that has come into my life.
We can apply this in so many instances, from getting the laundry done, to making that big (scary) career change, even to having a child.
So go. Sign up for the circus class (see above). Take a walk around the block. Throw the laundry in. Move out of state (out of country?!) for a minute. Invite that person you want to be friends with out for coffee even though new friends seem like the scariest thing. Book the flight. Be vulnerable for a bit if it helps you get to where you want to be. Live YOUR life. Please start living your dream, because if not now then when will you?
Nothing ever gets done until you start, so what are you waiting for?
xx
Audrey
a version of myself in 2014, who would be horrified to know that in the future I would have a change of priorities that would take a way a good chunk of my back flexibility
Change is constant, that is the only guarantee. You can plan your life down to the minute for the next forty years, just don't fall so in love with that plan that you'll be heartbroken when it doesn't work out.
For the first time in years I laid out a plan for myself that extended beyond the week in front of me. It was a three month budget of time and money to figure out how to financially set myself up for the summer ahead, which I'd hoped to take time off and spend most of traveling. Within a week of setting that plan I had unexpectedly quit my job and my entire income stream changed, along with my free time. I spent 24 hours crushed because I had self sabotaged my plan and my goals with one tiny (giant?) move. I slept on it one more time and realized that I had nothing to be upset about, I can still reach the goals I want to (though it might not be in the same timeframe I'd hoped for) and live the life I had been planning on if I adjusted a few things. I had a plan that I thought was perfect. The only thing I forgot to factor into my plan is that change will happen when you least expect it to, even if you think you are in control of it.
Take a deep breath. Don't be stuck on what no longer is. Move forward and look at the challenge as a way to grow, to learn how to change with the world around you. Keep going, because your surroundings aren't waiting for you to catch up.
xx
Audrey