Strawberry Tequila Sour

The first time I got drunk I was probably much older than most people are the first time they get drunk.

I was weeks away from my 21st birthday, bartending at a Mexican restaurant. I had just learned how to make a margarita and I wasn't quite confident with it yet, so I was encouraged to take strawfuls of each one before sending them to the tables to make sure they were okay. 

WHO KNEW THAT 50 STRAWFULS OF MARGARITA COULD GET A LIGHTWEIGHT DRUNK? 

On top of all of that, I had just worked an 8 hour shift at a different job so I showed up to this one with nothing in my stomach ready to rock and roll. 

I didn't know what I was happening, all I knew was that there were lots of colorful lights and loud people yelling drink orders at me and waaaaay too much stimulation and it felt like there were rocks in my head and I needed to lay down because everything was spinning.

I spent a half an hour of that shift crouched in the corner behind bar hiding from customers until my darling friend Nicole threw a bowl of rice and beans at me to eat.

Tequila's not my favorite, but strawberries are. This drink is elegant yet approachable, tart yet drinkable, smooth and tangy all at once.

Strawberry Tequila Sour
makes enough for one!

2 oz tequila
1 oz lemon juice
3/4 oz honey
1/2 oz strawberry puree (I strongly encourage making this only at the height of strawberry season- none of that white centered hard berry nonsense or you will be disappointed by the lack of berry burst flavor)
1 egg white

The strawberry puree is mega straightforward- toss some strawberries in a blender, blend until smooth then pass through a fine mesh sieve so you don't have any seeds in your drink.

In a cocktail shaker, combine all of the ingredients! Every single one!

Dry shake mad vigorously until the egg white has frothed a bit and you don't hear the liquid sloshing around anymore- and THEN add the ice and shake again!

Double strain into a pretty glass, top with a few drops of Angostura bitters if you're tryna be fancy.

Call it a signature drink, I don't mind.

xo

Audrey

Sugar Snap Pea Salad

How to tell it's summer:

You are enveloped in what feels like a too-hot blanket every time you get in the car.

Potato chips and watermelon count as lunch, ice cream counts as dinner.

Grandpas are logging lots of hours sitting on a folding chair in their driveway looking at (?!?)

The air is so still that you can hear your friends laughing in the backyard from a block and a half away.

Bedtime? What's that? Too many nights are spent sitting around a fire, solving all of the problems of the world.

The days go on forever but still seem to end too quickly.

Backgammon is a perfectly good way to spend hours of the afternoon. 

Sugar Snap Peas start disappearing from the farmer's markets and in their place: STRAWBERRIES!

Make this salad now, before it's too late! 

Bring it to a BBQ and prepare for everyone to instagram it. It's so gorgeous that you will look like a Top Chef even though it's just a few simple, fresh ingredients prepared with care.

Sugar Snap Pea Salad
(adapted from Bon Appetit)

3/4 C Buttermilk
3 TBSP Greek Yogurt
Juice of 2 lemons
large pinch of salt
pinch black pepper
1 lb Sugar Snap Peas
2 TBSP olive oil
zest & juice of one more lemon
salt & pepper, to finish

First, prep the Sugar Snaps. Remove the string by pinching the 'stem end' with your thumbnail and pulling the string off. Rinse, allow to dry on a paper towel then slice into thin strips lengthwise (it's okay if the peas pop out!).

To make this ahead of time: Place sliced sugar snaps in a dry bowl covered with a damp paper towel in the fridge until ready to serve.

When ready to serve: Prepare the buttermilk dressing (if vegan-simply omit this part! I found the sugar snaps just tossed in the simple lemon dressing was just as delicious!)
In a small bowl (or bullet style blender), whisk together the buttermilk, yogurt, juice of two lemons, salt and pepper. Pour into the bottom of the bowl you are serving the salad in.

Toss the sugar snaps with 2 TBSP olive oil, remaining juice and zest of the third lemon, salt and pepper. Serve over buttermilk dressing with tongs!

To enjoy this salad the next day, squeeze another half a lemon over the top to brighten it up and it will be as good as new!

Black Bean & Corn Salad

It's Wednesday at about 8:17am.

You've not yet finished your first cup of coffee, you're still kind've groggy because you stayed up too late watching This is Us.

Your extremely eager kind've dorky coworker that somehow never doesn't have broccoli in his teeth comes over to your desk and is practically bouncing up and down as he invites you to a barbecue at his house this Sunday. 

"I made a playlist and everything!" He brags. 

You already know that it's going to be mostly country with the occasional deep track from an early STYX album. 

In your pre-coffee state, you accidentally say yes to something you don't want to go to. 

You're not entirely sure if your host drinks. 

You need a conversation starter. 

You need this salad and a bag of Tostitos Scoops. For less than 10 bucks, in less than ten minutes you'll have an app that everybody will be begging you for the recipe for. 

You will be the star of the show.

Go even though you don't want to. I've found that often the things I least want to go to end up surprising me the most.

Maybe even put mascara on.

Black Bean & Corn Salad
(makes enough)

// 1 can black beans, rinsed well
// 1 cup frozen corn
// 1 bell pepper, diced
// 1/2 red onion, diced
// 1 jalapeno, diced (seeded if you don't want this hot)
// 1 medium tomato, diced (or a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes)
// 1 handful of cilantro, chopped
// 1 TBSP cumin
// 3 dashes hot sauce (I like Cholula or Victoria)
// 1/2 tsp salt (more to taste)
// zest and juice of two limes
// 2 TBSP olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, in any order. Feel free to add diced jicama or radish for an added crunch factor. Add more or less seasoning to taste. Keeps well covered in fridge for up to one week! Serve with tortilla chips, on top of tacos, or my favorite way which is topping a baked sweet potato.

xo
Audrey

This Week I'll Be

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

(vegan) Dark Chocolate Sorbet

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
 

(vegan & gluten free) Sweet Potato Tacos

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
 

|dairy free| Chocolate Chia Mousse

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

Tuuuuuunesday!

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. 

HEAD HIGH MID JULY