About two months ago, I discovered anew how much I like hot chocolate. I ordered it one morning on a whim—I’d been standing in the coffee shop queue looking desperately at the menu, wondering what I could possibly order that wasn’t coffee. I didn’t want tea and I didn’t want chai (my intense love affair with chai lattes seems to have burned itself out after about 6 months of too much sugar and spice). I like the ritual of something warm in the mid-morning, but in lieu of coffee, the pickings are slim. With breakfast, I always have a mug of hot water with lemon which satisfies the “wrap-my-hands-around-something-hot” craving without requiring any decision about flavor or style. There’s no fussing over cappuccino versus latte or almond milk versus regular.
Read moreCITRUS COCONUT OLIVE OIL CAKE (VEGAN!)
Is it spring yet? These past two weeks have been a roller coaster in terms of weather, and “mood stability” seems to mirror the skies outside for lots of us. (That’s called pathetic fallacy, right? My high school English teacher would be proud.) Two weekends ago, the temperature plummeted into the 20s. On Saturday, I ran an errand in the morning after my swim. The walk was just a few blocks, but I was shivering in my down jacket (with three layers underneath!). I stopped partway to get a steaming cup of hot cocoa and within minutes, my fingers were numb even holding the warm cup. I felt I’d never warm up, even after two hours in a warm car (seat heater on full blast, naturally) and a mug of split pea soup.
Read moreBLUEBERRY CRUMB CAKE
Look, I know. You’re confused. Did you accidentally stumble upon the archives of my website? Inadvertently hit a link from last July? Have I decamped from the chill of New York City to some verdant oasis in South America, where fat, juicy berries are growing feverishly through February?
No. I have not. I am here, and I am cold, and I am making blueberry cake if I want it, gosh darn it! Let me explain. I do believe in eating seasonally, for the most part. I’m not wildly obsessive about it, but I’m lucky to live in a place with truly exceptional farmers’ markets, so tailoring my produce consumption to actual growing seasons is pretty easy to do. But does that mean I won't touch a blueberry until June? It does not. In fact, in the spirit of full disclosure, I ate a handful this morning alongside a few spoonfuls of creamy ginger sheep’s milk yogurt.
Read moreEASY ALMOND CUTOUT COOKIES
When you hear Valentine’s Day, do you groan inwardly? Do you shrug your shoulders when people ask how you’re celebrating, caustically saying that it’s a cheesy holiday anyway, and you and your [insert someone you like holding hands with] aren’t really “into the whole thing”?
Okay, look I get it. And yet, I always detect a touch of wistfulness to those comments. I mean, let’s level with each other here (it’s just us! we’re all friends here!), who doesn’t like to be surprised or showered with a little more love than on a usual Friday?
Read moreAPPLE CUSTARD PIE
Sometimes life — and your experience of it — is really a matter of perspective. It never ceases to amaze me how you can plod along contentedly in a routine, happily sticking to the same schedule, and slowly convince yourself (without even realizing you’re doing so) that things will carry on in just the same way indefinitely. It’s not an unreasonable mental habit: you’re putting in the same inputs, and so you expect the same outputs.
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