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Sprouted Kitchen: Almond Date Truffles

I absolutely adore cooking. I make Sasha dinner from scratch every single night. Since I’m a vegetarian and he’s not (except for Meatless Mondays), I’ll make the same dish for us, but add chicken, shrimp or salmon to the top of his meal, which makes life much easier. While I’m not a vegan, I don’t eat eggs, so baking has never, ever brought joy to my life like cooking has. I recently stumbled upon Sprouted Kitchen, the most amazing food blog ever, and found a host of amazing meatless recipes and eggless desserts. I am thrilled. The Almond Date Truffles, shown below will definitely be my first trial.

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Almond Date Truffles  // Makes 18

  • 20 Medjool dates, seeded and halved (plump and slightly glossy)
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup creamy almond butter
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. natural cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup toasted almonds, well chopped

Put the dates and vanilla in a food processor and run until a chunky paste forms. Add the almond butter and pulse a few more times. Add the coconut, cocoa powder, salt and cinnamon and pulse a few more times. The mixture should be a tad crumbly, but press between your fingers and stick together. If it seems too wet to hold in a ball, add more coconut, if too dry, add a touch more almond butter or a splash of water.

Roll a heaping Tbsp. of the mixture between your palms to form a ball. Repeat with remaining mixture. Put your chopped almonds on a plate and roll each truffle in the almonds (apply a bit of pressure to get them to adhere). Place the plate in the fridge to chill for at least an hour. Truffles will keep covered in the fridge for a couple weeks.

 

Recipe and pictures via Sprouted Kitchen

Houston Food + Drink Awards

Alison Cook just published her Top 100 Restaurants of 2013, and I was inspired to post my own “awards” of such. I came up with my own categories and picked winners (listed below). I’ve still got a few places that I’m dying to go to in the city, but these are my favorites to date. We are so blessed in this amazing foodie city (speaking of, read this article).

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Best Happy Hour: Anvil

Best Mimosas: Backstreet Cafe

Best Ladies-Who-Lunch: Tiny Boxwood

Best Girls Night: Canopy

Best Guys Night: Beavers

Best Lunch-to-Go: Relish (salad pictured above) and Zoe’s Kitchen

Best Dinner Atmosphere: Sparrow and Underbelly

Best Intimate (and Hipster) Vibe: Roost

Best Healthy Options: Harvest Grille

Best “Skinny” Cocktails: Cyclone Anaya’s

Best Sunday Brunch: Buffalo Grille and Rainbow Lodge

Best Farm-to-Market: Haven

Best Views: The Grove Rooftop and Brenner’s on the Bayou

Best Porch Area: Cedar Creek

Best BYOB: Jonathan’s The Rub and La Vista

Best Romantic Date Night: Mockingbird Bistro or Glass Wall

Best Asian: Uchi

Best Indian: Indika and Pondicheri

Best Italian: Coppa, Dolce Vita, and Giacomo’s

Best American: Benjy’s

Best Mexican: El Tiempo

Best Mediterranean: Island Grill

Best Middle Eastern: Maryz

Best French: Phillipe

Best Southern Cooking: Lucille’s

Best Bar Food: The Tasting Room

Best Bar(s): Anvil, Bar Boheme and Mongoose vs. Cobra

Best Coffee: Antidote and Catalina

Best Frozen Yogurt: Pinkberry

Best Vegetarian Options: Baba Yega and Field of Greens

Best Tofu Dish: Ruggles Green

Best Quinoa Dish: Latin Bites and Relish

Best Falafel: Brasil and Barnabys

Best Veggie Burger: Adair Kitchen

Best Brussels Sprouts: Benjy’s and Uchi

Notable missing from the list (and high on my list of places to go): Oxheart, Triniti, Revival Market, Radical Eats, RDG, Ouisie’s Table, Da Marco, Hugo’s, and Irma’s. Anyone up for dinner?

Bon appetit!

Minneapolis Snapshots

Sasha and I headed to Minnesota for the weekend to spend time with friends. They live in the wonderful city of Minneapolis – it’s also the city where my brother-in-law grew up, so we’ve been meaning to go for ages now. We certainly weren’t disappointed. Despite a rainy Saturday, we found Minneapolis to be a gorgeous, outdoorsy city, filled with delicious restaurants and unique things to see (i.e. the massive cherry below). We ate a light snack after we arrived at The Local in downtown, had dinner on Friday at Punch Neopolitan Pizza, ate breakfast at Edina Grill, and then had lunch at Gorkha Palace on Saturday. We dined at Loring Kitchen and Bar before we headed to Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna on Saturday evening, then finished the weekend off on a great note at Cafeteria in Uptown before heading to the airport. I seriously enjoyed every single bite of food we ate on the trip (as did Sasha!). It was so nice to spend time with Sasha’s friends and their adorable girls. Next up, NYC in one month!

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My new Warby Parker glasses – as discussed here

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Sparkling water and hummus at The Local in downtown Minneapolis

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Creeping around Target headquarters

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Walking around in my new J. Crew Darby Loafers (on sale!)

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The most delicious (not so healthy) Tibetan lunch at Gorkha Palace

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Rain, rain go to Spain

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Amazing dinner at Loring Kitchen and Bar

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Boys being boys at Amaluna (my favorite Cirque ever – and I’ve seen 8!)

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I already miss this sweet face!

Off To Minneapolis

Sasha and I are heading to the Land of 10,000 Lakes (i.e. Minneapolis, Minnesota) today to visit one of his best friends who moved there a few years ago for work. It’s also the city where my sister’s husband, Carl, grew up, and I’ve heard so many amazing things about this gorgeous outdoorsy place. There has been a countdown for this trip! I cannot wait to see his friend’s two girls for the first time and also to go to Amaluna, one of Cirque’s new shows. It is about  a mysterious land governed by goddesses. It’s a love story between the queen’s daughter and a young suitor. You can watch a preview here. So excited! Have a wonderful weekend. 

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Awesome Twin Cities Guide on Design*Sponge.

All pics via

Newsboy Baby Announcements

I love unique baby announcements, and did a post last year on some of my favorites: Welcome, Baby! When I saw the newspaper inspired announcements on Oh So Beautiful Paper on Monday, I swooned. These are so darn cute and creative. All of the credits are listed below! What do you think of these cards?

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Design: SHE Paperie

Letterpress Printing: Somersault Letterpress

Newborn Photograph: Natalie Ann Photography

Photo Credits: SHE Paperie

Posted on: Oh So Beautiful Paper