joni mitchell & a flower sundae

my past week was absolutely glorious. it was filled with beautiful people, splendid weather, delicious food, learning, growing, renewing and sleeping! having said that - i am now rather tired and burnt out. i may just drink juice tomorrow and have a nice mellow sesh of yoga. i spent the weekend mostly with my boyfriend.

ah, "young love". 

he had a small party where i had the privilege of meeting his charismatic comrades and the rest of the long weekend (monday was off because of remembrance day) we enjoyed the lovely, warm company of his childhood friend and HIS beau. we ate eggplant and quinoa, made art from national geographic magazines, watched a cohen brothers film ("barton fink" -  i highly recommend it!) and i personally was thanking the weather deities that winter is finally arriving! i hope with all my might that it snows soon.

finally got home this morning and studied non-stop until i had to go to work. but when i arrived home i found this little delight my desk! it was a gift from momma! she loves joni mitchell and i have a feeling i will too after i read her poems. i will enjoy her thoughtful mind with some lulling tea tonight. now - onto ice cream!

i mostly just made this tonight so i could give you guys some nice photos and something to (hopefully) salivate over. as i said, i was away the whole weekend and missed posting any recipes or pictures! apologies. i threw together a quick sundae and added some edible dried flowers. 

at least i THINK they are edible...

 

um, nevermind. i'll worry about that later. this sundae consists of vanilla coconut ice cream, a salted chocolate sauce, pine nuts, flowers, and a few dates filled with fresh cashew butter. seriously, i made the cashew butter while the ice cream was thawing. needless to SAY - it was delicious! i shouldn't have eaten all of it but... well, you know me.

here's some more free and excellent reggae dub to chill out too. it is never a bad time to play reggae dub. i want it played at my funeral. party.

 

flower sundae: serves one or two

1 tablespoon almond butter

1 tablespoon cacao

1 tablespoon raw agave/maple syrup 

1/4 teaspoon salt

water, if needed 

3 scoops coconut ice cream

3 dates filled with cashew butter

pine nuts

edible flowers 

to make the chocolate sauce, stir together the almond butter, cacao, agave/maple syrup and salt. sprinkle on all the other ingredients (including the chocolate sauce) onto your ice cream. 

xox, em

day dreams,flowers & bees

Today was lovely, and it's not over yet.

I woke up, went to class, and when I returned home I had a quick workout. Then I noticed the sun was shining brightly outside so I decided I'd spend the afternoon in our yard. I put lemon juice in my hair - it makes it lighter - and with green smoothie (and glass straw!) in hand, I went out.

There's something very special and wonderful about eating raw plants in nature; because nature IS raw plants! This is why I love drinking green smoothies outside. You feel extraordinarily connected to the planet and all it includes. As I walked around in the sun rays, sipping my elixir, I noticed the first signs of spring.

Tiny flowers and leaves were bright and blooming everywhere you looked. 

Even in winter, you still see the smallest signs of life and determination. The thought went through my head many times that nothing is ever totally dead. There isn't such a thing as absolute death. 

Life is infinite. 

Everything is just recycled again and again, becoming something new each time, but never completely ending. Because how could you judge when something ends? It doesn't disappear. It's cells are simply re-arranged. Quite a lovely fact about this world we get to participate in. 

Our kale never stopped growing once all year. It defied the temperatures, storms and wind. What a champ. Guess what's in my smoothie today. Kale. 

I noticed the bees busily getting pollen from all the flowers, like a group of relentless workers. I laid down beside them to watch them go about their day's labour. I must have laid there listening to my music and watching them, fascinated, for over an hour. The sun continued to shine.

Then I noticed that apparently my smoothie wasn't finished! The last of it was being devoured by several hungry creatures behind me. I felt great that we could share our food, and not worry about anything but staying warm and getting enough nutrients together. 

Everybody gets some love.

Whadda cutie.

I then proceeded to dance around like a wood elf for another hour or so. When you get a sunny and WARM day here, you don't waste it inside if you have a choice. At least I don't. Finally I went back inside and had a lovely bath, washing the lemon, leaves, moss and twigs out of my hair. I think I brought half the nature in our yard back inside with me. 

Now I'm writing this, and soon my friends will be here. We're gonna relax and light incense in the Zen Den tonight. Looking forward to it. That's all for now! Tomorrow I'll share ANOTHER killer cupcake recipe and one for zucchini pasta. Nom.

Namaste, my friends - Have a beautiful day!