Until about a month ago I found a recipe by Kimberly Snyder which I thought I’d try. Here is what I did:

First soak the almonds. Overnight or overday (can you say that?), whatever works best for you

Then rinse them thoroughly

Put the almonds in the blender with a couple of cups of water

Blend the shit out of them

That's better

Filter the almond milk with a nut bag. You can also use an old piece of fabric, but make sure it's clean.

This is the almond pulp, keep it!

Put the almond milk back in the blender (after you rinsed it. The blender)

Add a tablespoon of soy lecithin (this is going to make your milk creamy)

Add a tablespoon of sweetener (I use date syrup)

Add a tablespoon of coconut oil

Add a pinch of salt

Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract (I didn't have any that day) and blend again

bottle your milk and put it in the fridge. Kimberly Snyder says it keeps for a week but in my experience, after 2 days it goes sour, Kimberly you are welcome to share your milk longevity secrets on here.

And now, on to tackle the pulp and make coco orbs

Put the almond pulp and a big handful of dates (I like to chop them beforehand) in the food processor. You can adjust the amount of dates after to find the right consistency.

Add a good tablespoon of cacao powder (I use the raw version, cause it's better for you)

Time to empty the cupboards, add whatever you have: goji berries, peanut butter, cacao nibs, sunflower seeds...

Process the whole thing until you get a sticky paste (if your food processor sucks as bad as mine, you might want to finish with your hands. And then lick them)

Form balls...

And roll them in dessicated coconut (or sesame seeds, or cacao powder...)

Et voila!

So, first I feel I should give some news following all the drama. Our flights back to the UK are booked for Feb 26th which is good cause it means we are still in Vancouver for the Olympics. Talking about the Olympics, apart from being in the right time zone, could someone explain to me what’s the advantage of living in the city where the Olympics are held? I mean, obviously I don’t have tickets, so I am not attending any of the games… so what else am I supposed to do?

Ok now one good thing that happened last week is that Jimmy won a 2 nights at the Fairmont hotel in Whistler with $100 per day to spend on mountain fun. Maybe there is some sort of luck bank in the universe and we were in serious debit so this is the Universe giving us a little bit of credit. So that’s good because once we are back in Europe we are done with the snow season.

As it happens, I also won something in a draw last week! I won 2 tickets to the ‘Grassroot wedding’ on Vancouverisawesome.com. But I turned them down. First because I thought I was going to Whistler that day (but then we looked at the finances and decided not to) and also because I am not getting married anytime soon (thought I am actually engaged, just so you know I am not one of those freaks who have their whole wedding figured out without even having someone to marry) and finally, it is now quite unlikely that I will ever get married in Vancouver (or Tofino). But all that to say that it might be time to buy tickets for the lottery, don’t you think?

Oh and if you happened to have enjoy thoroughly this early snow season, you recently got a promotion, are planning an amazing surfing trip or just bought yourself a love nest, by any mean refrain to spill your joy on this blog. This is the blog of misery until further notice.

Ok it’s not that bad… seriously I was joking! Please don’t delete my blog from your Google reader!

I have an announcement to make: the Arbutus Coffee rocks!

I was in my house on Sunday driving myself crazy. Before I reached the point of nervous fit I took Girlyman (that’s my computer) and jumped on my bike.

I have been avoiding coming to the Arbutus Coffee to work because as far as I knew, they didn’t have WiFi and they closed at 6pm, which is the time when my brain generally starts waking up. But they have this delicious vegan brownie and I really needed one at that point so I compromised and turned up determined to work offline.

As I got there I noticed that the place was full of people with laptops. I looked on some dude’s computer and I saw his network connection had all the bars… I asked him and he confirmed that Arbutus Coffee had invested in a connection and a wireless router. I ordered my (well deserved) brownie and tea, sat down and moments later this woman walked in and asked how late they were opened, ” 8pm on the week end and 9pm on the week days…”. I swear my brain started internal fireworks! Although it might have been the sugar from the brownie.

So there you go, if you are in need of a place to work late, the Arbutus Coffee is in Kitsilano, Arbutus@W. 6th Av.

PS: they also play some wicked music from 70s soft disco to soul and funk…

Whilst I have probably not invented anything new, the toaster dying is definitely the best thing that happened to me this week!

Well I’d say this can be applied to bread with peanut butter and banana. Why is it that every time I fancy a toast of peanut butter and banana, one of the three is missing from the cupboard?