Circumstantially Creepy

Shirt: Target

Skirt: H&M

Jean Jacket: Thrifted

Belt: Cotton On

Shoes: Target

Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters

Necklace: Forever 21

Snitch Earrings and France Ring: Etsy

Bow Ring: Borrowed from Cassie

Forget Mr. Banana Republic (he's soo six years ago), I found myself a new future husband. One tiny problem: she might not be a he. Okay, she's not.

Michelle Riddle is one of my favorite people in the world (who just so happens to have taken most of my recent outfit photos). After graduating college and going on my epic 3 month european birth right trip, my next goal is to create a machine that can turn her into a man, whether she's willing or not, so she can become my blog photographer husband. Creepy? Maybe. But would you still think that if you had met Michelle? Absolutely not.

The Proposal

Shirt: Banana Republic

Necklaces: American Eagle

Skirt: A tagless hand-me-down

Tights: Target

Shoes: Aldo

I bought this shirt the same day that I found my future husband. Which is coincidentally the same day that I lost him.

On that day, about six years ago, I walked into Banana Republic to do some absent-minded shopping. As I began picking out pieces to try on, one of the most gorgeous men I have ever laid eyes on, and a Banana Republic employee, approached me. I knew that when he asked "can i start a fitting room for you?" he really meant "would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" My response was a whispered but emphatic "yes." I gathered my clothes and handed them to him. In the dressing room, everything I tried on was absolutely adorable. It must have been the premarital glow radiating from every inch of my body.

I purchased the items and walked out of the store, making eye contact with Mr. Future Husband with a knowing smile on my face. Unfortunately, the very moment I left the store, he got into a freak accident with a clothing rack, a few mannequins, and a selection of that season's latest styles which resulted in the untimely loss of his recent memory (well I can only guess that this is what happened, but all signs point to it since he never followed up on his marriage proposal).

I might have lost my future husband that day, but at least I got a cute shirt out of the deal. Eh, I'll take it.

PS I know this outfit is out of season (read way to hot to wear in Florida in March) but I took the photos forever ago a forgot to post them. So, deal with it.

Ginger Apple Burgers

Since, the ultimate vegan burgers were such a delicious success, Cassie and I ended up using that recipe as a base for a new burger creation. In my pre vegan inclined days, one of my favorite burgers were turkey apple burgers (the recipe created by a close fried of mine). I haven't had those burgers in ages, since I've stopped making recipes that call for meat. I'm thrilled to say that the vegan version of these burgers are just as delicious.

Ginger Apple Burgers

(Makes 6-8 patties)

1 small green apple, cubed

1/2 cup diced onion

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup bread crumbs

1/3 cup almonds, toasted and chopped

1/2 cup sun flower seeds, toasted

1 cup cooked cannelloni beans, mashed

1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger

1Tbsp lemon juice

1Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cayenne

Salt and pepper

Prepare your flax egg first. Simply add 1/2 cup of warm water to he ground flax seed and let sit for 10 minutes while you prepare your other ingredients.

While your flax egg sits, combine the rest of the ingredient in a mixing bowl. Add the flax egg and mix. I ended up mixing the ingredients with my hands because it was much easier and quicker than using a spoon.

Now, with slightly wet hands, form the burgers into patties. I had 7 patties in the end.

Cook the patties on a skillet on medium heat with a little olive oil, about 5 minutes on each side.

While I was cooking the burgers, I chopped up some mushrooms and sautéed them in garlic and olive oil to top the burger with.

I also topped them with spinach and veganaise and served chili-lime roasted brussel sprouts on the side.

Vegan Jello Slices

Be forewarned, I’m feeling very sentimental. It might be the lack of sleep I’ve had over the past few days or the exhausting day I’ve had today but no matter the reason, that’s how I’m feeling right now. So, if you want to skip the emotional mumbo jumbo I am about to spew all over this blog post and just head straight to the recipe, there will be no judgment from me.

You see, I just spent the weekend with one of my closet friends because it’s the last time I’ll get to see her before she moves to New Zealand for a year. Which therefore means it was the last time I’ll get to see her for a year (if not longer).

Needless to say, my heart is aching just a bit.

I love this friend more than I can begin to describe. She’s the most wonderful combination of intelligence, grace, strength, beauty, compassion, and passion. She has encouraged me through some of the darkest moments of my life and has helped create some of the best.

It really does. New Zealand, Ireland, France, the Netherlands. Orlando, Naples, L.A., Tampa. The people I love are in too many places that are not Gainesville, FL. Life, sometimes you just need to chill on this people scattering thing, ok?

Now, don’t get me wrong—I could not be more thrilled for Kaitlin. I can’t wait to hear about the epic adventures I know she has waiting for her. I can’t wait to see how she will change and grow into an even more amazing individual from this coming year. However, needless to say, my life will be a little less wonderful over the next year. And I think that’s reasonable to feel upset about.

Ok, I’m done. Taking a very sharp turn, I will now return to our regularly scheduled program: vegan jello slices.

The trend of using the ingredients I bought for vegan cheese for recipes other than vegan cheese continues. This weekend, I brought along the ingredients for vegan cheese with the intention of making it. However, you can’t just eat vegan cheese in and of itself (well, I mean, you could but why would you?) and we didn’t feel like making another recipe that called for cheese. So, instead, we decided to make vegan jello, a recipe that, like vegan cheese, calls for agar agar. I like this recipe very much because it appeases both my love of delicious food and my love of aesthetically pleasing food.

Cran-Raspberry Jello Slices

(Makes 12 lime slices)

3 limes, halved, scooped out (directions below)

1 cup cranberry juice

2 tsp Agar Agar flakes

1 Tbsp agave

1/4 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen), chopped

Mango Pineapple Orange Jello Slices

(Makes 4 orange slices)

2 navel oranges, halved, scooped out

2 cups pineapple juice

1 Tbsp Agar Agar flakes

1 honey mango, diced (yields ½ cup)

½ orange cut into small cubed (yields ¼ cup)

Make the jello molds by cutting the citrus in half and then scooping out the center with a grapefruit spoon. This process was much easier for the oranges than for the limes. For either fruit, however, be prepared to get squirted often with citrus juice during this process.

Chop up the fruit for the jello (which can be omitted, if you prefer).

Divide evenly amongst the molds. The first time I made these, I placed the molds in a baking dish. However, the second time I placed them in a small muffin tin and it worked much better to keep the molds from tilting and then having the juice spill out.

Place all the other ingredients in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and let cook for 5-7 minutes. Make sure that all the agar agar flakes have dissolved before removing from heat.

Just when you thought we couldn't improve upon this recipe, we added a shot of vodka to the cranberry juice. There's no stopping us.

Pour the juice into your prepared jello molds. I transfered the juice to a measuring cup with a spout and then poured the liquids to avoid any spillage.

Leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Once the jello has...well, jello-ified cut the fruit down the center lengthwise (again, this was easier with the oranges than the limes but altogether not that difficult). If you'd like, you can leave them uncut and they'll be fruit bowls instead of fruit slices.

Vegan Sour Cream

I’ve heard and read that cashews are often a very good substitute for making vegan dairy products (such as vegan cheese or heavy cream). I bought raw cashews at my local super market (Ward’s, you are a godsend!) recently intending to make vegan mozzarella. However, I instead used them to make sour cream for my Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes. Though I would like to try vegan mozzarella eventually, I thought that putting it on hold to make chocolate alcoholic cupcakes was definitely a worthy cause.

Vegan Sour Cream

1 cup raw cashews

¼ cup cold water

3 Tbsp almond milk

3 Tbsp lemon juice (about 1 small lemon)

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

¼ tsp salt

Place raw cashews in a bowl and cover with water. Soak for a few hours or overnight.

Remove cashews from water and transfer to a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients.

Process until smooth and creamy (3-5 minutes). Add more milk if you find it needs to be creamier.

And there you have it. That’s it. It’s super simple and pretty good. Though, I wouldn’t serve it to non-vegan friends and try to pretend like it was real sour cream. I did try it on some tacos today and quite liked it. However, most likely I’ll be sticking with using this in recipes, such as baked goods, where it's a little more hidden.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

It's the first Thursday back from spring break and what did I do? Skip both my double period classes AND consume three types of alcohol before 2pm. To answer the question I know you are now asking: yes, bad-ass is my middle name.

But whhhhy the truancy and outrageous alcohol consumption, you ask? Well, first off, my middle name kind of demands it. Second off, Saint Patrick's Days is two days away. So, really, what better food to make than Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes?

What exactly is an Irish car bomb? Geez, you're just full of questions today, aren't you? An Irish car bomb is when you take a shot of baileys and a shot of whiskey and drop them into a pint of Guinness. I've never had one myself because that sounds downright disgusting. However, mix those ingredients with loads of chocolate, butter, and sugar and put it into cupcakes form and then it's a whole different story.

Originally, I set out to make these cupcakes vegan. However, it wasn't until I was already on the way to the grocery store to buy the necessary ingredients that I realized something: this calls for Baileys...which is Irish cream. Irish cream. Yyyyyeah that's definitely not vegan. I didn't have time to research vegan Bailey's recipes and go back to the grocery store, so I decided to just buy normal Bailey's and let these cupcakes be mostly vegan. However, there do exist vegan bailey's recipes. I found a few here, if you're interested in making your cupcakes completely vegan.

As a side note, I definitely recommend consuming these cupcakes right before a midterm. No one ever told me being slightly tipsy while taking an exam could be so pleasant. Thanks for holding out on me, world!

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

(Makes 12 cupcakes)

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup dark cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup Guinness

1/3 cup vegan sour cream

1/3 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Whiskey Ganache Filling

4 ounces dark chocolate

1/3 cup vegan milk

1 Tbsp Earth Balance, at room temperature

1 tsp Irish whiskey

Bailey's Frosting

1/2 cup Earth Balance, at room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1 50ml bottle of Bailey's, or 4 Tbsp homemade vegan Bailey's

For the cake batter, mix together the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients and then combine. Either line the cupcake tins with liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Fill about 3/4 of the way and bake 350 for 15-20 minutes. Let cool before removing the centers to fill with ganache.

For the ganache, melt the milk and chocolate in a double broiler (or, if you don't have a double broiler, in a ceramic bowl set on top of a pot of boiling water, which is exactly what I did). Remove from heat and mix in the earth balance and whiskey. Let cool until it's thick but still soft enough that it can be piped.

For the frosting, beat the earth balance on a medium-high speed until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Turn the speed to medium-low and slowly add the powdered sugar. After the powedered sugar is mixed in, pour in the Bailey's, mixing on medium-low for another minute or so.

Mmmmm. Creamy beige.

Now, for filling the cakes with the ganache. I found a recipe that said to use a 1 inch round cookie cutter to cut the centers out of the cupcakes...which I definitely don't have. So, instead I used this random gadget I found in my kitchen drawer. I haven't a clue what it's for. I decided it's clearly a 1 inch round cookie cutter replacer. If you don't have either of these objects, I'm sure a knife would also work just as well. Anyhow, I took the cookie cutter replacer and pressed it about half way into the cupcake. I then scooped out the center with a spoon.

Place the cooled down ganache in a piping bag (or if your desire not to do anymore dishes than necessary outweighs the fanciness you feel when you use a pastry bag, simply transfer the ganache to a ziplock back and cut a hole in one corner). Fill each cupcake to the top with the ganache. Top with Bailey's frosting and, if you're feeling really festive, green sprinkles.

Happy Saint Patrick's day everyone and póg mo thón! (By which I mean no offense, but it's the only Gaelic I remember of the very little I was taught...plus, ending a blog post about cupcakes by saying póg mo thón only adds to my bad-assery, amiright?)

It's Spring...I Guess.

Dress & Tights: Target

Cardigan: Charlotte Russe

Ring & Necklack: Forever 21

Belt & Shoes (that can't really be seen): Urban Outfitters

Though I wouldn't call this wonderful weather, it could be a lot worse. Today I decided to enjoy what Florida calls "spring weather" with my version of a spring-y outfit. Hello light clothes and fewer layers. And if I can help it, many more dresses with pockets. <3

Thank you to my new fashion photographer, Michelle, for the lovely documentation.

Cilantro Lime Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Christy and I spent 2 beautiful days together, and during the course of these days had great culinary success. Cooking with another vegan-inclined person is such a joy. I found this recipe here and modified it based on personal preference.

Lime Cilantro Sweet Potatoes

3 medium sweet potatoes, cubed

3 tbs olive oil

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp fresh lime zest

Juice from two limes

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

4 cloves of garlic, minced

We briefly microwaved the sweet potatoes so they'd be a little easier to cut. After cutting the potatoes into cubes, you stir them with the olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne, lime zest, and one lime worth of freshly squeezed lime juice. Then you will want to put them in the oven at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.

Stir in the cilantro, garlic, and juice from second lime. The recipe calls for 10 more minutes of baking, but we put it back in oven for about 20 minutes.

As mentioned in Christy's post, we paired these with delicious vegan black bean burgers. Personally, I thought that they tasted better cold the next morning. Overall, it was a very successful meal.

Christy Bear

Dress: American Apparel

Shoes and Earrings: Cotton On

Leggings: Target

Necklace: dELiA*S

When I was a little girl, my nickname was Christy Bear. I even had this little blue hair bow with a bear on it that I wore because of my nickname (cleeearly, my affinity for fashion started at a young age). Upon seeing the last photo, my a-door-bell little sister Becca remarked that everything from the color to the hair "just screamed Christy Bear." Well now, how could I not make that the title to this post?

I actually owe a lot to Becca in this post. Not only the blog title, but the adorable dress that she purchased for me for my birthday last year and the necklace which she unknowingly let me borrow. Thanks dear Bex!