Flip Flops and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Spring has sprung! (uhh, I think)

Yesterday was gross and rainy and I was cold and tired but today! Today! It's in the high forties, the sun is beaming down on us, and my mood is restored. I gleefully headed downtown for my first class at 9:30 (alright, so maybe “gleefully” isn't entirely accurate – I was headed to my boring science class after all) and took in some Vitamin D. An hour later, after sitting through a presentation by an abysmal guest lecturer, I had a very important decision to make: do I stay on campus for my three hour break or do I go home? Now, a reasonable person would argue that I already lugged my lunch down to campus with me and I had an exam to study for, so I should really stay on campus and be productive. However, that's just not who I am the majority of the time, so I hopped a bus back to Gramercy! And do you want to know what I did once I got there? I think you do:

CHLOE COSCARELLI'S CINNAMON-ESPRESSO CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Oh Chloe, you never steer me wrong! Now, I'm a huge fan of Ms. Coscarelli, so if you haven't heard of her you should really check out her recipes. She first burst onto the scene as the vegan baking maven who beat out all the other egg- and dairy-heavy cupcakes on Food Network's Cupcake Wars, and in the last twelve months she has released two cookbooks, Chloe's Kitchen (2012), and Chloe's Vegan Desserts (2013).

In Chloe's Kitchen, Coscarelli expanded on her obvious talent for sweet confections by collecting a varied assortment of both her sweet and savory recipes, many of which have become staples in my house. Her mac and “cheese” and peanut noodle recipes pop up in my kitchen more often than I'd like to admit... But as much as I love love love her lunch and dinner recipes, there's a special place in my heart for her sweet recipes. Hence these cookies:

So after scarfing down my pad thai salad (recipe courtesy of yet ANOTHER vegan goddess, Isa Chanda Moskowitz) I happily whipped up these bad boys. Exam tomorrow?! I'll just study later... with a big fat cookie and glass of almond milk by my side. Now, doesn't that sound much better?

Cinnamon-Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies 
(from Chloe Coscarelli's Chloe's Kitchen)

Makes 26 3-inch cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegan margarine
3 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups dairy-free semisweet chocolate chips (I probably used closer to 1 cup)
About 1/4 cup granulated sugar for sprinkling 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 or 3 large baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. 
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. 
• In another bowl, using a mixer, beat margarine and espresso powder until well combined. Add powdered sugar and brown sugar, and beat until combined. 
• Mix in the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time. If dough seems too dry to scoop, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water. Stir in chocolate chips. 
• Scoop about 2 tablespoons dough at a time. Roll each scoop in a small plate of sugar. Place each scoop, round side up, on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. 
• For crisp cookies, gently flatten the dough with the palm of your hand. For soft cookies, leave as is.
• Bake about 12 to 14 minutes, or until the edges are browned. Let cool and serve!

Two of my roommates came in an out of the kitchen while I was baking these little chunks of heaven, and I officially became THAT roommate. The one who just yesterday spent an absurd amount of time shopping at both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods and chopping up fresh veggies to store in the fridge.

My name is Brenna and I'm a foodie.

P.S. This is me geeking out last month at a book signing event at The Natural Gourmet Institute here in NYC. I may or may not have spilled to Chloe that she's my idol...

Happy Tuesday! Peace, love, and cookies, y'all!

xoxoxo

Sundays and Sugar

There's this vegan food truck here in NYC called The Cinnamon Snail, and up until today I have lusted after them from afar, ogling beautifully Instagrammed pictures on Twitter of decadent, sugary baked goods and plotting my first encounter. Their menu makes my mouth water, with both sweet and savory options, and this morning I woke up to find that they were parked in Union Square, so how could I resist?!

Bear in mind that I just returned last night from being home in Massachusetts for four days, where I baked crumb cake, lemon poppy seed muffins, and devoured almost an entire box of Thin Mints. So this actually couldn't have come at a worse time. Hopefully this means that I've gotten this insatiable need for sugar out of my system and I can go back to craving kale chips and raw cacao macaroons.

So here I was this morning: I showered, threw on some spandex and my sneaks (in an effort to look like I was out being active and not loading up on sugar), and headed down to Union Square. Sunday mornings in New York might be my favorite time, especially now that spring is coming, because everyone who's out and about seems to be enjoying the sun. There's a different kind of vibe, and it always puts a smile on my face.

So I sidled up to The Cinnamon Snail truck and was shocked to see that no one else was in line. I was fully prepared to put in the time and wait for my treats (this picture was taken yesterday) but in this case I guess the early bird gets the worm! I stood, perusing the mountains of donuts, and finally settled on three amazingly beautiful treats: a cinnamon bun, a chocolate cookie glazed donut, and a maple glazed donut with coconut.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm

I sauntered back to my apartment, clutching my bag of donuts, intoxicated by the familiar donutty smell that was wafting into my nostrils. Donuts are intrinsically linked to childhood memories for me, connecting me to people and places that are no longer a part of my life. But the smells – the smells! - bring me back. And that, right there, is one of the things I love about food.

And MAN were these treats scrumptious! I think it's a good thing that the truck is very rarely parked in my neighborhood at a convenient time for me, or else I'd weigh 400 pounds. Lately I've had a strong craving for donuts, and these bad boys really delivered. They tasted just like the donuts of my youth, especially the coconut one, and I now need to compensate with a dinner of veggies, rice, and tofu. And go to the gym tomorrow. But it was so worth it.  

Love and What I Ate

I'm back to blogging, y'all!

After documenting a tumultuous year of personal discovery (which is still going on) in my first blog, I've decided that there's a huge part of who I am and what I love to do that I've only really briefly touched upon: food.

Now that I'm settled (or as settled as I can be) back at NYU, my life is pretty boring: I'm in class, I'm reading mountains of textbooks and articles, I'm writing papers, I'm trying to be social, and I'm glued to Netflix and Hulu at the end of the day. The most exciting part of being back in New York City for me is the plethora of amazing vegan food options. From all types of restaurants imaginable, to food trucks, to farmer's markets, to grocery stores, being a vegan in this city is pretty amazing.

I figure that my day-to-day life is much more boring than my amazing adventure last fall, so it wouldn't make for an entertaining blog anymore. BUT! My love for vegan food can't be suppressed, especially now that I'm back in NYC, and I find that there's so much that I want to share and talk about. My light at the end of the tunnel when I'm stressed and overwhelmed is thinking about what new restaurants to try, reading recipes, and sharing all this love with the people in my life.

I'm going to try not to get all preachy or corny, but here it goes: for me, eating a vegan diet is about consuming compassionately. I'm hyper-aware of the food that I eat, and the quality and backstory of the ingredients I am consuming. This does not mean, however, that I am a perfect, uber healthy spokesgirl for nutrition. I eat junk more often than I'd like - I'm not perfect. But even when I devour more than my fair share of Thin Mints (ahem, like I did this afternoon) I think about what I'm putting into my body, and for me, I've reached a point where I am not comfortable consuming any animal products. There's no one simple reason for this, and maybe I'll elaborate more at a later date, but this is what it boils down to for me: I want to live a life full of love, and over the years I've found so much joy and peace and inspiration by getting rid of meat, seafood, dairy, eggs, etc. from my life.

My goal with this blog is to take what I've learned and what I feel and show people that a vegan diet can be really kick ass, and it definitely isn't just lettuce and sprouts. Cooking and baking delicious vegan food is about putting a little love back into the world. How can you argue with that?