Chocolate Blackberry Cupcakes

The weather outside is still early spring. The trees are just beginning to bud, the grass is a spectrum of muddy browns and dull greens, and temperatures are consistently less than 50 degrees. I am tired of cold weather and cloudy afternoons. I feel like I live in the land of perpetual winter. It feels strange that school ends in two weeks, that summer will finally arrive (though I imagine it will be more in name than spirit for now).

Despite Mother Nature's mixed signals, I could use a little summer in my life right now.

Each spring, when the snow melts and the comfort food cravings disappear, I fill my grocery basket with berries. Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries... whatever happens to be on sale for the week. I pick through half a dozen containers before I find the least damaged ones. I know these berries pale in comparison to their in season counterparts, both in taste and appearance, but I cannot help but fill my refrigerator with them.

They remind me of sunshine, warm afternoons, and good books. Those feelings have been sorely missed.

After a particularly fruitful grocery run, I had a tower of blackberries on the counter ready to be used. Though blackberry and vanilla go together well, I like to believe that blackberry and chocolate go together better. I boiled down the berries to release their juices, used the juice to make a fruity chocolate ganache, and dumped the rest of the berries into the cupcake batter. I infused these cupcakes with berries in as many ways as I knew how.

The finished cupcakes are light, the chocolate is rich, and they are wonderful, no matter the weather.

Chocolate Blackberry Cupcakes combine cocoa and berries in more ways than one. The delicate cupcake and the ganache contrast against one another, bringing out their difference in texture, but emphasizing the similarity in flavor. These cupcakes are lovely when served cold or at room temperature. The cupcakes can be made easily vegan by using dairy-free chocolate and milk.

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Honey Almond Quinoa Granola

The sun is peeking over the horizon when my alarm buzzes in the morning, my bedroom a hazy gray. The dim light makes it feel like a new day instead of a tired continuum of night. This has made all the difference, it seems, in mood and spirit. The long winter is over, the sun is warm once more, and it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

I am beginning to feel human again. It is the most glorious feeling.

I've been having a hard time finding my voice these last few months. I can hold words in my mind as well as water cupped between my hands. Eventually the water slips through my fingers, as do any thoughts I may have wished to share. For the first time in years, the recipes have slowed. I want to write when I have something to say, not to just fill this space with empty thoughts.

I am certain the recipes will come more often in the future, but for now I need more time to myself: to think, to breathe, to find the words to say. Thank you for being patient and supportive—it means so much.

A few times a year, I make a large batch of granola to last me through a busy week. When creating this granola, I sifted through the cupboards to gather together a few ingredients, missing so many of the common ingredients such as dried fruits or chocolate chips. In the end, it didn't matter. Whole grains, nuts, and a natural sweetener brought this granola together, making it something quite unique.

This may be both the healthiest and most enjoyable granola I have ever made. I hope you feel the same.

Honey Almond Quinoa Granola is a whole grain breakfast both filling and wholesome (and gluten-free). The quinoa provides a lovely crunch, with honey for sweetness, and toasted almonds for nuttiness. Over the course of a week, I enjoyed this granola drowned in milk, sprinkled over yogurt, and eaten by the handful for a midnight snack. Healthy and delightful, this is a breakfast you can feel good about.

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Almond Joy Candy Bars

Coconut never used to be a familiar word in my vocabulary nor did the fruit itself often find its way into my stomach. As landlocked as one could be, coconuts were as foreign of an idea as palm trees and tropical seas—the subject of many a daydream, but not of an everyday reality. I remember looking over the brown coconut shells in the supermarket, hard beneath my hands, and I was curious how long the coconuts had been sitting on the shelf (I had never witnessed a person purchase one before). A sign overhead asserted that the coconut could be opened best with an ice pick, pointed proof showing how far this little coconut was from home.

As I placed the coconut back on the shelf, I wondered if people in tropical climates carried around ice picks for this specific purpose. The thought struck me as silly, but I could not think of a tool better suited than the one for winter weather.

Eventually, my curiosity got the best of me and I bought a supermarket coconut of my own. I was skeptical of the coconut, as perhaps I should have been, but willing to keep an open mind. In the hot summer sun, I brought it back to my dorm room where my friends and I stared at it, wondering if we would be able to find an ice pick during this time of year. As we passed it between each other, pondering the usage of butcher knives and sharp rocks, my friend accidentally dropped it on the tile floor. Neatly splitting in two, the coconut water began to puddle around it.

A coconut, it seemed, hardly needed any motivation to open at all.

We stared at the coconut shell on the floor for a moment or two, in disbelief that the coconut was so fragile. My friend, who had lived in Hawaii the year before, took this as a bad omen. We scooped the supermarket coconut off the tile, trying to salvage as much as possible. The smell was musky and unpleasant. The taste, even worse. A bad coconut, my friend declared, as she cleanly tossed it in a nearby trash can.

Though my introduction to fresh coconut was less than ideal, it was the start of a coconut affair that would only grow and flourish. While fresh coconut may be out of the picture, dried coconut has become a pantry staple.

Homemade Almond Joy Candy Bars are much healthier and taste just as wonderful as the store-bought version. The coconut center is made with unsweetened shredded coconut, honey, and coconut oil to bind it together. With an almond on top and a chocolate coating, the candy bar is complete. While I placed almonds both inside and on top of the chocolate coating, I would suggest placing the almonds inside the chocolate coating. The almonds placed on top of the chocolate coating have a tendency to fall off during preparation. A no-bake treat, these candy bars can be ready in thirty minutes time.

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