sweet miscellany

Holy guacamole it’s 2016 ya’ll! And to celebrate I’m sharing a guacamole recipe, haha! I actually didn’t intend on the first post of this year to be a humble bowl of guacamole but I thought you might need it in your life. This guacamole is indicative of how I like to eat lately: fresh, uncomplicated, and full of bright, clean flavors.

This recipe was born out of not having cilantro to make guacamole on Christmas Eve to take over to my sister’s house. Since I love sage and happened to have a butt load of it at the time (yes, butt load is a unit of measurement), I decided to use it instead. The result was delicious (naturally) and it got me thinking about coming up with a simple recipe for a guacamole with winter vibes. Since guac tends to be more of a summer inspired dish I wanted to add some grounding flavors to make it appropriate for when the icy air is rattling your windows and stripping the trees of all their leaves.

Originally I was going to make some seedy crackers for you along with the guacamole, but my extra time went towards my yoga teacher training instead 🙂 So, I highly recommend Mary’s gone crackers (the ones pictured) or if you feel like an overachiever and have the time, make these babies from Sarah over at My New Roots.

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As I sat down to write this post and look back at what happened this year, it became really hard to fathom that another entire year has gone by. 12 months. 365 days. It seems to fly by so fast and before you know it, you’re ushering in yet another new year. This year has been one of self discovery. Figuring out who I am and what I want to do. Even if it means changing my mind and career trajectory a few times. I’ve had a lot of anxiety lately over my career path and a lot of worry/fear. It seems that my default is to play the “what-if” game which only ends up de-railing me in the end if I let it win. As I watched one of my favorite musicians last night, I suddenly got the message the universe has been trying to tell me. He was talking about how it’s no way to live if you are constantly afraid of tomorrow. Tomorrow is no guarantee so you might as well live life right this damn minute. Take charge! Do something! Do everything! Thank you Shakey, you’re so wise 🙂

I don’t share a whole lot about my personal life here on the blog, but here’s an update on where I am and where I’m going in 2016. I start yoga teacher in January and couldn’t be happier. Yoga has done a lot for me and I couldn’t imagine life without it at this point. It will be such an honor to pass this gift on to others as an instructor. I’m also planning on bringing the baking business side of Sweet Miscellany back from its hiatus! This means finding a new farmers market, completely overhauling my etsy shop, and creating a product line-up. And, I’m still planning on blogging and developing/photographing recipes as much as I can. I’ve dreamed of moving to Austin for a long time so it’s possible that may occur in 2016 though I’ll have my hands full enough as it is 🙂

Before I leave you with my list of favorites from this past year, I want to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of you that actually takes the time to read my blog. I know you have millions of other things to do, so thank you for making me a part of your day! Have the happiest of new year’s celebrations friends! I’ll be back in January with more tasty morsels for you 🙂

dark chocoalate cardamom mousse tart with coconut & candied ginger crust (this one helped me celebrate my 29th birthday at the beginning of the year)

late spring crostini with fennel frond gremolata (this beauty reconfirmed the fact that I love the shit out of eating things on toast)

solstice watermelon wedge salad (one of my favorite salads to date!)

spiced cacao maca shake (…and this one is my favorite shake/smoothie to date…mmmmmmm)

buckwheat scones with spiced butternut squash butter (I’m pretty sure I devoured all of these scones after shooting the photos…oops)

dark chocolate pumpkin truffles with smoked sea salt (pumpkin truffles…hell yes!!)

tahini dark chocolate chunk blondies with candied ginger & figs (I still dream about these blondies but haven’t made them lately for fear of eating the entire pan in one sitting)