"I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it."

Mark Twain

Please use, if you can, real dried apricots. The ones that are not bright orange and full of sulphites.

Apricot mousse
(vegan, raw, grain-free)

200 g dried apricots (either purchased hydrated or soaked overnight)
150 g sunflower seeds (soaked for 2 hours)
30 g almond flour
25 cl non-dairy milk or water

In a blender, blend the dried apricots with the sunflower seeds and almond milk. Add the milk (or water) little by little until you reach the consistency of a mousse (it is thicker and less smooth than a traditional mousse). Serve apricot mousse with cardamome whipped cream (recipe below).

Cardamom whipped cream
(vegan, raw, grain-free)

Please see this recipe (only one can will do) and add ground cardamom to taste. I did not sweetened it but you can add raw powdered sugar if you'd like, though I wouldn't as the apricot mousse is very sweet.

“When you walk with naked feet, how can you ever forget the earth?” 

Carl Jung 

Lately I've spiced up my running routine : at least once a week, I run without my Garmin. No time, no speed, no heartbeat. No numbers. 

I. Just. Run. And I run free. 

The first 10 minutes, I focus my thoughts on my body. My breath. Inhaling, Exhaling. The brisk air making its way into my lungs. Vapour coming out. How my legs feel. My strides. How my body is poised. My ponytail swaying side to side. Side to side. Side to side. (ok that annoys me a lot). Once I've set up the right pace and the right stride, I let my thoughts wander. Oh dear, do I think. When my thoughts get too loud or I feel like I will end up more stressed than when I started running, I focus on the scenery and usually end the run feeling grateful for being able to run on this earth. When I run like this, I feel like I can change the world (fellow runners, tell me you feel that way too). I feel so strong everything becomes possible. Except  I eventually have to stop running and when I do so, I need comfort and energy, especially when it gets cold. These truffles are the perfect post-run snack. Chocolate for comfort, spices for warmth and nuts for energy!

I still love my  Garmin. It helps me get better, it prevents me from getting lost when I go trail running and it also helps me set limits. It's the perfect accessory to keep me motivated.

I haven't given measurements for the spices because I did not measure. Just adjust to your taste : I usually use more cinnamon and cardamom because that's what I like best.

Chocolate and spice truffle
(raw, gluten-free, grain-free, vegan)

65 g walnuts
60 g pecans
45 g almonds
20 g cashews
95 g dates, soaked in water (no need to soak them if they're soft, if you use Medjools for example)
20 g raw cacao
30 g cacao nibs
ground cinnamon
ground cardamom
ground anise
ground ginger
ground maca

raw cacao, for rolling

Process the nuts into a flour. Add in the dates and raw cacao. Pulse until it forms a dough. Transfer into a bowl. Fold in the cacao nibs and the spices. Mix well. Form little balls and roll them (but first dry your hands) in cacao if you want or in more cacao nibs. Keep in fridge for up to 6 days or freeze (they can be eaten straight from the freezer).

Truffes au chocolat et aux épices
(végétalien, sans gluten, cru)

65 g noix
60 g noix de pécan
45 g amandes
20 g noix de cajou
95 g dattes, pré-trempées ( ne pas les faire tremper si elles sont assez molles)
20 g cacao cru en poudre
30 g éclats de cacao
cannelle en poudre
cardamome en poudre
anis vert en poudre
gingembre en poudre
poudre de maca

du cacao cru en poudre

Dans votre robot, réduire en poudre les différentes noix. Ajouter les dattes et le cacao. Mixer jusqu'à former une pâte. Transférer dans un bol puis ajouter les éclats de cacao et les épices. Bien malaxer. Former des petites boules avec les mains humides. Les rouler (avec les mains sèches) dans du cacao en poudre (ou dans des éclats de cacao). Se conservent au frais pendant 6 jours mais elle peuvent être congelées.

After betraying my love for smoothies for a couple of weeks and trying liters and liters of different juices, the blender - and the smoothies - are back. I could have called this one a winter smoothie because the spices do add warmth to it but I decided to go with the pretentious name. 

Oriental smoothie
(vegan, for one)

20 cl almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)
2 dried figs (35 g)
1/2 frozen banana
1 teaspoon rose water
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground star anise

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.


Smoothie oriental
(végétalien, pour une personne)

20 cl de lait d'amande (ou autre lait végétal)
2 figues sèches (35 g)
1/2 banane congelée
1 c. à c. d'eau de rose
1/2 c. à c. cardamome
1/2 c. à c. de badiane

Mettre tous les ingrédients dans un blender et mixer jusuq'à ce que le mélange soit homogène.

Honouring my blog name

I chose the name Oh, Almonds because I love almonds. I was the kid who sniffed glue because it smelled like almond. The "Cleopatra glue" is my madeleine (you don't understand any of this, that's ok, for the glue see this link and for the madeleine Freudian-ish reference see Memory under Themes in this wikipedia article). I also begged my mum to keep the bitter almond extract in the cookie cutter box so the smell would overwhelm me when I opened it and that was a good plan as I used the cookie cutters a lot when I was a kid (I still have the box and it still smells of bitter almond). I like the downy feel of green almonds and the  pastel colours of almond trees in blossom and this painting by Van Gogh and of course I like eating almonds. As it turns out, almond flour is a great-gluten free flour and I'm happy with that.

I used almond flour and almond yogurt in this light and moist cake and fresh figs that are still in season, but not for long unfortunately.

I make my own almond flour just by grinding unbleached almonds in my blender (it works with a food processor, but the result will be a coarse texture).

If you'd like to know how to make your own almond butter and milk, please see my friend Maëlia's post on her blog. She even posted a recipe about how to use almond milk leftovers! A little almond heaven!

Cardamom fig cake
(vegan, gluten free)

100 g gluten-free flour
75 g almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt (do not omit)
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
30 g raw sugar

6 + 2 fresh figs
2 flax eggs
85 g agave syrup
125 g non-dairy yogurt (I used almond)
44.5 g olive oil

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Mix the dry ingredients until well combined, add the wet ingredients, except the figs, and mix well. Cut 6 figs in small pieces and add them to the batter. Pour into a cake mould. Slice the remaining figs and carefully position them on top of the cake. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool and then transfer to wire rack.