Perhaps you have wondered where I have been.  Well, I’m back!  Over the last couple of months I have suffered a concussion that required me to suspend as much brain activity as possible for a few weeks (pity me), travelled to Australia which had me laying on white sand beaches for a couple of weeks (envy me) and now, here I am, recovering from the first 40 hour work week I’ve had since the beginning of February (just let me feel sorry for myself, ok?).  Let me tell you, I don’t know how the world gets anything done with only a 2 day weekend.  This photo pretty much sums up my general state of being for the past 2 months:

One of the things I am doing to help me reset after being out for so long is a cleanse.  I’m a big fan of indulgences, but there comes a time when vegetables become too scarce for too long, the fridge is always empty because you don’t cook, and your lifestyle ultimately becomes one continuous stream of indulgences with a bit of sleep in between.  I came home from the organic grocery store with several exciting things including a cleanse friendly, sprouted grain, sugar-free cereal make by Ezekiel.  I don’t know why I was particularly excited about this cereal–I don’t normally even eat cereal.  I envisioned it to be the perfect semblance of the outer-cleanse world while still keeping me safe and satisfied in the toxin-free bubble.  I got home and immediately poured myself a small bowl in order to sample this new sprouted jewel I had found.  It was hilariously bland.  It was like a 40 hour work week in my mouth.  It tastes like how I imagine pure fibre would taste, but with a delightful crunch.

I’m not hating on the product.  I actually respect the brand for making a quality product that makes us all realize how much sugar is in regular cereal.  It’s just hard when that realization is so shockingly unsavoury.  I think I’m going to need to keep searching for that prized comfort food that will get me through.

Just to torture myself, but perhaps be of more interest to you, I’d like to revisit one of the most delicious experiences of my last two months.  I was in Seattle over the weekend and paid a visit to Hot Cakes: A Molten Chocolate Cakery.  Hot Cakes makes an array of organic comfort food style desserts.  Most famously: molten chocolate cakes, but they also make a variety of cookies, cocktails, milkshakes, boozy milkshakes, caramel sauces and much more.  It’s an eclectic little shop and everything we had was fantastic.  The treat I found most interesting was a s’more cookie that actually tasted like campfire.  The cakery uses smoked chocolate chips to achieve this and every bite was a step closer to the nights of my childhood spent under the stars and around a campfire.

It was clear that the molten chocolate cakes are their specialty (and their namesake).  This cake was a work of art in presentation and composition.  Drizzled with their specialty caramel sauce, sided by vanilla ice-cream, pistachios and peanut butter fudge, the charming cake was served bubbling and gooey in a teeny mason jar.  One bite revealed more peanut butter fudge immersed in the molten chocolate.  It was totally rich and totally delicious.

I find the story of Hot Cakes rather inspiring.  Autumn Martin, the owner, was the head chocolatier for a prominent Seattle-based chocolate company, Theo.  She loved her job, and had what many people would believe to be a great job, in her field.  She gave it up to pursue her own ambitions and to further explore her love of chocolate.  And what a success!  Hot Cakes makes delicious products with innovative flavour combinations.  It has been featured in several Seattle magazines.  The cafe was packed while we were there with dozens more people taking treats to go.  Hot Cakes is a story of hard work, ambition, and a clever palette paying off.