Ever since my juice cleanse I’ve been tossing around the idea of making healthy juices and shakes at home. I started out by making one inspired by my favorite drink from One Lucky Duck, a vegan juice bar in Union Square and Chelsea Market. I thought it turned out pretty well. The cashew milk and frozen bananas lend it a nutty flavor and creamy texture that’s exactly like a milkshake without the milk. Here’s the recipe:

1 banana, sliced and frozen
3/4 cup cashew milk (This is, admittedly, the trickiest ingredient to track down. I found some at Whole Foods, but I might try it with almond milk in a pinch.)
1/2 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (but I like a LOT of cinnamon. Use less if you’re not a cinnamon fanatic.)
Vanilla bean (I added about 1/2 to 1 inch of a bean. Here’s a helpful site about how to use vanilla beans.)
Blend in a blender until creamy. This makes about 10 oz but it is pretty rich. You could use two bananas and double it for a bigger drink.

I set out to buy some scotch for cocktails and ended up with a lease on a one-square-foot plot of land in Scotland. When you buy a bottle of Laphroaig the bottle is tagged with a unique ID number that you can enter at www.laphroaig.com/plot. A few moments later they’ll send you a deed promising to pay you a yearly rent of one dram of Laphroaig for use of the plot, to be collected at the distillery. Should you decide to seek out your plot they’ll provide you with a map, wellingtons, a tape measure, protective headgear to guard against low-flying geese, a life belt and anchor to prevent you from being blown out to sea, and mysteriously, “one ball of string for securing trouser legs from inquisitive stoats.” It’s a cool promotion for the adventurous scotch-drinker, if you don’t mind curious ferrets crawling up your leg, I suppose. As for myself, sipping some super-smokey, peaty Laphroaig 10 Year Old in my Brooklyn abode is adventure enough. This scotch is definitely an acquired taste, but it is a memorable one that has won over many.

Lately it seems like I’ve been seeing “barrel-aged” slapped on everything. You can buy beer aged in apple brandy barrels, cider aged in bourbon barrels, and even your very own home cocktail aging kit. As soon as I heard about maple syrup aged in bourbon barrels though, I thought, “bingo.” That’s like hearing about someone just inventing adding milk to dry cereal. And it makes sense, too—of all the hard liquors out there bourbon seems like the most breakfasty. Elevenses, or the 11am whiskey break, was an American tradition, and bourbon’s smooth, full-bodied sweetness seems like it would compliment syrup perfectly.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to track down any Tuthilltown Bourbon Barrel Matured Maple Syrup, which would be worth owning for the awesome bottle design alone. But I did find some bourbon barrel maple syrup made by Blis at Sur La Table. The syrup is aged in 12-18 year old single barrel bourbon casks, which are “carefully agitated until the honey, charred oak, vanilla and spice notes are imparted into the maple syrup syrup for a pure, one-of-a-kind natural flavor.” Well, twist my arm. I plunked down $19 and started planning a pancake breakfast.

The pricetag was justified at first taste. The syrup had a smokey-sweet kick like the fumes off a tumbler of bourbon, but with a rich, buttery aftertaste. The flavor was so unsubtle that I’d feel bad serving this to kids, but that might just be because I want it all for myself. It spiced up my pancake stack nicely, but I could see pouring this over fruit, yogurt, ice cream, sweet potatoes, mixed drinks, and probably lots of other things. If Blis made a travel-sized version I’d probably bring it with me to brunch. Going back to regular maple syrup will be rough.

Sur La Table
75 Spring St. between Lafayette St. and Cleveland Pl.
Mon-Sat 9:30am-8pm, Sun 11am-7pm

I wish the ending of this story was that I bought a juicer, made some amazing homemade juice on the cheap, and kept right on cleansing but that’s not what happened.

The situation on the morning of day four was I had decided to extend my juice cleanse, I had no BluePrint Cleanse juice left, and I needed to be at work early for a meeting. So I cheated by having some fresh pineapple and a Vitamin Water. I also hit up One Lucky Duck in Chelsea Market (did I mention Chelsea Market is Snackish heaven??) for a fresh-pressed juice. The Thai green juice with greens, pineapple, cilantro and lime was amazingly delicious but it was—hold onto your seat—$10. I realized I couldn’t sustain this cleanse for much longer, not for hunger reasons, but for financial ones. Read more…

Days two and three were where I reached a turning point on my BluePrint juice cleanse. On day two I woke up thinking about a cappuccino and bagel again, and feeling crushed that I would not have them. It was twenty degrees outside and the last thing I wanted was more cold juice. I planned to stay home and work the full day, and I was able to get some writing and other work done despite being anxious and fixated on timing my next juice. Drinking lots of hot green tea with a little agave nectar really helped, and I could see just how much of my life revolved around food and drink. I have a lot of time freed up when I’m not looking for, photographing, preparing, or consuming food. But oh, I missed it. Even seeing a photo of a cheeseburger in my Tumblr feed felt like a punch in the heart.

On the morning of day three I felt… different. Read more…