The past week and a half have been somewhat crazy. I had a ton of prep work to do for a major presentation that I held last Friday and afterwards was rewarded with a mild cold. I rarely get sick nowadays and I credit my lifestyle for that. I maintain a balanced, plant-based diet; try to stay physically fit through Pilates, tennis and long walks with my dogs; and try to enjoy life to the fullest. It is easier said than done. I try not to be too hard on myself and occasionally give myself breaks. Honestly, life is too short to be stressed out all the time. Just breath!

I did not get to much cooking and baking this week, so my post probably won’t ignite any fireworks, but the recipe is still kind of nifty. My sister and I recently attended our annual family fondue, the ultimate meat fest. The hosts had brought a ton of veggies for us. I mean like 6 huge platters full of veggies. I think that they were worried that we wouldn’t have enough to eat. In the end, we were the only ones eating the veggies and barely managed to finish one platter. I felt like I myself had morphed into a broccoli floret, once tea and coffee was passed around.

Well, at the event, a relative of mine served homemade butter with lemon zest and sage. Although it was regular butter, I tried it anyway because I was curious how it tasted. It tasted really good, so I decided to make a vegan version for the blog. If you are invited to a potluck dinner and have little time to prepare something, I suggest bringing this butter and some baguettes. This butter is yet again an absolute crowd pleaser and only takes a minute to make. This butter takes any sandwich up a notch. Try it and be pleasantly surprised!

Instructions

Ingredients

• 250 g of vegetable butter
• Zest of 2 organic lemons
• batch of fresh, washed chives, to taste
• sea salt, to taste
• ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Add butter to a medium-sized bowl.
2. Chop some chives into little pieces.
3. Add the sage, together with the lemon zest, to the butter.
4. Mix all ingredients with a fork.
5. Season with salt and pepper. If desired, add more sage and/or some lemon juice.
6. Done!

Suggested Kitchen Soundtrack