After seeing Star Wars The Last Jedi twice over the holiday season, we’ve decided to take a lesson from our beloved Carrie Fisher and not give a fuck what people think and just say what’s on our minds. We’ve loved Carrie since we were kids but it’s only been in the last 12 months since her death that we’ve discovered what a bad ass she really was.

2017 has been a year of sticking our heads in the sand. No blog posts. No tweets. A few instagrams. And a lot of alcohol. The 2016 election sucked ass (and not in a good way). Then with the deaths of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds we just couldn’t face the world. Our funk went deeper and deeper. Even with three trips to Hawaii we still couldn’t bring ourselves out of being depressed. It seemed like nothing would get better and the world would end in a giant nuclear war.

It wasn’t as bad as we were expecting. The stock market didn’t crash, North Korea didn’t launch any missles at the U.S. (directly), and women (and men) we’re finally given a platform to discuss the rampant problem of sexual harassment and abuse without being brushed to the side by the same men that are the problem. Of course, we still have the predator in chief in the White House and a bunch of white privileged men controlling congress, but as 2017 ends there seems to be a light of hope with the coming of 2018.

As for food—since this is a food blog—our food habits have changed for the better since starting this blog. We turned vegan last September in 2017 and then gave up alcohol in November, which our bodies have thanked us for doing, especially our livers. We started with a 30-day vegan challenge and found after a week that the challenge turned out to be not only easy but enjoyable and cheap. Food tastes better. Intestinal issues are all cleared up. We have more energy and we’re exercising more. It’s amazing what a little positive change in one’s life can do to create a snowball effect. In 2018 we plan to reduce the amount of sugar and caffenine we consume and exercise even more than we do now. Maybe they’re the same resolutions as everyone else, but when you start with just one, it’s easy to add another one after a month or two.

We’ll do our best to write more posts and recipes. At least one a week. We’ll also try to include humor in our posts, the occasional political rant, and maybe a reference or two to a movie we love. We’ll also be tweeting and instagraming a lot more but we left facebook last year with no regrets. That shit takes too much time anyway. We’ll leave FB to our mothers to enjoy. [Note: our mothers have never read one of our blogs.]

For our first recipe of 2018 we turn back to Star Wars The Last Jedi. Spoiler: there’s a scene where Luke milks some creature and then drinks the green liquid, most of which goes down his beard, as Rey looks at him in disgust. We’re not attempting to make any green milk product here, although hemp seed milk does sound interesting. Instead here’s our version of cashew milk. Better tasting than store bought nut milk and regular cow’s milk. If Luke only had cashews on his island he wouldn’t have to drink that green stuff.

So, Cheers and May the Force Kick Some Ass in 2018!

Cashew Milk

A high speed blender like Vitamix makes the job easy, but any blender will work if you blend it long enough, I think.

3/4 cup cashews (soaked overnight covered with water and a pinch of salt)

3 1/2 cups filtered water

Optional: 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Drain the soaked cashews. Add them to the blender along with 2 cups of water. Blend for a minute or two until smooth. Add the rest of the water and maple syrup if using. Blend until combined, just a few seconds. If the milk isn’t smooth enough for you, strain through a fine mesh stained. Use as you normally would regular milk. Keeps for at least 3-4 days or longer in the back of the fridge where it’s coldest.