In October, Drinking Horchata...

I met Vampire Weekend once, did you know? Yeah, it was no big deal. Kyle and I were just strolling through D.C. near the White House one afternoon and there was the whole band just goofing off in a little security hut or something PERFECTLY legal like that. When I recognized Ezra, I did what I usually do when I see celebrities and freaked out, ran over to them, shoved my camera in Kyle's hand and forced him to take a picture. Turns out they were playing a show that night that I didn't get tickets for. And then they gave me free tickets!!!

Just kidding. They didn't. But they were really nice and totally normal dudes. Except for the fact that one time they wrote a song about a non-alcoholic drink, and really, what ELSE are you supposed to do when you're talking about cinnamon-y, creamy, sweet horchata?!

Lez-be-honest...I've actually never had horchata before. But I was re-looking-at (not reading, because pretty girls don't do that) my copy of It's All Good and came across Gwynnie's interpretation of the yummy Mexican drink and decided to try it. In October. In 50-degree weather. Even though it's a summer drink. I'm playing fast and loose with my seasonal beverages y'all!!! I'm like Miley Cyrus--I.CAN'T.STOP.

Horchata is basically like a sweeter, spicier version of almond milk. So if you like that stuff, you'll probably be into this. And if you're an alcoholic, you can add some rum or kahlua to it and get drunk in a more exotic way than usual (well, like, unless you're an alcoholic Jamaican or something).

Horchata (yes, it's Paleo!)

Makes 2 servings

• 1 cup soaked almonds (soak the almond in water overnight)
• 1-2 cups cold water
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp raw honey

1. In a blender, blend almonds (drained from soaking water) and 1 cup of cold water until smooth. You may need more water if the consistency is too thick. 

2. Pour almond milk through a fine mesh sieve or a nut milk bag to get the pulp out. By now you're probably wondering why I don't just tell you to use pre-made almond milk and the truth is, you probably could, but the whole thing about horchata is that you make it yourself, so I dunno...do what you want.

3. Return the almond milk back to the blender and combine with the seeds from the vanilla bean, cinnamon, salt, and raw honey and blend until well combined.

4. Serve chilled. Or maybe hot? I dunno.