September Favorites

Hello!

I have decided to start a substack where I will be sharing my monthly favorites, similar to how I do on instagram at the end of every month but much more in depth.

If you don’t know me my name is Aimee France (@aimeefrance on Instagram, you may know me as yungkombucha420 which was my old handle). I live in Brooklyn NY and own a business where I bake full time out of my apartment. My job is baking seasonally focused custom cakes and I do it all by myself. Think cool sculptural cakes not fondant, I guess I would consider myself an artist who makes edible sculptures. I also do content creation on instagram and tik tok (cringe word I know but i’m not sure how else to explain myself). I post most of my everyday life on instagram and more food/lifestyle videos on tik tok.

Now that you know a bit more about me here is what I want to talk about on this substack. I always want to go super in depth on instagram about my favorites, routines, etc but I feel like im bombarding people with words. I talk way too slow for tik tok, the videos would be 10 minutes long so I feel like writing everything out in an organized structure on substack is perfect. If you’re interested in looking back at any of this info for inspiration you’ll have it as a written guide that you can always refer to.

Every month I will cover the same topics so you know what to expect but the answers will always be a bit different especially when the seasons begin to change. If i’m feeling inspired that month I may add in something new.

Here are the following prompts I plan cover every month:

Favorites:

-food

-drink

-music

-fashion

-beauty

-wellness/movement

-miscellaneous

• current morning routine

• current night routine

• habits I want to implement/let go of in my routine

• current skin care routine

• monthly morning coffee

• monthly favorite sandwich

• monthly favorite salad combo/s

• vinaigrette/dressing of the month

• favorite thing I ate or drank this month

• favorite cake I made this month

• playlist of music I frequently listened to

We have officially entered Autumn and the cooler months of the year are coming. I always use this seasonal shift to switch up my routine, reorganize my space, and try to make small changes to improve my everyday life.

September Favorites:

Food:

grilled cheese

I don’t know why but the cooler weather just makes me want soup and a grilled cheese. I ate a lot of cheddar grilled cheeses this month specifically made on milk bread from takahachi bakery. Grilled cheese hack is toast it with mayo instead of butter for the most perfectly crisp grilled cheese (I like kewpie or dukes).

maple dijon viniagrette

This is kind of the perfect versatile autumnal vinaigrette. I have a recipe written for this under my monthly favorite viniagrette. You could use this for a salad dressing, to marinate meat, or roast veggies in. I have been eating it on almost every salad or wrap I make.

scrambled eggs with ketchup

All scrambled egg and ketchup slander please keep quiet. This flavor combo is so childhood nostalgia for me, i’m not sure why I avoided eating it for so long. I have this fancy ketchup I got when I was in LA, it is yellow datterino ketchup and i’ve been obsessed with it this month. I love a classic ketchup as well. This is my new breakfast hyper fixation for the time being.

turkey bacon

Fun fact I had never eaten turkey bacon until this month. I saw it at whole foods and wanted to try it because sometimes pork or beef bacon is just too heavy and kinda hurts my stomach (though I do still eat it). When I first tried turkey bacon I was being a hater because I was comparing it to traditional bacon. I have come to the realization that turkey bacon is in its own category and I think I like it. I really have been enjoying it with my breakfast, on an autumnal salad with dates and apple, crumbled on soup, or even in a breakfast burrito. I usually buy the applegate brand from whole foods. Sometimes you can learn to love the things you hate.

sweet potatoes

There is something about a soft pillowy sweet potato fresh out of the oven with roast chicken and a salad in the fall. One of my favorite ways to eat a sweet potato or any baked potato is with butter, honey, greek yogurt, salt, pepper, and maybe an herb (fried sage could be nice). Usually I will meal prep potatoes for the week so I roast them all at once and place them in a tupperware that I keep in the fridge. When I want to eat one I heat it up on a cast iron pan charring both sides so the skin gets crispy. It is so good and this way you can just have a quick baked potato if you want it.

avocado

This is another food I have been a hater about in the past. Im not sure if I love avocados for their flavor, maybe more of the texture/creaminess they add to a dish. When I say this I am referring to just regular hass avocados you can from a grocery store. When I was in LA last april I was blown away by how many varieties of avocado there were at the farmers market. There was one specific farm that had im not kidding 10 different varieties of avocados, I made it my duty to try as many as I could. Let me tell you there is a difference flavor and texture wise from the avocados you buy at a grocery store versus the harder to find varieties only available at farmers markets. That story was a little side note but I just needed to reiterate and explain why I have been an avocado hater in the past and why I think I have had a change of heart. I now enjoy conventional avocados if I season them well and add a decent amount of lemon or lime juice. I have been loving avocado with turkey bacon and eggs, in a sandwich, bagel, burrito, or even crumbled on a salad.

jupiter grapes

I need to talk about these grapes. I have had jupiter grapes in the past (NH grown) but… I got some of these grapes from phillips farm at USQ green market this month and all I have to say is WOW. Truly I bought them because of the way they looked but when I got home and tried them I gasped. They taste like if a concord and a muscat grape had a child. If you can get your hands on these try them because I was truly blown away! I got them at the Monday market.

roast chicken

This month I have been BUSY. Its wedding cake season and I have been baking non stop. It has lowkey been kinda hot out this month as well. Since im working so much I really can’t cook and turn on the oven to cook meals because hot kitchen = melted cakes. Recently I have been buying half a roast chicken from marlow and daughters and this has been the best easy protein to have in the fridge. Roast chicken is so versatile and you can really dress it up and turn it into whatever recipe you want. Some meals I have made this month with it were: sandwiches, tacos, salads, roast chicken with potato, chicken salad, etc. Such a time saver and the one from marlow and daughters is so good. I like to save the leftover carcass in the freezer and make bone broth as well. I wish foster sundry sold roast chicken in this style.

Drink:

harmless harvest coconut water

I never feel like I am drinking enough to stay hydrated and honestly sometimes find myself going hours without drinking any water. Im not sure why I do this but I usually drink way more water in the evening than during the day. One thing that has been keeping me hydrated is coconut water, specifically harmless harvest. This is for real my favorite coconut water. I hate that I tried this one over the vita coco because I feel like I have become a coconut water snob, this is now an expensive habit of mine.

cinnamon maple matcha cortado

I love a 2-3PM matcha. I’m usually a coconut water or matcha water kind of girl but sometimes in the fall I want a cozy hot tea or a milky beverage in the afternoon. Next time I make one of these i’ll film a tik tok and i’ll add the link here so I can give a visual recipe. I like rockys matcha or Ipoddo.

Music:

apple- bladee

eversince- bladee

I’ve been draining this month, something about eversince is so nostalgic to me. I probably listened to it 1 or 2 times through everyday this month. No skip album, I love it so much.

Fashion:

buci skirt

This skirt was a wardrobe staple for me in September. It is so effortless to throw on, extremely comfortable, and always makes me feel super cute and girly. You can dress it up or down, it’s truly the perfect little black mini skirt.

Merrell moab 3 goretex

My everyday sneaker, I just got a really cool blue pair but I don’t think the color way is online anymore. These are the most comfortable shoe I have ever owned and I have gone through 6-7 pairs over the years (walk a mile in these louboutins). They are one of the only pairs of shoes I can walk around in without getting a sciatica flare. I think they’re starting to get trendy that’s why they’re so difficult to find online now.

compression socks

These are the best if you work a job where you are standing all day or even if you’re just doing a lot of walking. I lowkey think they just look cute as knee socks too and I style them with my normal outfits. Compression socks have saved me so many times, if you do not own a pair I highly recommend you invest in some because they truly might change your life.

Beauty:

red lipstick

I used to be really self conscious about wearing any type of lip product. When I was younger I used to get made fun of for my small mouth, it made me never want to put on lipstick on draw attention to my lips. Recently I decided to try a red lip, something I always thought looked horrible on me. I ended up loving how it looks, I think it makes me look like a little doll with the way my mouth is shaped. This is my favorite lip liner by charlotte tilbury in Hollywood honey and this is my favorite lipstick from saie. I do a combo of dada and classic. I finish with this lip oil from dior in mahogany.

baby lips

Recently I decided to order a baby lips off amazon and I have been using it so much. It tastes the same and is super nostalgic. My favorite shade as a child was grape vine

slicked back pixie cut with side part

At the beginning of the summer I got a pixie cut for the first time since 2020. I was kinda lost on how to style it because I was afraid of how I was going to look and how I would be perceived. I decided I was going to try styling it in a few different ways. To be honest I think what inspired this was a tik tok I saw of someone saying you should do your hair and makeup like a celebrity that looks like you. So what did I do? I went on pinterest and started looking at photos and I found a side part slick back look that I thought might be cool. I achieved this hairstyle by just wetting my hair, using hair gel, hair spray, and brushing it until I got it to look how I wanted. I think it’s such a fun look. Doing your hair is so fun and really can complete a look.

trader joes pumpkin body scrub

You need to buy this. Im not even a trader joes head but I will go out of my way to buy this body scrub. It smells SO GOOD, not even like pumpkin, it’s more brown sugar scrub vibes. I love to use it before I shave as an exfoliator. 10/10 product, I bought two this year because I ran out last year and they stopped selling it, I might even go buy a third.

Wellness/movement:

strength training

26&2 hot yoga

move with nicole

I feel like every month I kinda switch up my workout routine but I really have been loving going to a strength training class once a week and doing a lot of 26&2 traditional hot yoga. Summer I was in a pilates phase but something about the cooler weather makes me want to do more hot yoga. I always feel so good afterwards and lowkey I feel like whenever I start doing a lot of yoga I kinda get yolked. I have also been loving doing move with Nicole videos at home. It’s so nice to start the morning with a relaxing stretching session. This has been my favorite video this month I probably do it every other day.

Miscellaneous:

ronnybrook dairy farm trip

I got the opportunity to go on a trip to visit the Ronnybrook dairy farm and it was such an eye opening experience. Ronnybrook is my favorite milk brand, I swear I have at least 5 empty heavy cream bottles in my apartment at all time. During my trip there we got a tour of the farm. The farm and all the facilities where they produce the milk is so small I can’t believe how much product they produce with so little employees and machinery. It is a multi generational farm that has been passed down for decades and they really do things the old fashion way. There are not many farms left that are operating in this style. They really care about their cows and this is why they produce such high quality milk with such high milk fat percentage. Normal milk is only about 3.4% milk fat with added water, theirs is closer to 5%+. This is why a lot of the time when you open a bottle of their milk there is a little bit of cream at the top. I feel like I learned so much on this trip I could write an essay about it but I wont bore you with the details. While we were at the farm they made us a delicious lunch with your choice of a hot dogs, cheeseburgers, or grilled cheese. Let me tell you these burgers were serious, they were cheffing up. I had a grilled cheese and it was the best grilled cheese I have had in awhile. They also made us milkshakes as an afternoon treat. We got sent home with so many goodies from the farm like this delicious maple milk that I actually just used to make yogurt, cinnamon butter, chocolate milk, we even got to make our own homemade compound butter to bring home. I also bought so much merch from their farm store. 10/10 experience if you ever get the opportunity to visit I highly recommend.

bose ultra open ear buds

I actually got sent these as PR but they have become my most used ear buds. I like how you can still hear your surroundings because sometimes I get scared walking around wearing headphones. The design of them is unique and it seriously does not feel like you’re wearing headphones at all, they are so light weight. If youre looking for a good pair of earbuds but don’t want to get AirPods maybe check these out. This is not sponsored by the way, yes they sent me them but I am not being paid to say this I just genuinely really like them!

pinterest

I feel like I say this every month but I love pinterest!!! I do not post on pinterest (though I have been told my cakes are trending on there? I have not posted any of those photos). But I do love to make mood boards. I don’t know what it is but scrolling on pinterest evokes this indescribable feeling almost the same feeling of when I used to use the app as a 12-14 year old. Anyways I love it and you can check out my pinterest and follow me if you want.

setting timers for tasks

Setting timers for tasks is so motivating for me. Usually I will use the timer on my microwave so it beeps really loud and I am forced to stop or take a break. I do use the timer on my phone a lot as well. Some ways I like to utilize my timers is to remind myself to drink water, work on editing for 30 minute increments, allow myself 20-30 minutes of time on my phone, remind myself that I am steeping tea (sometimes I make tea and forget), etc. You should try doing this if you have never done it before.

bink

This is so horrible of me and I wish this wasn’t true but I have the hardest time drinking water everyday. I truly believe that getting a new water bottle can change your water drinking habits because I recently got a bink and now consume way more water on a daily basis. To be honest this is my at home water bottle because it is too big and heavy (it’s glass) to carry around in my bag. The fact that it has a straw is life changing to me. I think im going to get one of the minis for travel and maybe a tumbler. I have the day bottle in tangerine (I got it to match my phone case).

September Morning Routine:

I find when the seasons are transitioning my morning routine is a bit all over the place. I feel more tired a lot of the time especially when I am working a lot and am not able to sleep as well as I wish I could. The darker mornings are hard as well. Most mornings in September have been spent either waking up extremely early around 5/6AM to start baking. If im not baking that morning I will wake up around 7AM (which for me is considered kinda late) and I try to achieve a few tasks upon waking up and then have a more relaxed morning. Here is what my ideal morning routine would look like for fall, I’m going to try to stick to this everyday but sometimes it’s not realistic and I have to do what works for that specific day.

-6AM wake up

-Complete tasks around my apartment or go on a walk for 30-1 hour

-7AM make breakfast

-7:30AM eat breakfast and answer DMS/text messages

-8:00AM morning emails

-8:30AM bathroom/clean kitchen/make bed/feed sourdough starter

-8:50AM get ready

-9AM morning walk/home workout/stretching or head to exercise class

10:00-10:30AM actually get ready for day

11AM begin work day

September Night Routine:

Like I said before I have been extremely busy with work this past month because its wedding season. Some nights I’ll be working late, other nights I have an event to go to and I get home later than expected. I try to at least have a cup of tea and do my night time stretching before bed (that’s a non negotiable). Most week days I spend my nights at home and do more socializing on the weekend but every week is different. Since I don’t work a normal 9-5 my schedule fluctuates every week and is never totally the same. I prefer to eat an earlier dinner especially during the fall/winter when the sun sets before 7PM. Sometimes if I don’t stretch or exercise I will do that in the evening either at home or ill go to a class, it really just depends on how im feeling that day. Here is what my ideal night routine would look like for fall, I’m going to try to stick to this everyday but sometimes it’s not realistic and I have to do what works for that specific day.

4:30-5PM finish working

5-6PM make and eat dinner

6:30PM clean up kitchen and vacuum

7:00PM evening walk

8:00PM shower

8:30PM get ready for bed

8:45PM make sleepy time tea with elderberry + fill bink with water and a pinch of celtic salt

9:00PM evening stretching in bed

9:20PM relax

10:00-10:30PM go to bed

Habits I want to implement into my fall routine:

• going to the sauna

  I love going to a sauna in the colder months of the year. It is a big motivating factor for me to leave the house especially because I get cold so easily (I swear I am cold blooded for real). Not only does it make me leave my apartment but I always feel amazing after, it really helps with chronic pain and my sciatica which usually flares in the winter.

• yin yoga

  I used to go to yin yoga all the time but low-key fell off this summer, the classes never aligned with my schedule. I could do it at home but there is something about going to a yin yoga class on a cool fall or winter night that just hits so different. I also think it’s super important to be on top of doing deep stretches during the colder months of the year when your body might feel a bit more tight.

• afternoon tea

  The act of afternoon tea truly means slowing down and taking a moment to myself especially when im having a crazy work day. Most afternoons I will not take breaks. I think an afternoon tea break will be most beneficial for me. In December I will have my tea advent calendar again to look forward to and having a dedicated time to drink my special daily tea is exciting to me.

Night time stretching routine:

I recommend researching and watching a video online before attempting any of these stretches to make sure you are doing them with proper form.

Foam roll

Neck and shoulder roll/stretches

Wrist stretches

Forward fold/rag doll

Legs up the wall 10-15 mins

8-10 slow and controlled bicycles with Pilates breath

Banana

Supine twist

Figure four

Figure four twist

Butterfly

Happy baby

Wind removing pose

Broken wing

Puppy pose

Cat cow

Bridge (with yoga blocks)

Heart and lung bench (with yoga blocks)

Goals I want to accomplish next month:

• Apply to get healthcare

• Reorganize my closet/ donate clothing

• Reorganize kitchen

• Reorganize office

• Organize and plan my trip to LA

September skincare routine:

Morning:

daily cleanser: cerva hydrating facial cleanser

moisturizer: fresh rose face cream

terhartz gua sha

spf: cos rx aloe soothing sun cream

By the way im super into gun she and facial massage, maybe more on that next month.

Evening:

oil cleanser: squalane cleanser the ordinary

cleanser: same cerave cleanser

elemis resurfacing facial pads

moisturizer: same fresh rose face cream

Wednesday and Sunday I exfoliate using this

Tuesdays and Thursday I use retinol, i like this one from the ordinary

Favorite cake I made this month:

This one was inspired by Coraline’s garden if you are familiar with that scene in the movie. The flavor was a matcha olive oil cake with toasted coconut + salted caramel + mascarpone filling and black sesame buttercream naturally dyed blue with butterfly pea tea. Decorated with zinnias, marigolds, topped with a green strawberry.

Monthly morning coffee:

Hot americano but more in the ratios of a cortado so I think it’s technically called an italiano? I might be wrong about that you can fact check me and let me know the correct name for it.

Vinaigrette/dressing of the month:

To get more into a fall vibe i’ve been making this maple dijon vinaigrette which tastes so good on any salad, you could even use it as a marinade. I made a really delicious salad which included spinach, figs, dates, toasted walnuts, turkey bacon, and goat cheese with this vinaigrette and it was fab. I don’t really ever measure so here are the ingredients, measure with your heart. It’s also fun to layer different acids so if you have a cool vinegar you want to pair with the apple cider instead of lemon that’s always a fun way to play around. Sometimes i’ll do champagne vinegar or mirin. If you have an almost empty jar of mustard that is a great vessel to use to make and store your vinaigrette, it also helps use up every last morsel of mustard.

Maple dijon vinaigrette

-olive oil

-dijon mustard

-seeded mustard

-apple cider vinegar

-lemon juice

-worceshire sauce

-salt

-pepper

-maple syrup

Favorite salad of the month:

spinach, dates, fig, toasted walnuts, turkey bacon, gouda maple dijon vinaigrette

Favorite sandwich of the month:

cheddar grilled cheese

Favorite bite of the month:

Carmentas fried kenneback potatoes tossed in chili oil served with herb garlic mayo

Favorite cheese from the little nibbles section at whole foods:

clarina gouda 18 month aged pasteurized cows milk

Playlist of my most frequently listened to songs in September

Something special for October:

Pumpkin muffin recipe

Please DM me or tag me in a photo if you make them!

That’s all for this month, I am super excited for October and i’ll talk to you so soon <3

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tiktok

cake order info