Last week we decided to rise to an even bigger baking challenge! We made yeast our required ingredient -and let me tell ya – I have no regrets!

I decided it was time to bake my Grandma B’s sticky buns. These are not your ordinary Carmel-pecan sweet rolls. Oh no -these are different – filled with jam or jelly for the stickiness! And I have memories of them from my childhood.

Christmas morning breakfast on Maxwell crescent, I was 10 years old and my Grandma had made a pan of sticky buns for us. It was a special occasion because my grandparents were staying with us on Christmas AND we were having sticky buns! I remember what the rolls looked like, how they smelled and how the first bite tasted in my mouth. Warm, soft, gooey, sweet with cherry jam.

Friends, it has taken me 34 years to get around to making this deliciousness! I’m not sure what took so long – but this past week it was finally time!!

Because Grandma’s recipe was not in the family cookbook I called my Aunt Sharon for a sticky buns consultation. And she had just the information I needed. Well sort of … you see the recipe for sticky buns isn’t exactly written down. It’s more like a verbal tradition. Make dough, roll it out this particular way, fill up crevices with jam, and bake. Stir up icing to spread on when the buns are cool. That’s pretty much it. Not a lot to go on except personal experience and practice.

But I have good news for you – using Grandma’s recipe for bread dough I gave it a whirl – and by a whirl I do mean it looked like a tornado went through my kitchen, hitting me flour canister the hardest! But my batch of sticky buns turned out better than I had hoped!

Now up on the mountain, Theresa made us a batch of her homemade cinnamon rolls with orange creamy frosting and they were exceptional. I’ll step out on a limb here and say they are the best in town – better than any bakery for sure!!

I don’t really have any recipes to share with you today except this:

It would not be an overstatement to say that I love peanut butter. And I do mean LOVE. I purchase the XL jars of creamy Jif from Costco on the regular, being sure to never run out. Peanut butter is an absolute necessity around here and so, when it was time for our weekly baking challenge – which was themed “use something from your pantry” it was a no-brainer.

My options were unlimited. I really should have a whole board on Pinterest dedicated to the stuff. As I scrolled past my pins researching what to bake, I realized what needed to be done.

You see, previously, I’ve baked every kind of Bundt cake imaginable. Well, not really, but it felt that way during 2017 when I was baking a cake a week. But – do you know what I did NOT do in 2017? I did not bake a peanut butter bundt cake! Can you believe it?!? Unreal!

So, it was on – peanut butter bundt cake for the challenge. Beyond that decision, another choice had to be made – how should I glaze it? Should I do more peanut butter? Carmel? CHOCOLATE? There’s nothing better than Reese’s Cup-ish baked goods, am I right?!?

But, I wanted something different. Something old, and new. Something unusual and familiar. While I was day-dreaming about peanut butter, I remembered something I loved as a child and still do to this day. A peanut butter and honey sandwich. You know the kind – where the honey is smeared in to the peanut butter, but still coats the bread with a sugary crispness and you feel as though you might get caught eating dessert for lunch!? Yeah, that’s what I imagined for my cake.

Fortunately, the cake came out with a golden buttery carmalized coat after baking for about 90 minutes. And on top of that I brushed an inordinate amount of sweet cream honey glaze. That glaze combined with the rich saltiness of the peanut buttery cake was the perfect embodiment of a salty-sweet explosion in my mouth! It was exactly what I’d hoped for. Exactly.

Perfect with a glass of milk. Just like my childhood dessert for lunch.

Up on the mountain, my friend Theresa made shortbread! Rice flour was her ingredient from the pantry. There are many secrets that she could not share with me about her recipe for shortbread. But there’s one thing I can tell you. Her shortbread is completely amazing! Like – she could sell it- amazing.

This week’s baking challenge ingredient is yeast! We have to have used yeast and let our product rise at least once!! I can’t wait to share mine with you! Until then: go make some peanut butter cake! You won’t regret it!

Peanut Butter Bundt Cake:

• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Cake instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a medium pot add the peanut butter, water, and butter and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, brown sugar, flour, salt, and baking soda with a fork. Add to the peanut butter mixture.
3. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla to the bowl and mix well.
4. Stir well and pour (the batter will be fairly runny) into greased bundt pan. Bake for 75-90 minutes at 350 degrees.
5. When baking is complete, and you’ve cooled the cake for 15 minutes, invert the bundt from the pan. After it is completely cooled, drizzle with sweet honey cream glaze.

Glaze: a cup or so of powdered sugar – 2 tbsp of cream for starters, then add two table spoons of honey. From there, add what is needed to make the glaze a “drizzling” consistency.

**ideas for this recipe were taken from the recipe for Peanut Butter sheet Cake on the girl who ate everything blog.**

I’m a little late, guys! It wasn’t on purpose – but Easter weekend ran away with me. So, here I am on Wednesday afternoon ready to tell you about last week’s baking challenge with my friend Theresa!

Our special ingredient was blueberries. Now, I’ve baked with berries a fair amount – but honestly I wanted to try something totally different. Something I would have to think about and spend a little effort.

Hand pies. That’s what I decided on – and not just because Vivian Howard just aired an entire show about them. No, I needed to make an attempt because previously my hand pies were a complete failure. Epically bad.

So I studied up and found a recipe that, based on all the things I learned previously not to do, seemed legit. But who really knows until you try, right?

Turns out that it’s true: practice does make perfect. Well, or least it can greatly improve things. I was actually proud of these little babies. And everyone loved them. I heard rumors they were extra delicious warmed and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Theresa went for a delicious blueberry coffee cake – made from an old family recipe! Man it was delicious. Of course, it’s a secret, so no recipe for you! A tantalizing picture will have to suffice.

Tomorrow is our next challenge. I’m taking the easy way out! Bundt cake! Except- I’m doing a New recipe! Betcha can’t guess what my special ingredient is!!

Good grief I love baking!!

PS: let me know if ya want the hand pie recipe!!

I can tell you it seems like we’ve all been handed lemons recently. Am I right? The normally sweet experiences of spring have been stolen right out from under our noses – our calendars have been stripped of graduations and parties, bridal showers, spring break trips and so much more.

What are we are left with? Distance. Alone-ness. Illness. And a vague feeling of -nothingness. We don’t even know what day it is, let alone if we have anything on the calendar. Because we don’t. This C-19 business is lemons – for everyone – especially the sick and the medical professionals, but also the general public who are just living day to day hoping they’ll find toilet paper.

So, last week, when my friend, Theresa, who always makes me laugh and is also my baking buddy, called me up and offered to pick up necessities from Costco for me while she was there – I responded with a hearty YES! (Meet Theresa – no, we did not bake in the same kitchen this week- this picture is from last year!)

And when she showed up at my doorstep with all the goods – plus lemons and raspberries (because she didn’t need as many as she bought) – asking if I wanted to do a baking challenge – my response was a resounding YESSSSSSSSS!

She and I baked last week. And we traded samples (at a distance, of course) of our lemon-raspberry goodies. SPOILER ALERT: We both won the challenge. It was so wonderful to do something I love – and remember that I can make lemonade when life hands me lemons. There is always a silver lining to be found.

Theresa made a Raspberry Custard Tart with a buttery sugar cookie crust and it was beyond fantastic. I don’t know if you can handle this much truth, but, I broke my “mostly no sugar” rule and ate many bites. quite a few times. I may have not shared very much with my family.

I made Aunt Belva’s lemon pound cake WITH raspberries. And it was very creamy and delicious if I do say so myself. Then, because I love Dark chocolate with raspberries I used the extra raspberries to make chocolate raspberry oatmeal muffins. They were pretty yummy, but were a little dry, so I’ll need to tweak the bake time if I make them again!

Friends, take time to look for your silver lining. Seriously -all is not lost. There’s always a way to make lemonade out of the lemons we’ve been given!

I don’t know about you, but the rain and clouds have been getting to me. Literally and figuratively, I suppose. How in the world are we supposed to make it through all of this staying at home and distance from friends and family if it is gray outside too?

I’m typically a glass-half-full, the sun will come out tomorrow kind of gal. Really, I am. But this is a little much.

Today I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t want to say everything’s rosy just for the sake of trying to feel better. I want to know that things are a little dark, but will get better. FYI : the answer is not in online news articles or watching the latest headlines on tv, or memes from friends or binge watching Netflix.

It just so happens that I thought of this old song. Maybe I heard it on a record we have, or I might’ve heard my father-in law sing it. (He’s also taught my children valuable statements like, “You can be mad or glad in the same pair of pants) … but, let me tell you – it’s not just about being sunny for the sake of wishing the clouds away! Here’s the 3rd verse:

Let us greet with a song of hope each day,
Tho the moments be cloudy or fair.
Let us trust in our Savior always,
Who keepeth everyone in His care.

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,
Keep on the sunny side of life;
It will help us every day,
it will brighten all the way,
If we keep on the sunny side of life.

There’s more hope in the third verse of that song than we can fathom. In the middle of this darkness, we can focus our gaze on this fact: we have a Savior we can trust, who cares for us at all times. Remembering that, my friends is the truest way to keep on the sunny side.

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5

I went out to the back yard, while the air was hanging in damp cool drapes. There, peeking up at me, was one of the first Hydrangea leaves. Bright green, brave, looking for spring.

I want to be brave and look for spring too. But I’m in my house, and my heart feels less than courageous. There’s plenty to worry over, or be afraid of these days. “Huddle away” they tell us, and so my heart hunkers down in the dark, and my fears try to tuck me in for the long night.

But there are whispers of things hoped for, not seen. I can reminisce with Scripture I learned long ago, of what is to come; of how I can be brave, and long for the things that are true.

Isaiah 41:28-29…
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Matthew 6:25-28 …Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin.

His promises are as sure as the spring season that is here, dressing up the the flowers to parade in full bloom. These words are for my heart now, for hope, for peace, for strength. He is in control. He will provide. I have no reason to fear.

I fell asleep last night knowing it would be chilly this morning. I drifted to sleep with dreams of my skillet bubbling with blueberries and apples tucked away in oatmeal with brown sugar.

When my coffee pot did its little beep, letting me know I could get out of bed now because there was brew waiting for me, I hopped up and went to the kitchen. Time to make my dreams a reality! I sipped some coffee, I mixed up the batter, and do you know what happened?

Snow. It started snowing, which made it official: This was the absolute perfect morning for the perfect breakfast! A serendipity, really, because you can’t plan this kind of thing. Which makes it even more perfect, in my mind!

Okay, so I’m guessing what you really want is not this whole story, but the recipe, am I right?

Here it is:

Oatmeal Bake (thank you very much, Tom Goetz!)

Ingredients:

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick melted butter
1 cup milk (I substituted buttermilk today.)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp apple cider syrup
1 apple, peeled and chopped
A handful or two of blueberries.

Instructions: Mix together. Spread in greased pan (I used my 12 inch skillet) Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Enjoy! I hope you’re able to taste this bit of heaven on just the right morning soon!

Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only…. (ISam. 7:2-5) While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar. (ISam. 7:10-11)

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12)

I love this part of Israel’s story : where Israel decides to turn away from their idols (again) and turn towards the Lord in hopes that they would be delivered from the Philistines. Then Samuel sacrifices a burnt offering, the LORD delivers a lot of thunder and the Philistines run away scared like little girls and the Israelites are reminded One. More. Time. Our God is a rescuing God.

I wish I could tell you my memory was good; that I ALWAYS remember just the right thing at just the right time. But its not. In fact, its been pretty lousy the last couple of weeks.

In January I went to my normal checkup with my physician to look over my skin condition. Everything looked good, and in fact I’m doing well. We left Nashville that day after having lunch with friends and came home. All was well, and I found another reminder of God’s healing in my life. It’s this beautiful footed glass. I keep it out where I can see it, and be reminded. It’s a lovely reminder with all of its facets and simple beauty: God is good.

But, fast forward a few weeks, and here we are in a bit of an unexpected place with our youngest daughter and a pretty unsettling health concern. And where do I end up? I end up on the run from all my fears, just like the Israelites.

Look, its not easy to admit, but Samuel might as well have said it straight up to me: If you’ll turn from your idols and return to the Lord, commit to him, and love Him only – then HE will defeat your enemies. Of course my idols aren’t Ashtoreth or Baal, but they definitely are things I love: my sweet family, our health and well-being, our future, and lets not forget my own peace and comfort… none are bad, except when I love these things SO MUCH I can’t remember who to love more

AND worse, in this case, I’ve forgotten who loves me most.

What was the remedy? Remembering. I stared at this beautiful ebenezer on my dining room table and recalled His goodness. I spent time rehearsing His love for me, and the truth of His promises; He will deliver me in times of trouble. There was no thunder or lightening – but I know He is a promise-keeping, ever-faithful, always loving God.

Psalm 56:3-4 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid.

The thing is, when it comes to baking, I love to try new recipes. I especially love searching for just the right chocolate chip cookie recipe. I have tried many and I do mean many. For now I have a lot of favorites for different reasons. But this one truth remains: I always love a warm, fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookie – no matter what – and so, I can say honestly this was one of my favorites. Good news, the family loved them too.

This recipe I tried out yesterday was pretty darn good- close to perfection. It fits the description of “crispy and chewy”. I’ll say, the downside: the dough must chill for 24 hours – and all that means is I have to plan ahead for these babies. Guys, sometimes making cookies is a spur of the moment thing for us around here, so I guess that means these will be special occasion cookies. But I feel like it will be worth the wait.

Anyway… here are the cookies… don’t they look perfect? See that crispy top, but the gooey-chewy down inside? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I found the recipe on the new York times site – it is definitely not unique to me or anything!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour (8 1/2 ounces)
• 1 ⅔ cups bread flour (8 1/2 ounces)
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter (2 1/2 sticks)
• 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar (10 ounces)
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (8 ounces)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
•  Sea salt

(My changes: I did All purpose flour in total, not the cake flour/bread flour combo. I did not use sea salt – these cookies have a good balance of salt already with the coarse salt included in the batter. I just used ghiradelli semisweet chips – 1 1/4 pounds of beautiful chocolate!)

Instructions:

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

(My changes : I chilled maybe 18 hours – it seemed long enough. I scooped the dough prior to chilling – have you ever tried to scoop chilled dough? It’s very hard!! The cookies did not need to bake for 20 minutes – I think we made it to about 16 minutes.)

It was two Sundays before Christmas, services were over and I was headed thru the foyer and down the hall to my car. My family was waiting for me, and I, I’m always the straggler chatting with everyone on my way. As I was walking, I heard a little voice, “Miss Melody! Miss Melody!” – And there standing near the front doors of the church was one of my favorite little friends.

You may not know this, but when you teach children’s choir you make a lot of friends at church that are not your age. Many of my friendships at church are in the 5-11 age range – and I treasure them all. But this little girl is one of the sweetest. She started out in choir absolutely terrified to be there – and she even accidentally fell of the stage in one of our rehearsals last year – but she has persevered! She’s not afraid anymore – and even better, we are big time buddies.

At any rate – there she was waving something in her little hand at me! Before I knew it she had pushed a candy cane into my hand. Her mama told me later that she had said she wasn’t sure who it was for, but she was bringing it to church in her purse to give to someone special.

I just about choked up on the spot. My young friend had given her best little gift. To Me.

These things take a while to ruminate with me, ya know? I’ve been thinking about that broken little candy cane, she gave to me. It isn’t much different than what I have to offer these days. Most of what I’ve got to give is a little bit (or in some cases a lot) broken.

Here we are peaking around the corner to 2020 – and I have a lot of hopes of what the year can be. But all I have to offer my Heavenly Father, in the midst of all those hopes is one pretty broken life. A lot of mess-ups, cringeworthy stuff, and junk. It’s the time of year to give my best. Let’s get real: I’ve got a few talents and gifts he’s given to me, and most of them are tainted with my own humanity and sin nature. Plain old broken stuff.

There’s good news penned by Christina Rossetti in a carol we sing at our Christmas concert every year:

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.

If I were a wiseman, I would do my part.

Yet what I can, I give him, give Him my heart.

I’m reminded that the best gift I can give to my Heavenly Father, now and all year long is my broken life. And even better is the gift of His promise to us – the renewal and restoration of every heart that belongs to Him. These are the best gifts.

Thanks be to God!

Heavenly Father, Here I am calling out to you, waving my gifts and ready to give them back to you. They are all I’ve got! But I know you love me, and I know you’re ready to take them and mend every piece that is broken! Thank you for this indescribable gift of peace this knowledge brings to my life! Amen.

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