25 Before 25

Oh my goodness, y'all I am 24 years old! 

I do completely understand that I am young... but I've been hit with the realization that I have almost lived a quarter of a century. I am definitely not at the place in life that I thought I would be... but I can clearly see how God has worked everything together in my life for His purposes. This birthday, more than any other, has inspired me to live my life more intentionally, more fully. 

I want to make the most of my time and utilize this season I am in where I am young and passionate and loved and so, so broke. I want to live with focus on the ultimate goal- to bring glory to Jesus. I want to live, drinking in life, the good and the hard and the overwhelming, with arms open, and not ruled by fear or indecision or concern for man's approval.  

So with these thoughts in mind, I have compiled a list of goals that I would like to accomplish before I turn 25. Some of these are fun, some are silly, and some are serious. Each of them should be quantifiable in some way so that I can mark them off of the list as I complete each one. 

25 before 25 

1. successfully bake French Macarons



2. read the Divergent trilogy



3. get involved in a small group (and soon!)
4. start actually using my Starbucks card and earning stars (right now I have a mental block about setting aside money for coffee, when in fact, this will save me money.)



5. go to a yoga class (this was one of my new years goals and has yet to be crossed off my list!)



6. get all A's in seminary (I had an excellent GPA at UT, so this is possible!)
7. take a fun trip with my sister Lindsey. Right now we're thinking Harry Potter at Universal Studios



8. find a way to bring in income from home (right now I'm considering Scentsy or reopening my Etsy shop)
9. grill steaks by myself (no help from dad!)



10. read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp 



11. bake and decorate a tiered cake 

source


12. maintain a consistent daily schedule 
13. read Grace for the Good Girl by Emily Freeman 



14. make fresh mozzarella cheese
15. visit my grandparents more often 
16. host a Bible study in my home 
17. make my own yogurt
18. decorate my house to look more like an adult lives there
19. read through the entire Old Testament
20. start doing creative writing again 
21. write punctual thank you notes, even for the little things
22. invest in glasses that I actually like 

not these. 
23. perfect making homemade tortillas 
24. set and keep a monthly budget
25. seek after Jesus above all academia, study and scholastic commentary

It's going to be a good year. 
I am immensely blessed.
Here's to 24! 

Fresh Strawberry Cake

One of the best things about spring and summer is fresh strawberries. I made this delicious cake for a dessert auction, and although its appearance was what caught peoples' attention- the taste was just as impressive!


I love that it is made with real strawberries- no artificial flavors or coloring- and is still very pink and strawberry-ish (yep, that's now a word). The cake is moist and firm enough to handle layers or fondant. 


I spread remaining strawberry puree and cream cheese frosting between the layers, and used cream cheese frosting as a crumb layer. I then used a vanilla swiss meringue buttercream for the roses. Stick around for the frosting recipes and an easy as 1-2-3 tutorial on those gorgeous roses! 

What You'll Need:

• For the strawberry puree:
• 24 oz very ripe strawberries, hulled 
• 1-2 tsp sugar (optional)
• For the cake:
• 1/4-1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
• 6 large egg whites, room temperature (4 whole eggs can be substituted)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cup cake flour, sifted
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temp

What To Do: 

1. Hull, slice and toss the strawberries with a teaspoon or two of sugar and cover. Let them sit at room temperature for a couple of hours, until nice and juicy.
2. Place strawberries in a food processor or blender and puree.
3. Reserve 3/4 cup puree for the cake. 
4. Use leftover puree to fill the cake or fold into the frosting, if desired. It's also fabulous spooned over ice cream... and eaten straight with a spoon.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 8- or 9-inch pans: spray inside with baking spray with flour (or use some sort of grease/flour combination).
6. In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, vanilla and mix with fork until well blended. In bowl of stand mixer, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
7. Add wet ingredients and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until full and evenly combined. Stop mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl and hand beat for 30 more seconds.
8. Note: The batter will not get any pinker in the oven so if you're disappointed in the color from your berries, maybe consider adding a drop or two of pink or red food coloring.
9. Divide the batter evenly among the pans and smooth tops.
10. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (time will vary). Let cakes rest in pan for about 10 minutes and turn out onto wire racks. Let cakes cool completely (about 2 hours).

Yields: ~12-16 servings

From Confections of a Foodie Bride,

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated Classic White Cake and Good Things Catered

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

We've had lots of birthdays in our youth group this month.

And not everyone likes cake.

Jon requested a cookie cake

so I decided to take on the challenge and see if I could measure up to 

the Great American Cookie legacy

The recipe is super simple

and it turned out so tasty!

We didn't have any leftovers!

What You'll Need:

• 1 Stick Butter (Softened)
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar (Packed)
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1 Cup Flour
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 Cup Chocolate Chips (Semi-sweet)

What To Do:

Cream Butter and Brown Sugar.  Add Egg and Vanilla and Mix.  Add Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt and stir together.  Add Chocolate Chips and stir.  Pour into greased and floured (or greased and sugared) 9-inch round pan.  Bake at 350° for 20-23 minutes.

Pipe messages over the top in decadent chocolate frosting!

Recipe from The Real Housewife

What's your favorite alternative to cake?

Hummingbird Cupcakes with Dried Pineapple Flowers

(please excuse the iphone quality photo)

As I was baking these beauties on a late-night whim

and talking to my sister on the phone,

she exclaimed- "Hummingbird cupcakes?! That sounds gross!"

Well, have no fear ladies and gents.

No hummingbirds were harmed in the making of these cakes!

I made these for one of my students' 18th birthday

and since not all of my students are chocoholics like me

I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to test out this cake in cupcake form!

In the past, I've used this recipe from Southern Living and it received rave reviews

(but unfortunately both times I made it, I didn't get to try it!)

But this time I turned to my trusted source for all things delicious- Annie's Eats

The cake is deliciously moist

with bursts of refreshing banana and pineapple flavor 

and a perfect creamy cream cheese frosting.

It's perfect for celebrating spring time

and would also make a lovely addition at any bridal or baby shower!

What You'll Need:

For the cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
11 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1¼ tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana
2/3 cup crushed pineapple, drained
2/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted 

For the frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

What To Do:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; whisk together and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, vanilla, and sugar and beat until blended and smooth.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Mix in the mashed banana.  With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Gently fold in the pineapple and nuts with a spatula until evenly mixed.

Divide the batter between the prepared liners, filling each about ¾ full.  Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Mix in the vanilla extract.  Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. 

Note- I made half of the cake recipe and the whole frosting recipe. If you love frosting as much as I do, you might increase your frosting recipe a little!

Now, the pineapple flower garnish is completely edible 

(pretty delish actually) and super simple to make!

Mine don't look too stellar because I did not leave myself enough time to let them set...  but even without being perfect they added a lot to the presentation of the cupcakes!

What You'll Need:

a fresh pineapple

What To Do:

• Cut the top and bottom off of the pineapple, using a large knife. 
• Slicing down, cut off the rind of the pineapple leaving just the fruit. 
• Pop out any remaining seeds or peel.
• Slice the remaining fruit into very thin rounds. (This is definitely the hardest part!)

• Lay rounds onto a baking sheet (line with parchment paper or a baking mat if desired) and bake at 225 for 30 minutes. Flip rounds a bake for another 30 minutes. 

• Watch the fruit carefully so it doesn't burn! It will be ready when the edges brown and they have dried out almost completely. 

• Set each piece in the round of a muffin tin to help it form a flower shape. They may need to sit for several hours to retain the shape. ( I skipped this step due to time restriants)
• Top your frosted cupcakes with a dried pineapple flower for added flair! 

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

My baby sister turns 21 today! 

She also has three finals today. Yuck.

So, to help get you through the day, Lindsey, 

here are 21 memories that are also reasons I love you.

1. Remember that time when we were really young and we decided to play pinata with the empty one in your room and a baseball bat while one person held the pinata out with their arm and the other swung the bat? Thanks for holding the pinata ;)
2. Remember when we colored ourselves with highlighters and danced under your black light to Avril Lavigne? We were too cool.
3. Remember when we went to the optometrist for the first time and I was absolutely mortified that I had to get glasses, but you bought fake ones at Claire's and we both had them?
4.  Remember when you refused to read Harry Potter unless it was read aloud, so we took turns reading to each other every single night? 
5. Remember when we were sitting in the hammock in the backyard talking about really serious life and death stuff and the hammock just broke and we fell to the ground? And so then we couldn't stop laughing?
6. Remember when we went to Disney World with youth choir and didn't want to wear the ugly shirts so we wore tank tops instead and got tans?  
7. Remember that time we were on vacation and our parents got lost looking for a putt putt golf course and dad got really frustrated and told us to just be quiet in the backseat but it just made us laugh even harder? And then we made videos on our phones about it and anytime we'd play them it would make us laugh even more?
8. Remember when we were working with dad and we thought one of his clients was legitimately a witch? We watched way too much tv...
9. Remember when we were at Wolf Creek State Park with Granny Alice and I pants-ed you in your bikini? Lol yeah... sorry about that. 
10. Remember on that same visit when Granny Alice took us to the Indian Reservation for the day as a surprise? And when you figured out where we were going you started crying? Haha. 
11. Remember when we were going to film our own TV show called Girl Talk at our house? And we even recorded the intro with a Britney Spears' song in the background?
12. Remember how you used to not like children at all? And now you can't help but play with them and watch them protectively everywhere we go? And you served as a summer children's intern and work with infants now?? 
13. Remember when I was literally sick with anxiety and sadness over a breakup and you held me on the bathroom floor until I was all cried out? Thank you so much for that. 
14. Remember when we moved your bed to the living room of our apartment and shared it for two weeks and watched Grey's Anatomy and played Wii Play every night? That was fun :)
15. Remember that time we had a really long drive and so every time we got to a new town we'd sing a different Kelly Clarkson song? 
16. Remember when we got separated in church because one of our doodles made us laugh really loud in the middle of the sermon? Sometimes I'm more lenient on my students because of that memory. 
17. Remember when you tried the crepes I made, even though you're super picky?? It made me really happy. 
18. Remember when we used to make up random dances at the house during the summer? So we went through all the "cool" cassette tapes we could find? I think that included the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and Sounds of the 70's. 
19. Remember all those times you've called me out on my sin? And even when I'd get defensive or mad, you were generally always right. 
20. Remember that time we were going to be Tinkerbell and Peter Pan for Halloween in high school? But I couldn't find an appropriate dress for Tinkerbell? So you dressed up like Peter Pan anyway and you were super cute? Yeah, I remember that.
21. Remember all those times you were supportive when it seemed like nobody else was? I still have voicemails saved on my phone from youth trips where I didn't think I could handle it or from fights where I knew I'd screwed up a relationship, where you spoke truth and love to me.

(Emma Pillsbury from Glee and a white trash pageant mom)

Halloween 2010

You're the funniest person I know

and you have the biggest heart

I love you, sis. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Betty and Wilma

Halloween 2009 

slimed

BSM fundraiser

at least we raised $1000

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I try to make some kind of treat for each of my students' birthdays. 

Sometimes there are event conflicts and/or they don't tell me it's their birthday... 

but for the most part I try hard to make something special for each birthday.

Yesterday for Steven's big 18, we had some awesome-socks chocolate chip cookies. 

It's just a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe but they came out just right! 

Full of chocolate chips? Check.

Crisp on the outside? Check.

Soft and gooey on the inside? Check.

Made with staple pantry ingredients? Check.

This is my new go-to. Just as quick as any of those bagged mixes 

and ten times better, guaranteed! 

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups plus 2 tbsp. flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

1 cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Here's what you do:

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions.  Preheat oven 325°.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.

Whisk dry ingredients (minus the sugars) together in a medium bowl; set aside.  With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined.  Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.  Add the dry ingredients and beat at low-speed (or stir slowly) just until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll the dough into balls and press the top slightly to spread, or use a melon scooper to make perfect rounds.  Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.

Cool and try not to eat all of these at once! Serve with a big glass of milk :) 

Adapted from Annie's Eats