Old Movies and Orphans

Hello!
I love, I mean I love old movies!!! I have always enjoyed old movies. I think it's because they are about real things that real people go through. Also, there is an innocence about the characters that is seriously lacking in movies that are made now. Ok, I won't go down a rabbit trail about movies today and the lack of morals. What I really wanted to share was this:
My friend and I had an old movie night. (Side note: It's so fun to be a girl and enjoy girly things with friends.) Anyway, back to the story. We didn't really know what we wanted to watch, but finally decided to watch Jane Eyre.
I enjoyed the movie very much, but what really spoke to my heart was what happened at the beginning of the film. At the beginning, Jane Eyre is taken to Lowood Institution, which is very much like an orphanage. The girls there are treated with contempt. Jane Eyre describes the living conditions as having no heat in the cold of the winter, no warm water to bathe in, being served food that is not eatable, and generally being ignored if possible. Jane is even there with her friend as her little friend dies in Lowood. These descriptions broke my heart. Not because these horrors were in a movie, but because of the realization that there are boys and girls all over the world that still live in the same conditions.
Hello world, wake up! There is suffering and pain in childrens lives all over the world, EVERY day! Suffering and pain is not just in Africa, Europe, or China, but right here in the USA.
You may think, great I see the pain and suffering, but what can only one person do? I have been learning this past year that one person can't do everything, but one person can do something.
The first step to doing something is knowledge. Do a google search on human trafficking or at-risk kids and you will find so much information.
The next step is to become involved in an organization that is already making a difference. (We are to seek where the Lord is at work and join Him there, right?) Here are a few organizations that I know are making a serious difference:
http://www.dreamcenter.org/
http://www.philip-cameron.org/
http://www.hopechest.org/
http://www.compassion.com/
Who would have known that a simple old movie night would turn into the Lord touching my heart?!? I guess God can use anything if our hearts are prepared to hear His voice.
Blessings until next time...

Grandmama and Pound Cake...Oh Yeah!!!

Hey Friends,
So this week my grandmother had her 84th birthday and you know what that means. CAKE!!! Not just any cake, but my grandmother's famous sour cream pound cake that is...Yummy delicious!!!
All the ingredients for the best pound cake in the world. (Notice that everything is clean, this is not how clean it was by the end of the cake making experience.)

This recipe is the real deal...you even separate the eggs. The egg yolks were beat and then put into the batter. The egg whites were beaten into submission until beautiful white (stiff, I might add) peaks were formed.

The recipe said that I needed to sift the flour and baking soda 3 times. Well, don't tell anyone, but I cheated and only sifted once :)

Pleasure is smelling fresh baked pound cake. There is no aroma in the world like cooling cakes. Ya know what I mean? Oh, so good!!!

I am never one to leave a cake plain, so I made chocolate outlined roses to top the yummy pound cake cupcakes. We decided to make cupcakes so that there was less mess at the party. Let me tell you, pound cake is so good no matter what form it takes!

The party girl and her two granddaughters. It was so fun to celebrate with her and enjoy seeing her face light up when she tasted the pound cake and knew that it was her recipe. She said I did good and she enjoyed them very much. (Sniff, sniff...that made my day!)
Until next time...

Tie Dye Fun...With Cupcakes!!!

Hey and Happy Today!

My friend, Mary and I decided to experiment with tie dye cupcakes. Here is the results:

So, for the cupcakes we used a white cake mix and added sour cream instead of the oil or milk and they were soooo yummy!

We tried a new technic called striping the bag. We striped the bag with the gel colors and that's how we accomplished the cool tie dye look.

Cool, huh?

Oh, so carefully we made the cupcakes beautiful!

You are the best, Mary!

So, we decided to also try the free hand method, where we put icing on the cupcakes and then put the gel color in circles. After that we took a toothpick and pulled it through all the colors. This was so fun, but not the best method :)

Everything looks better when it's tie dyed!!!

Our gel color creations...Don't they look so fun and yummy!!!

Mary, thanks for some fun and some really good cupcakes!

Also, thanks Anna for taking pictures for us!

Until next time...

The Valley and The Mountain

My friends,

I enjoy many things and especially love adventures. I wanted to share with you an adventure that I had just the other day. Here is an excerpt from my journal:

I wanted to spend the afternoon with Jesus, so I got all my "God-gear" together and headed to the great outdoors. As I was hiking to my favorite spot on the river, I was enjoying the beautiful sounds of the creeks flowing nearby and the birds singing. It was all sooooo refreshing! Until...I came to "my spot". Someone was already there, not just anyone but a guy who was squawking like I bird. Now, I believe that everyone should be allowed to make a joyful noise unto the Lord, but not in "my spot". After that disappointment, I was ready to turn around and hike back to my car. At this moment, I realized that I was so wrong. I had come to a place to meet with my beloved, Jesus. I wasn't suppose to let someone being in "my spot" deter me from spending time with the Lord. So, I stayed on the path that took me onto the top of the mountain and there in the warm sunlight was a boulder. This is where God wanted to bring me to meet with Himself.

That's when it hit me, that God wanted to show me the mountain top. The low place near the river ("my spot") is like the sorrows, suffering and pain of life. But the spot that God brought me to on the top of the mountain is like being restored in faith and a fresh annointing of the Holy Spirit.

When I finally sat down to seek Him, these are the words that He showed me: "Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up."-Psalm 71:20

So, as the psalmist said, "I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you-I whom you have redeemed."-Psalm 71:22 & 23

Thank you, God for taking me out of my routine in order to enable me to see that you want to take me out of the valley and annoint me anew with your Spirit and love.

My friends, allow God to take your sorrows, suffering and pain. Allow Him to take you to the mountain top. He wants to love on you and give you a fresh annointing of His Spirit!

Until next time...

2011 Resolution...I'm gonna' keep this one!!!

Hey friends and family!

The first of the year is the time to make resolutions, right? Well, here is one of my resolutions: Try at least one new cupcake recipe every month. Not a bad resolution, wouldn't you say? I have several really great cupcake recipe books and can't wait to get started. So, without futher ado...here is the first experiment.

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes!!! You can't beat bananas and chocolate together...unless it's peanut butter and chocolate, but that's a cupcake I'll save for another day.

They smelled soooo good while they were cooking. Anna helped me make them and we decided to make mini-cupcakes. All the better to pop into your mouth!

Don't they look delicious? The taste of banana and chocolate was perfect topped with a delicate cream cheese icing. Next time you have a few extra bananas, skip the banana bread and go for these yummy cupcakes! Check out this online version:

http://www.food.com/recipe/banana-chocolate-cupcakes-416468


Enjoy!!! Will be back with some more yummy experiments soon!

2010 in Review

Dear friends,
I am sorry to say that it has been far too long since the last time that I was even on my blog. I would love to start 2011 with high hopes that I will be more timely and consistant in my blogs. I will not do that though. What I will promise you though, is that I have several projects for 2011 and I would love to share them with you here. Before I post about my projects, I wanted to share some pictures from a few of my many baking projects of 2010. Enjoy!

Orange Dreamcicle Cake with White Chocolate Butterflies for my grandmother's birthday. Fun to make!

Gooooooo Dawgs!!! Nothing better than Chocolate cake with Chocolate icing in the shape of a football. Happy Georgia Dawg Birthday to Anna!

First ever attempt at a Jelly Roll. I mean when you get a jelly roll pan you better make a jelly roll, right? This was a complete failure!!! Had fun trying though :)

Tea time! Hmmm...where to begin? Delicious!!! I think that sums it up.

The BEST ever Peanut Butter Cookies (and easy too). Let me know if you want to try them!

The year in review would not be complete without Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. This is my grandmother with the cakes that I made. She gets the best job, icing (yummy)!

I look forward to sharing my projects (and adventures) with you soon. Happy 2011, friends!

Lemon Delights

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted anything. I am so sorry! Sometimes life gets away from me and I can't keep all the balls in the air. I will try to do better in the future.

Well, it has starting to heat up and I for one don't enjoy heavy desserts during the summer. I do enjoy the coolness of watermelon and peaches. Today I would like to share with you a few lemon delights that I have been enjoying.


The first one is a yummy Lemon Poppy Seed cake. My family loves this favorite because it can be eaten at breakfast or just about anytime. We recently took it with us while camping and it didn't last very long.



For a recipe that is almost the same as mine follow this link: http://www.recipelink.com/cookbooks/2000/0761117199_3.html

The second yummy delight is Summertime Lemon Cookies. These are super easy and super yummy. I grew up enjoying the old fashioned lemon cookies that you could buy in a country general store. These cookies taste just like those cookies and bring back memories of seating on the front porch at my grandmother's eating cookies and drinking sun-brewed sweet tea.

Here is the recipe for these yummy cookies:
Summertime Lemon Cookies
18 oz. box lemon cake mix
8 oz. container whipped topping
2 eggs
1 cup powdered sugar
Combine cake mix, whipped topping and eggs. Mix thoroughly. Shape into balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place 2″ apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 until lightly golden.

Enjoy making these yummy summertime favorites! Maybe next time I'll share some of my favorite blueberry delights. Until next time...