Keepin' it Real

Does your to-do list ever look like this?  Mine does a lot of the time because I like to procrastinate.



Does your kitchen ever look like this?  This was mine after 4 loads in the dishwasher last Sunday and it just couldn't take it anymore.  So I went to bed and woke up to this mess.  And then I took a shower and my husband did them.  What a nice husband!

Does your dog ever perch on the sofa like this?  Mine does, and I have no idea why.  She is so weird.  But she's good with babies.

This was about 3 seconds before he tried to remove her nose.  She tried to let him.

They are best friends. 

Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits

Today I'm going to share with you a delicious recipe for these cheddar and cracked pepper biscuits.  Making homemade biscuits is something that I think everyone should know how to do, but a lot of people say that they can't.  I'm here to tell you that you can!  As long as you resign yourself to the fact that yes, it is time-consuming and yes, it is messy, I think you can be successful in your biscuit-making endeavors!  The problem with thinking we can't do something in the kitchen, in my opinion, is that we want everything to happen instantaneously.  We've been spoiled by convenience foods to the point where we can't function without something boxed or canned.  It's kind of like me with my GPS.  I can barely find my way home because I'm so used to that thing telling me where to go.  Without it, I would end up in Illinois or somewhere when all I was trying to do was get to the Wal-Mart.  I know it's easier to open a can of biscuits and pop them in the oven.  There is a time and a place for canned biscuits.  This is not one of them.  And I promise you, once you make these, you'll forget all about Pillsbury.

Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits
Joy the Baker
Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour [use AP if you don't have it]
2 Tbsp sugar
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening, cold and cut into cubes
1/4 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk, cold
3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
a touch of heavy cream and black pepper for topping the biscuits before baking

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425.  These can be baked on a cookie sheet, baking stone, in a casserole dish or a cast-iron skillet.  Whatever you have on hand that's clean!
In a mixing bowl, sift together the flours, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt.  Cut in the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add the cheddar and black pepper and toss to combine.  In another bowl, combine egg and buttermilk.  Add that to the flour mixture, stirring together to make a soft dough.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead about 15 times.  Roll or pat out into about a 1-inch thickness, but you can really make it the thickness that you want; you just might have to adjust your baking time.  Use a glass or biscuit cutter to cut into 2-inch rounds, or you can cut them into 2x2 squares.  Brush the tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your biscuits.

These make a-maz-ing breakfast sandwiches.  Put a fried egg and some bacon in between and you've got yourself a great start to the morning. In the above photo, I cut mine with a fluted biscuit cutter and made them a bit thinner.  I served them at a party with country ham and a delightful mustard sauce. 

 Make these for your boyfriend and he will propose, I guarantee it.  Make these for your husband and then go buy new shoes--expensive ones.  Serve them to your inlaws and they'll never have another bad thing to say about you.  

The great thing about these and any other biscuit is that after you make them, you can just eat what you need and put the rest in the freezer.  A lot of the time we just make 3 or 4 and then we'll have enough to freeze for about 4 more breakfasts!  I hope you'll try these out and let me know what you think.

A warm hug.

That's what these cookies feel like...a warm hug. 
I don't know about you, but I'm O-V-E-R summertime!  I'm ready to add a second blanket to my bed and wear scarves.  Due to the cool and rainy weather last weekend, I went ahead and gave myself permission to put up my autumn wreath, and I bought a big burgundy mum from the youth group on Saturday for the front porch.  I even noticed over the weekend that the leaves are actually beginning to change!  For some sad reason, the temperatures climbed to almost 90 degrees yesterday.  It is going to be a warm week.  I'm disappointed, but I know that pretty soon it will be here to stay. 
Last night we were really feeling a need for cookies, and I had a hunk of ginger leftover from some Indian-style sloppy joes we made earlier this week.  What a coincidence!  I like to call these Sparkling Ginger Chocolate Chunk Chewies.  All you need is 2 bowls and one spoon/spoonula...no mixer to clean up!  I think that the spice flavors could possibly be a little more intense, but I'm working with a sensitive palet around these parts because my husband doesn't really like intense ginger flavor.  Next time I may add some cloves.  I hope you'll make these and let me know if you played around with the spices.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour [I used one cup white whole wheat flour and one cup unbleached bread flour]
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp roasted Saigon cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 egg, well beaten
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup organic, unsulphered blackstrap molasses
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
4-oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into chunks/shavings
1/2 cup organic turbinado sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350.
Melt the butter slowly on the stove.  While that's happening, mix together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, and salt.  Once the butter is slightly cooled, pour it into a second mixing bowl and add the egg, brown sugar, molasses, and grated ginger.  Combine well, and then add it into the bowl with the dry ingredients.  It will seem like it's too dry or hard to mix, but it will come together.  Just use a little elbow grease!  It is a stiff dough.  Once it's all pretty much combined, add in the chocolate chunks and gently fold them in. 
You can pick the size of your cookie.  The ones in the photo above are a tablespoon's worth of dough.  For the rest of the batch, I scooped out an even tablespoon and then halved it.  Whatever you decide, you'll roll the dough into a ball, toss it in the turbinado sugar, and then place it onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a Sil Pat.  For the larger cookies, it took about 18 minutes for them to bake, and the smaller ones took 12 minutes.  I'd recommend keeping an eye on them.  These cookies are very chewy, so there's a fine line between chewiness and not-quite-done. 
Yield: about 4 dozen bite-sized cookies

These cookies will crack across the top, and the turbinado sugar makes a nice little crunch.  Although these cookies contain molasses and brown sugar, they aren't overly sweet.  I think the ingredients can be switched around based on what you have in your pantry.  If you don't have white whole wheat flour, use whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, or even all purpose.  I hope you'll try these!  They're wonderful with a steaming mug of Earl Gray or coffee...I've already had them both ways!

The moment you've all been waiting for...

I like to call these little jewels my ace-in-the-holes.  When I don't know what to make for an event, don't know what to serve for dessert, or just simply want to make people say, "This is the best cupcake I've ever had!"...I make these.  I never have to worry about people being satisfied if I've got these in my back pocket.  I get a lot of requests for this recipe, and I certainly can't take credit for it but I'd like to share it with you. 

First, a little background.  I first developed an understanding of the science of cake-making from what else but eating really good cakes.  It's the best kind of research and development, trust me.  :)

Johnnie Gabriel of Gabriel's Desserts in Marietta, Ga makes the best cakes you will ever taste.  In fact, she makes pretty much the best everything you will ever taste.  We discovered her little restaurant shortly after we moved to the Atlanta area and began eating there pretty much every Friday night. 

It's your typical meat-and-two place, quiet, and full of friendly employees.  One of my first friends at the restaurant was a lady named Angie who was just so warm and friendly that I practically wanted to move in with her.  But then I remembered that I had a husband that I was legally contracted to live with.  Anyway, every time we'd eat there, we'd each get a piece of cake on our way out to eat while watching our Friday night movie.  I know, we're really wild and crazy.  I would like to say that I shared a piece with my husband, or saved the rest for later, but generally I was quite capable of inhaling Mrs. Johnnie's bohemeth slices of cake.  Hummingbird cake, German chocolate cake, Black raspberry cake....oh, I can feel my pants getting tighter just thinking about it. 

It's probably a good thing that we moved away from all that cake.  But even though we moved, I still take with me some very intimate knowledge of not just cakes but other desserts.  Mrs. Johnnie has a cookbook called Cooking in the South that I purchased and began working my way through.  As I had questions, I'd just call up the restaurant and ask her or one of the bakers what to do.  Because of that, I feel I really learned to bake properly from her.  Especially baking for a crowd! 

She has a new cookbook out called Second Helpings that I'll be purchasing directly from her in October when we go down to visit, but you can pick it up at your local book store or on Amazon.  I would recommend them to anyone who wants to add some classic recipes to their repetoire!  Sometimes it's easy to forget that something simple like a lemon pound cake can be so satisfying to a hungry soul.  Those are the kinds of recipes that Mrs. Johnnie has shared with the world through her books.  She is a wonderful Christian lady whom I've had the privilege of hearing speak at different events.  She has an inspiring story and I'd encourage you to look into purchasing her books!  Another fun tidbit about her: she's Paula Deen's cousin, and Paula has written the forwards to her cookbooks.

Without further ado, here is her recipe.  I have only adjusted one thing, and that is the amount of cocoa [I like to add more than she does].

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup AP flour, sifted

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cocoa

1 1/2 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cup white sugar

2 jumbo or 3 large eggs

1 tsp white vinegar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 oz. red food coloring

1 cup buttermilk

Note: It is imperitive that the buttermilk and eggs are at room temperature.  That means leaving them out for at least 3 or 4 hours, or even overnight if you're planning to bake the cake in the morning.  If this bothers you, don't do it; but don't expect that cake to turn out right.  And that's straight from the horse's mouth.  :)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and cocoa.  Don't skip this step because you can end up with little balls of cocoa in your batter, and also the cake will not be as light and airy as you will want.

In your mixer's work bowl, combine the oil, sugar, and eggs.

In a small bowl, mix the vinegar, vanilla, and red food coloring.  Add this into the oil mixture and combine. 

Alternate adding the flour and buttermilk to the oil mixture.  Do this in 3 stages. 

Baking times:

Cake layers- 35-40 min

Cupcakes- 20-24 min

Mini cupcakes- 10-12

Let's talk about frosting.........

I have seen some people who like to top red velvet with vanilla buttercream, chocolate, and even [gasp] coconut frosting.  While those are all yummy choices, those people must be from the North.  Down here in the south, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you do not, no-not-never, over yo dead body EVER coat a red velvet cake in anything but CREAM CHEESE FROSTIING.  That's just the way it is.  There are many different versions of this delightful frosting, but they're all pretty much the same.  You probably can't go wrong with most of them, but here's the one I like to use.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks of butter [unsalted], room temp

1 1/2 8-oz. packaged of cream cheese, room temp

*I think it's ok to use the 1/3 less fat version, but definitely not fat free

1 1/2 16-oz. packages of powdered sugar, sifted

* You must sift!  If you don't want to, then just don't make these.  It's THAT important.

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Cream butter and cream cheese until it looks like an ivory ribbon.  Add the sugar in increments so that it doesn't blow all over you, your kitchen, and your zip code.  Once it's pretty much smooth, add the vanilla and mix some more.  Then frost your little babies or cake layers!

As you can see from the photo, I prefer to make mini or regular cupcakes out of this.  I don't like a lot of frosting, but you can pile on as much as you want!   The frosting recipe makes more than you need for cupcakes, but it's quite enough for doing a layer cake.  If you have leftover, just pop it in the freezer and you'll have it for next time. 

At Gabriel's Desserts, you can pick up a 2-lb piece of this or any other kind of cake for about $3.  This recipe is amazing, but it never tastes quite as good as Mrs. Johnnie's.  It's pretty darn close, though!

Thankful Thursdays

They say that periodically making lists of what you are thankful for is an ideal exercise for good mental health.  Also, when you have been wronged, hurt, and angered, it helps put things in perspective.  Therefore, today I shall make a list of what I am grateful for rather than what I happen to be angry about today.  Here we go.

1.  I am very thankful for discovering Roasted Saigon Cinnamon [at Wal-Mart] and how heavenly it makes my coffee! 

2.  I'm also thankful that Bailey let me enjoy said coffee without begging for her morning walk.  She usually waits until I sit down with it and then goes bazurk, and then it gets cold. 

3.  Woodwick candles.  Ah...the crackle of the wood in the background is so soothing!  Shout out to the husband who bought it for me!

4.  Cooler mornings.  I'm trying to make myself wake up earlier [as in, before 8:15].  So far I've been up before 8 most days this week.  Not just right before 8 either, but around 7.  Then I can spend more time watching the news with my cup of cream coffee.   

5.  New old friends.  Does that make sense?  There are people in my life that I have known for years but when I've tried to rekindle our friendships, it feels like I'm talking to a stranger.  I'm thankful, though, for the people that I've grown closer to rather than farther apart over the years.  No reason to dwell on friendships that have ended.

6.  My hard-working husband.  Justin works hard and I know it's from his heart because it's certainly not motivated by his paycheck.  Even though it seems like some one's always kicking us when we're down, he keeps moving forward because he knows Who he's working for. 

7.  I'm thankful for not having a job.  While I'm always looking for a way to contribute monetarily to our home, I'm thankful that at least for right now I'm not having to do the whole 9-5 grind.  Or, 6:30am-6pm misery that I used to have to do.  I enjoy homemaking, researching, and being able to have lunch with friends. 

8.  Cooler mornings!  I am assured with each passing day that Autumn is on its way!  There are already peeks of warmer colors in some of the leaves.  I'm thankful for trusty recipes for hearty soups, chilis, and crockpot meals for those chilly evenings to come.

What do you have to be thankful for today?

Hospitality

Hospitality is a BIG DEAL.  Some people say they don't have that gift, and maybe they don't, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't all practice it.  I read an interesting and convicting article from Max Lucado in this month's edition of HomeLife Magazine entitled "The Beauty of Table Service".  Lucado remarks that in this fast and efficient society, we've lost our personal touch.  We're set up for isolation.  We wear earbuds when we exercise, communicate with email and texts, and enter/exit our homes with gates and garage-door openers.  He says that our mantra is: "I leave you alone.  You leave me alone."

I know and live out the fact that hospitality is a strong gift of mine.  I'm thrilled to have been blessed with the ability to bake bread, clean a mean toilet [hey, that's hospitable], and always have an open door to friends and strangers alike.  However, sometimes I don't feel like being that way.  When we lived in Atlanta, I never once met my neighbors.  I stayed in my house with all 3 locks tightly shut on my door.  I never went outside, except to walk to my car, and was kind of nervous about making eye contact with passersby.  I think we can all relate to the fact that it's easy to open our home to friends and family but we aren't always looking to fill empty seats at our table with strangers. 

Share with God's people who are in need.  Practice hospitality.  Romans 12:13 [NIV] 
I don't think I'm being given a choice when I read that verse.  In the aforementioned article Lucado says that basically as long as you have a front door and some peanut butter you can show some hospitality!  Hospitality is an ability of the heart, not an ability in the kitchen or in home decor.  You might want to run your vacuum and dust your mini blinds once in a while, though.  I like this quote: When you open your door to someone, you are sending this message:  "You matter to me and to God."  You may think you are saying, "Come over for a visit."  But what your guest hears is, "I'm worth the effort."

Did you know that hospitality and hospital come from the same Latin word? They both lead to healing.

What would happen if the church encouraged hospitality?  I'm talking about real, come-as-you-are, open armed acceptance of all people, meeting them right where they are.  Does your church do this?  I've been a part of a couple who do.  Two out of more than ten isn't really a good percentage though. 

I'm beginning to think that this lack of love is due to a cultural shift within the church, one that stems from backing away from a view of the home and its importance in sharing Christ.  A lot of ministers think that their church needs to be all things to all people when only Christ can do that.  The church doesn't have to have a million programs going on when all people really need is love.  The people within a church need to be encouraged and equipped to be hospitable.  Instead of thinking we need to get so-and-so in church, maybe we just need to have them over for s'mores in the backyard.  There are certain needs that the church can't meet without the home.  The home is essential to showing our world that we mean what we say, that we're living out what we've preaching on Sunday morning.  We all know people who never would have come to church if not for the hospitality of a friend. 

To the church, I say if you want to balance your budget, show love.  If you want to fill your pews, show love.  If you want to reach your community, you county, your country, your world...show love.  This is how we can truly "heal" our coworkers, neighbors, and friends.  In the end, it isn't going to matter how many people were in the service this week or if the such-and-such budget is a little bit in the red.  I understand that all of those things need to work together so that the church can go on as an operation day to day, but those things aren't the main thing.  The church is no substitute for the home.  Most people will accept an invitation to your dinner table before they accept one to your spire-weilding brick building.

The believers met together in the Temple every day.  They ate together in their homes, happy to share their food with joyful hearts.  Acts 2:46, NCV

Every day in the Temple and in people's homes they continued teaching the people and telling the Good News- that Jesus is the Christ.  Acts 5:42, NCV

To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer...and to the church in your house.  Philemon vv. 1-2, NKJV

Greet Priscilla and Aquila...the church that is in their house.  Romans 16:3,5, NKJV

...be given to hospitality... I Tim. 3:2, KJV

I encourage you to invite some people over for dinner.  Not your best friends or your cousin and his new girlfriend.  Do you have a neighbor that was recently laid off?  Is there a young couple that needs some "family" away from their own?  As someone who has been given the opportunity to receive hospitality, I want to be a giver of that same love.  I want to challenge you [and myself] to open your door to uncommon community and open your table to ministry.

To those of you who are like me, who are blessed and cursed with the "gift" of hospitality, we need to get over the notion that everything has to be perfect.  No one cares of you haven't pulled the weeds up the walkway.  The only person who sees that spec of dust behind the recliner up against the base board, just behind the shadow of the lamp is YOU.  :)  Most people don't care if you're serving filet minon, spaghetti, or Chinese takeout.  It's just nice to have fellowship.  And if you're like me, I know you would NEVER speak a negative word about someone else's dusty baseboards, so you can be assured that no one's going to talk about you either.  Don't let your need to have everything "just so" keep you from ever getting around to having so-and-so over for supper.  You will be blessed when you let that stuff go and invite your neighbor with the 6 kids over anyway.  Besides, after the company leaves you're going to have to go and put everything back in its little place all over again.

"Something holy happens around a dinner table that will never happen in a sanctuary.  In a church auditorium you see the backs of heads.  Around the table you see the expressions on faces.  In the auditorium one person speaks; around the table everyone has a voice.  Church services are on the clock.  Around the table there is time to talk." -Lucado

Birthday Loot

"I thank you, High God---you're breathtaking!  Body and soul, I am marvelously made!  I worship in adoration---what a creation!  You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exatly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something."  Psalm 139:14-15 MSG

At our house, it's not just you're birth "day"; we celebrate for a whole week!  Not that we have lavish dinners and hundreds of presents, but it's a special time when we reflect upon and are grateful about one another's existence and purpose.  We may not use those words, but that's the reason behind the celebration.

Last weekend we were in Nashville for an Upward Sports event, but we managed to do a little celebrating.  We got to have some delicious frozen dessert at Las Paletas Gourmet Popsicles down on 12th Street.  Twice, actually.  The first time I had the Cucumber Chili popsicle while Justin enjoyed the Hot Chocolate with Peppers.  The second time Justin tried the Strawberry Chip while I went to heaven with my Goat's Milk Caramel.  We also got to go to Trader Joe's to stock up on necessities, which was AWESOME! 

We also got to eat dinner at this place.  It serves local beef and veg, with an expansive menu to meet all dietary needs, including a black bean and Quinoa burger, which I did not try.  I especially enjoyed the handcut fries and Maple Jack Daniel's Ketchup.  If you're ever in the Hillsboro area, I recommend dining here!

Let's talk about this pork loin.  Justin is an amazing chef, especially when it comes to the grill.  This pork loin was cooked so perfectly!  Moist, tender, and full of FLAVOR!  Here's the recipe for the marinade/sauce he used.  It's adapted from one of Bobby Flay's sauces.

Mustard BBQ Sauce

Whisk together 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar, 1 heaping tablespoon each of Dijon and Stone Ground mustard, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, and 3/4 teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper. 

Marinate your meat for 30 minutes to an hour, baste on during the cooking/grilling, and save some for plating.  Be careful not to contaminate!  For this particular 2lb pork loin, it was grilled at about 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  This sauce is also great on chicken!  Look how wonderful my supper was, made by my hubby!

This is from my dear friend Corrie, my seminary survival buddy.  Isn't it adorable?!  I can't wait to use it this weekend as I carry food to cookouts.

Everyone in my family chipped in to get me a sewing machine and sent me some patterns.  I know the photo is crooked, but I don't know which way is up on those patterns anyway.  This will be an exciting adventure!  My sewing machine should arrive next week and we'll get started!

I couldn't believe Justin actually wrapped my gifts!  Ok, so it's a bag, but still... 

So thoughtful!

I also got birthday money and gift cards from other wonderful family members that I am excited to spend!  Hooray for entering my late twenties!  *I accidentally typed "thirties" and almost threw up.  I'm starting to sweat.

Tomorrow we are going to the "city" for the eating out event of my birthday.  Here's a couple family photos to end with today.  I've got to go make flour tortillas for supper tonight.

Here's to hopefully growing out of looking so horrible in closeup photos!