We have in-laws visiting this week, and I got to do something I love:  bake a birthday cake.  I adore birthday cake.  I like the celebration, and I like the whole concept that once a year, the birthday boy/girl gets to order up a favorite cake.  Yum!  Anyway, it is our nephew’s birthday today;  he is twelve.  What is every twelve-year-old’s favorite birthday cake flavor?  Chocolate!  So, I put away my fancy recipes that involve nuts, coconut, sweetened milk, sour cream, buttermilk, marshmallows, and caramel, and went with the good old basic Duncan Hines devil’s food cake with classic chocolate icing.  It was pretty simple due to the whole mix aspect, but horrors!  Kids want a cake that says “Happy Birthday!”  In the interest of taste, this is not a requirement for me, and cake decorating (or writing on cakes) is not one of my talents, but I bought a can of Wilton’s decorating icing and gave it a shot.  I practiced on a paper towel, first, and did the best I could.

It brings to mind my past birthdays and their respective cakes–and sometimes pies.  I like to switch around.  In recent years, I have had Texas sheet cake, apple pie, key lime pie, and Italian cream cake.  Italian cream cake is the favorite I return to.  I tried it for the first time at a vacation Bible school banquet when I was a child, and my grandmother started making it for me as my birthday present.  Over the years, she also gave me pink depression glass cake platter, and for my wedding, a cake stand that was a wedding gift to her parents in 1897.  Birthday cake has nothing but happy connotations for me!

The Italian cream cake recipe has a lot of ingredients and takes some time to make, but it is worth the effort.  The recipe is not hard to find–it is in most cookbooks, and church cookbooks, but if you have never tried it or made it and would like to give it a shot, here is the recipe my mom used when she made it for me last year.

Italian Cream Cake

• 1 stick oleo
• 1/2 c. shortening
• 2 c. sugar
• 5 eggs, separated
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 c. pecans
• 1 c. coconut

Cream oleo and shortening.  Then, add small amount of sugar at a time while beating.  Next, add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the buttermilk to which the baking soda has been added.  Add flour, vanilla, pecans, and coconut.  Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter.   Bake in 3 cake pans at 375 degrees for at least 20 minutes, or until cake springs back when touched lightly.  Spread the following filling between the layers once cake is cooled.

• 1 stick oleo
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 box powdered sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese.  Add the vanilla and sugar slowly.  Beat well.

What is your favorite birthday cake?

     Although I am trying to overcome, I’ve got the blues today.  This isn’t really fair–I had kind of a rough night, and I thought you weren’t supposed to have two bad days in a row.  Nothing terrible has happened–praise God.  I am just have an emotional day, and every little problem as preceived by my emotions seems about 1,000,000x bigger than my logical brain knows it is.  How to cope on such days? 

     I remind myself of my great-grandmother’s favorite saying, “This too shall pass.”  I also remind myself that while my feelings are real; they are not necessarily the truth.  That is why if at all possible, it is a good idea to spend extra time reading God’s word on such days to renew your mind. 

     Another thing that has worked for me in the past, is spending my entire devotional time giving thanks. For one day, I bypass praying for others, myself, etc. and just thank God for everything I can think of large and small.  If you sit and do this and focus on the gratitude in your heart for God and really give yourself to it, I think it’s pretty much impossible not to experience a shift in your thinking.

     Exercise!  Intense exercise actually alters your brain chemistry.  You may think more clearly afterward.  You also get the benefits of the release of endorphins (the feel-good hormones, instead of the feel-bad ones, which may be causing the problem!).

     Stay busy.  It is okay to be sad and cry when we are upset, but we really can’t spend the whole day doing that.  Keep your body and your mind busy.  Catch up on laundry.  Clean the house.  Organize your drawers.  Make up your mind to bless someone else and then go to it!  Then, whatever else happens, you will have made a difference in someone else’s life, and accomplished some tasks.  That usually makes you feel better.

     Of course, I realize that when a person is really feeling emotional pain, it’s not always possible to just hop up and clean the bathroom.  In such cases, I suggest puttng on a worship CD as soon as you get a chance, and just spend some time in silence listening to music that ministers to you, and focusing on the Lord.  Whatever you do, in twenty-four hours, it will all be over, and you will have a brand new day.

    Personally, I am coping with my bluesy Wednesday by playing laundry-catch-up, and meeting my mom for lunch.  I might even wash my car.  This morning, I read a few Psalms and Proverbs over my coffee.  Reading Psalms always encourages me.  In fact, I wish I could do it all day!  Even so, I am working to control my thoughts and focus according to Philippians 4:8:  Finally brothers [sisters], whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

Along with everyone else in America, I am trying to figure out ways to save money and still get good quality products.  One of the areas where my spending tends to be a bit exorbitant is beauty products.  For years, I have worn only Clinique makeup.  It doesn’t break me out, and I am happy with the product.  However–a few weeks ago, I had to buy a new mascara and lip gloss.  That ran me $34 something!  EEEK!  I am ready to try some different products and see if I can find things I like that are a little more budget-friendly.

In answer to my unspoken quest, Good Morning America has done a couple of segments on the steals their makeup artist finds at drugstores.  Get this–all of the products listed are $10 or less!  Hallelujah!  Now, as I run out of makeup, I will be replenishing with less expensive products and see how that goes.

Check out the link, and play along with me.  What woman couldn’t use some great makeup products for under ten bucks?

My husband loves blackberries, and July means it is blackberry time!  Every summer, I attempt a cobbler, but this year, I couldn’t find a recipe I wanted to try, so I made a blackberry pie.  These blackberries are the best, too.  They were given to me by my mother-in-law.  I did not have to tromp out to the patch and risk chiggers, skeeters, and ticks.

I love a fruit pie that has sour cream in it.  That is what drew me to this recipe.  Try it out.  It’s pretty tasty!

Blackberry Pie

• 3 c. fresh blackberries
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1 9″ pie shell

Place 3 cups berries in the pie shell and set aside.  Mix 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour and salt.  Add eggs and sour cream, stirring until blended.  Spoon onto berries.  Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour .  Sprinkle on top of pie.  Bake at 350 degrees 50-55 minutes.  Enjoy!

When I was 21, I went to Mexico on my first-ever mission trip.  A group of ten from my church went, and we had a blast.  We were helping a pastor and his family build a house.  The trip was a whirlwind of helping, making new friends, and learning about the culture.  The first Sunday after we returned to the states, we were all going to have a chance to give testimonies and talk about the trip as part of the worship service.  Sunday morning, I woke up very sick.  I missed church, and I missed my chance to talk about the trip.  I was so disappointed, but more than anything, I just felt left out. That morning, I ran across a scripture that has been especially important (and encouraging) to me ever since.

It is Psalm 16: 5-6, “Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.  The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance” (NIV).   That morning, this verse spoke assurance to me that God had made my place (lot) secure, and I did not need to fight for position, or worry about being left out of anything.  God provides, and  his provision is secure–in everything.

I have returned to this verse zillions of times since then–whenever I feel like I have messed up, and the outcome depends on me, I am reminded that the outcome depends on God.  He has given me what I am meant to have, and he gives me security.  Whenever I feel frustrated or held back by my circumstances, I remember, “the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.”

And then there is the other extremely good news in this verse.  Imagine you are at a banquet–every food, delicacy, delight, treat, desert imaginable is there.  Who would you most want to fix your plate and get your drink?  Would you insist on doing it yourself, if God wanted to do it for you?  To me, the idea of the Lord choosing and assigning to me a portion and a cup is thrilling thing.  There is no doubt in my mind that the Lord will give me a better portion and cup, than I would choose or fight for and win on my own.  God is good.  He holds a special place for all of his children.  I hope this verse in Psalm 16 brings encouragement to you as it has to me.

When I was a child, I loved the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My grandparents gave me the complete set as a gift when I about five years old, and my mother read them to me. Later, I read them on my own several times. I wanted to be a pioneer girl. I loved learning about life in the olden days, and pestered my grandma for stories of when she was a girl. This usually happened during her rest time when I was visiting. We always rested for a while after the mid-day meal and doing dishes. Grandma wanted to really get a good rest, but instead we took turns asking each other questions. I normally asked her about her life growing up, and then she asked me a similar question, but I always made my answers really short so I could hear more stories! Poor Grandma couldn’t get a good rest when I was around.

Anyway, on a recent visit to my Mom’s, I found The Little House Cookbook:  Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Classic Stories, by Barbara M. Walker.  I thought that my mother purchased this book on a family trip to Mansfield to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder home and museum–a great Missouri trip, by the way, but it actually came from a more recent trip to South Dakota.  Well, as much as I loved Laura, I would have adored this cookbook when I was a child.  In fact, I kind of adore it now–I borrowed it and took it home with me so I can search for a frontier recipe to make.

This is a fun book with recipes for foods that are mentioned in the series such as tomato preserves, chicken pie, graham bread, and sour dough biscuits.  There are also recipes for preparing and cooking wild game–maybe not something everyone would do, but interesting to read about either way.  Each recipe also has the section of the book/series that mentions the food.  This is a book that kids would probably enjoy if they have read any of the books in the series.  Most of the recipes are not complicated, and have every day ingredients, which I definitely appreciate.  Trying some of these recipes would be a fun project to do with kids.  The cookbook also is illustrated by Garth Williams, who illustrated all of the books in Laura’s series, so they have a very familiar look and feel.

I just finished reading Life Management for Busy Women by Elizabeth George. I really enjoyed the book and got some good insights.
There are two things in this book that really spoke to me. The first is the idea that we cannot really manage time. We can only manage ourselves. I have heard many people say things like, “I just need to manage my time better.” In fact, I have said it. It would be more accurate to say, “I just need to manage myself better.”
The other idea that I really liked is presented in the section on managing the mind. George suggests getting five file folders and labeling them with five different topics that you want to learn more about. The topics could be spiritual gifts, prayer, another topic from the Bible, or something general like cleaning. I went out and got my file folders today, and now, I am prayerfully/thoughtfully considering topics based on what I am drawn to, and what I am already reading about. I am pretty sure one folder will be on the topic of marriage. Then, whenever I run across an article, a tip, a quote or a book, I can add that information to the file. Of course, with a book, I will have to write up my impressions and what I learned, but this way, I will have all of my information together on these different topics as I work on learning more and becoming an “expert.” This is an exciting way to study, learn, and prepare for ministry opportunities.