A world gone wrong, and a dessert done right.

Have you ever started a project and it turned out awful?  I have.  This is the point where you have a choice.  Fix it, or toss it.  I am reading Gods word this morning and as I sit here wrapped in the peace of his presence through his word I find myself in awe of the depth of his reality.  I see a tiny glimpse of his mind, and I see an overwhelming amount of his love and compassionate nature.

I was doing a little word search on “heart” and I started at the top of my list and found myself right up there in the beginning, good ole Genesis.  The top of the heading for chapter 3 in my Bible is “A World Gone Wrong.”

God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.  And it grieved the LORD that he had made man on earth.  It grieved him at his heart. (Another translation I have says “it broke his heart.”)

And the LORD said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth.   Yes, and I will destroy every living thing- all the people, large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky.  I am sorry I ever made them.” Genesis 6:5-7

He wanted to scrap a large part of his creation, including us; wipe the slate of earth clean.  Do you see how real this is?  Do you see that God was disgusted with what he made had become?

…BUT! And this is a pretty sweet but for Noah and his family.

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  This is the account of Noah and his family.  Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. Genesis 6:9

I am sure most of you have heard the story of Noah.  I picture God looking at earth and shaking his head like, ‘really, wow, nothing is good about this place.  I made it good, but these little stinkers are rotten to the core.’  Then God considers Noah and that Noah is the only one on earth worth saving.  So because of Noah and his righteous relationship with the Lord (which my mind is totally spun up around; I wonder what Noah's walk with God was like), Noah’s family and Noah got instructions for their salvation; blueprints for the ARK.  And God wiped the world clean.

How did Noah’s relationship with the Lord work? I am going to be really praying about this.  Why?  Because I want it.

Lord, thank you for these few minutes this morning to soak up some good word.  Your word is life and health to those who find them.  Write it on the walls of my heart.  Give me the ability to memorize your scriptures, commit them to my memory so that they will be as if they are written in spiritual Sharpie that is permanent and will never fade.  Oh Lord, please let me have understanding as I continue to press in and dig into your word. I only want your truth to shine forth, not my own understandings, but your true meaning behind what is written.  I pray that you will wrap me all up, snug as a bug in a rug, with your love.  I pray for peace for your people who are seeking you.  I pray that you will guide the path of their feet and that you will put us in each other’s way so that our lives will intersect and we can have fellowship.  Thank you for good God conversations with new friends last night.  You are so merciful to us.  We love you so much.  I pray today for little boys that they will be perfect with the potty, that they will be obedient, that I will be patient and that I will raise them and train them up right.  I pray for a day filled with fun adventures.  Thank you Lord for your tender nature and way that you usher me along.

I think that this blog is for me.  I hope that you can glean something from it.  But as I read and write it down it makes so much sense as my spirit, soul, mind, heart, thoughts, finger tips bring this all up and break it all out.  God knows my heart; whether I like it or not.  I am ashamed when I see certain things, but I find great joy in knowing that he is working it all out.  To his glory, not mine.  Just the way it is supposed to be.  *Sigh* I love him.

Yesterday at my job we had a going away party for our teller supervisor whose last day was today… *tear* {I am going to miss your beautiful smiling face Nicole!}  But at the same time, because you left, we got to have a Mexican Fiesta Party Extravaganza to send you off.  And because we had a Mexican Fiesta Party Extravaganza, I got to have the most delicious dessert I have tried in ages!  It was so good, I tracked down the angel who brought it.  Our bank manager and Joplin Globe columnist, Cheryl Finely.  Give her a hand folks!  CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP, HORAY!!!! Cheryl!

Not only did she bring this delicious dessert, but she gave me the recipe, and it was too easy to be true.  So I made it last night because today is Colby’s birthday, our good friend who moved to Joplin from Seattle right before the tornado.  Happy Birthday Colby! High 5!

This was ridiculously amazing. My taste buds were stunned, and the little buggers demanded more.  So I naturally gave into their demands.  They are very convincing little guys.

Here you are folks, straight from Pillsbury…The easiest and tastiest little recipe you may ever come across. Andi Beres can attest to the easiness of this recipe because when I was done she said, “that’s it?” 

Yep, that’s it!

Sopapilla Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS 

16 ounces cream cheese

2 cans refrigerated crescent dough

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup cinnamon sugar

DIRECTIONS

1 Using a 9 x 13 baking pan, unroll one package of crescent refrigerated dough and line the bottom of the pan.

2 Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and extract.

3 Spread over the crescent rolls.

4 Unroll the other can of crescent rolls and place on top of cream cheese mixture.

5 Pour one stick of melted butter or margarine over the top and sprinkle with about 1/2 cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture.

6 Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Uh…YUM!

I hope you have a wonderful Saturday.  I will talk to you tomorrow.  Ok, bye!

xoxo

Ronda

What to do when you get Offended

Well friends I am going to be super transparent with you, I got schooled today; schooled by the Holy Spirit.  This is happening very often these days it seems.  I really don’t think that it is happening more often necessarily, I just think that when I asked God to search me and know my heart, to try me and know my thoughts…he listened, and now I am getting taught.

When you have a heart that sincerely wants to be close to God and to have his agenda and not your own he will start cleaning house, I think he is getting out his scrub brush for me.  Sorry God, it’s dirty, better glove up!

I think, nay, I know I did things out of order yesteday…twice.  I put my own agenda before his two times!  I knew it too, that is the bad part.  I knew better, but I created really awesome excuses for my bad behavior.  When you have a gripe or an offense the Bible tells us what to do with it.  So I wanted to share my lesson with you.

I don’t think that I am special in the regard that offenses can creep in.  Boo!!!! offenses.  I once bragged that I don’t get offended…ha!  That is right about the time when I started realizing how offensive some people truly are!  I was griping about everything.  I have mentioned before that Sam is my ‘griping board.’  Poor Sam.  I was being a real whiner a few months back and he said “I thought you don’t get offended.”  I instantly knew that he was right.  I even told him so.  I said, “wow, you are right!”  Normally I am not so receptive to being told that I am wrong, I should be, but sometimes that old stinker ‘PRIDE’ gets in the way.  But that day it was instantaneous realization that what he just said was 100% accurate, and I was in the wrong.  Go honey!

Pride bad; offense bad.  Ok, so I will say a few things, because I think there is a lesson here.  I think it is safe to say that I got offended {gasp}.  Yes, it is true.  Ok, so now what?  Well, I told two people about this.  I shrouded it with questions and made it seem more like a quandary, and really it could be those things too, but in the center of it was a gripe, an offense, an ugly little divisive splinter.  Ok, I might be going a little over board with the description of this, but really it comes down to I didn’t follow the example Jesus gave on what to do in this situation.  Therefore, I was wrong.

Thank you God for bringing me back to basics and training me.  Before I say what I learned I want to say that when I was a little kid we got spanked as a form of discipline.  Trust me, we needed it.  After our spanking my Dad (the’ spanker’, my Mom was the ‘crier’) would sit us on his lap and ask us, “now why did I spank you?”  And through our blubbering we would mutter, “Because you love us.”  “That’s right, I love you and I want you to be good,” He would say.  When H.S. gives you correction, listen up, it’s because he loves you.

If you get a gripe here is how you work it out:

1)      Examine your heart and your motives. Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  Psalms 139:23-24

2)      Don’t be so sensitive that every little thing gets your feelers hurt.  Consider it an opportunity to ‘turn the other cheek’; an opportunity to love.  Now don’t get me wrong sometimes you gotta call out the bad behavior.  But as I am learning, there is a procedure, a time and a place. Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.  Proverbs 19:11

3)      Keep it to yourself!  Pray it, don’t spray it! Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.  Proverbs 21:23

4)      Don’t stop going to church (if that is where your gripe is).  I read a little blog today that spoke directly to the heart of my issue and she wrote:

“Remember that Divide and Conquer is the oldest play in the book, that wolves tend to separate a sheep from the flock to take it down.  Don’t give way to offense, and don’t let it be an excuse for your own spiritual anemia (and that of your family).” ~ The Esther Project

And the Bible says:

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

5)      Pray for their heart and your heart, and if you spoke it out, ask for forgiveness.  You can’t put the cat back in the bag, {Why was the poor cat in a bag in the first place I wonder?}, but you can apologize for speaking instead of seeking.

6)      Read Matthew chapter 18.  God knows us.  God is smarter than us.  God is good and his advice is the best.

Even if you are right, if you gossip (eek, I hate that word), you are wrong.  Take it to God.

Heavenly Father, I am so sorry.  I may have valid points, but I had a poor approach.  Thank you for bringing this to me.  Thank you for showing me these things.  I got a plank in my eye!  Help me get it out, and let me follow your plan, because your plan is best.  Best, better, blessed.  Thank you for all your grace for me.  I need it soooooooo much!

Did you know that it is not difficult to make a cake from scratch?  True story.  I made my favorite cake and took it to the church Sunday night.  When I got there I saw that they had been blessed with a HUGE sheet cake, so I don’t know if my cake had to wait until yesterday to get eaten, but, Kael and I tested it and…it was probably the best cake ever.

The cake recipe I got a while back from King Arthur Flour.  I have never used King Arthur Flour, I have never even seen King Arthur Flour in a store, but I found their recipe online and it was dangerously delicious.  I asked Sam what type of frosting I should do.   I gave him four choices, peanut butter, chocolate, vanilla butter cream, or lemon.  He said lemon.  Lemon is one of my favorite flavors, so I knew this was going to be a tough job keeping myself from testing, tasting, and licking the bowl clean.  I was going to have to have to exercise a great deal of self control, or exercise a great deal.

I think I ended up somewhere in between.

Leaping Lemon Cake {because you will leap for joy when you eat it, maybe even click your heels}

2 cups sugar

3 ¼ cups flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup unsalted butter, soft (if you use salted butter the world will not end)

1 ¼ cups milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare your choice of two 9” pans, 24 muffin cups lined, or one 9 x 13 pan.  Prepare by lightly greasing and flour dusting.  I also cut some parchment paper to fit in the bottom and then lightly grease that too.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the butter and beat with an electric mixer at low speed, until the mixture looks sandy.

Combine the milk and vanilla and add, all at once.  Mix at low speed for 30 seconds, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 more seconds.

Scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.

With the mixer running at low speed, add 1 egg.  Increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds.  Repeat this procedure with the second egg; continue adding the eggs, scraping after each addition, until all four are added.

Transfer the batter to the pans of your choice.  Pans should be filled about half full.  Lined muffin tins, fill cups 2/3 full.

Bake for 40 minutes for a 9 x 13, 27 minutes for 9”, 24 minutes for cupcakes.  A toothpick inserted should come out clean.

Let cakes cool in pan and then transfer to a wire rack.  They are easiest to frost and decorate if they are chilled after cooling.  So once they are cool, wrap them up in tin foil (like a present), and put them in the freezer or refrigerator.  You can even make them several weeks ahead of time if you want.  Just wrap them good.

What I did while my cakes were baking was make my Lemon Curd filling and my Lemon Frosting.

Lemon Curd:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest (finely grated lemon rind)

½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

¼ cup butter

Take two pots (or a double boiler if you have one, I don’t so I used two pots), In the bigger pot put about an inch of water, and set on low-medium heat.  With a wire whisk, whisk the eggs and sugar together in the second pot that is set into the first larger pot.  Stir in the lemon juice, butter, and lemon peel.  Cook over simmering water, stirring very often, for 10-15 minutes or until thickened.  Transfer to the fridge and let it cool.

 Lemon Frosting:

1 teaspoon lemon zest

3 tablespoons of butter

3 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon water

Cream lemon zest and butter.  Add a cup of powdered sugar at a time, blending well after each addition.  Mixture will be very dry and pasty.

Combine lemon juice and water, and then add to your frosting while mixing on low speed.  This is super good.  Add more lemon zest or lemon juice if you think it needs it.  Don’t test it too much though, this is one of those that you will find yourself sitting on the couch watching your ‘stories’ putting back a whole bowl of this deliciousness if you aren’t careful.

When my cake was cool I put some frosting in my decorator bag and piped a dam around the edge. (You can watch lots of cake decorating videos on youtube to learn how to do this kind of thing).  Fill with your desired filling.  I made a two tier cake so my first layer is filled with Blackberry Jam, and my top tier is filled with lemon curd and topped with lemon curd.  So I put a dam on my first layer, spread my filling, topped with second layer and frosted that baby up.

This is a very versatile cake and let me tell you, boy is it a goodie!

Xoxo

Ronda

God-gurt

Last night Sam fell asleep on the couch while I was doing some baking for the relief workers.  I made brownies and peanut butter frosting and then topped it off with white chocolate chips and chopped milk chocolate.  It was about 11pm when I finished up.  I kept thinking about something Pastor Larry mentioned during our Wednesday night midweek church service; the word of God is sharper than a two edged sword.  I felt a need to soak this idea up.

I opened up e-Sword (if you don’t have e-Sword you should get it free online, awesome program), and started soaking.  Hebrews, starting in chapter 4 verse 12, reads:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two –edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

Living and active...when I read this I equated it to yogurt.  Yogurt is filled with live cultures that aid your digestive tract, and are very good for you.  The word of God is living and active, it is yogurt for our soul! Instead of Go-gurt, God-gurt!  {I smile}

Next I jumped over to Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10, the Holy Spirit was taking me places; I like his rides.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.  Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand firm.  Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with prayer and supplication.  To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…

You may be asking yourself, “suppli-what?”  Supplication is a form of prayer where you pray for someone else.  You intercede for them; you step in and pray on their behalf.  This is a blessing and you should do it often.  I like to keep a prayer list of who and what I am praying for.   You should try this if you don’t do it already.  It helps me remember especially when I tell someone, “I will pray for you.”  It is easy to forget, but if you have a list you can keep it in front of you.  Sometimes I slack off though and don’t keep mine up-to-date, I am going to work at being better at this.  Supplications; that is good stuff! You see, when I write these blogs I am getting trained.  God keeps putting things on my heart and so that is what I write.  God deals with me daily, and I like that.  I like it because his word says (back to Hebrews!):

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (AHHHHH, I love this so much!!! Such good word! {Ronda, not the Bible here}), looking to Jesus, the founder and protector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.  In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?  “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved {corrected} by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 

{Oh man, this is so good, you gotta look it up and read it.  I am going to skip ahead a little bit, but read all of Hebrews chapter 12, ok?  Ok.  I feel so recharged and energized right now.  Thank you Lord!  Skipping onto verse 11}

For the moment all discipline seems painful {yep!} rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained for it.

{This next part makes me want to sing, Oh, if the Bible is food, this is dessert!}

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.  Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Ok, that was so good, gonna lift up a prayer now.

Oh God, you are so faithful and so good.  I praise you and thank you for enduring the cross, and the shame of taking on my sins.  Thank you for working out every detail.  I can’t wait to see how your plan fits together.  I look forward to the day that I will stand in your presence and everything will make sense and I will marvel even more at the genius of your creation.  You are amazing!  You are so creative!  Thank you for reproving me and speaking to me through your word.  God, I supplicate for my friends and family who are reading these words, that you will give them special time with you as they get in your word and you get in their hearts.  Thank you for breaking down strongholds and correcting your sons and daughters.  Thank you for reaching out to us and not just leaving us here by ourselves.  Thank you for giving us your son, thank you for giving us your word, thank you for making a way so that we can have a relationship with you.  My God, my strength, author and protector of my faith, I give you all the glory, and all the honor, and all my praise!  I am going to daily lift my drooping hands, and let you strengthen my wobbly knees.  In Jesus name, AMEN!

Bringing this back up to the top…God is showing me that his word is my protection.  It is a weapon!  And I need to put on spiritual armor and be ready.  We are at war, this is not the time to slack off and let ourselves be lulled to sleep.  Protected and armed for battle, he told us how in his word.  PRAISE GOD!  So grateful that he didn’t leave us hanging, but gave us his word, the Bible (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, hehe, I like that).

Here are my “Thank you for coming to our town and serving selflessly to restore and rebuild our community” brownies.  Quite the mouthful, eh?  So for short we shall call them “Brownies.”

Brownies

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup cocoa powder

½ cup flour

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

Heat oven to 350.  I greased a baking sheet with tall edges and then lined with parchment paper, because I did a double batch.  But for a single you can do this in a greased 8x8.

In a sauce pan melt your butter.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Beat in cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder.  Spread into your prepared pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.  Be careful not to overcook.  A toothpick inserted should come out clean.

Peanut Butter Frosting

½ cup butter

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

3-4 cups powdered sugar

In a large bowl with mixer on med-high whip butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy.  Add cream and continue to beat on med-high for about 2-3 more minutes.  Gradually add powdered sugar until your desired consistency and taste.   This is so stinking good, don’t test it too much or you may need to make another batch…and plus, I can’t imagine eating a whole batch of frosting would be good for you.

Frost the brownies and top with chopped peanuts or like I did with white chocolate chips and chopped milk chocolate chips.

Thank you relief workers for helping us fix this place up!  For those of you who are not here in Joplin with us here are some pictures I took today, almost two weeks since the tornado...so much work to be done, but were doing it!

The pictures do not even come close to doing justice to the astounding destructive power that hit this area.  The picture directly above is about a mile from my house.  And the video that I posted on my facebook with the people crowded in the Fast Trip gas station was on this corner.  A MILE!

Xoxo

Ronda

Icing on the cake

I know what you are thinking...where is Sam, we want SAM!  I know this because I check the stats on my blog and Sam always gets double the pages views that I get.  I love him too, so I know what you are going through.  Sam finished his evening last night with a crazy out of the blue migraine and then has Kael by himself today while Caleb and I are here in Washington.  So he was a little stretched for time and energy today.  No prob babe, I got your back!  And so does Momma Marilyn with her tasty morsels of goodness otherwise known as:

Momma Marilyn’s Apple Spice Carrot Cake

Well if we get technical this is Betty Crocker’s Carrot Cake, but it is Momma Marilyn’s modifications that make it oooohhh so yummy special.

I think I will try and make a carrot cake when I get home and try and make it really healthy so that I can justify eating great gobs of it.  I never used to like carrot cake, but it has grown on me.  Oh, and great gobs of anything is usually not good; everything in moderation.

Mom sent the leftovers home with us; bad Mom!  I ate it for breakfast and then lunch yesterday.  This is so good you will have to either not like carrot cake to make it or you will need intense self control, or you may find that you have whittled the “uneven” slice down to a crumb (like me).

So to counterbalance my over indulgence I went for a nice little run and felt much better and can say that it was definitely worth it.

This morning I went to church in Machias the church where I was raised.  It was wonderful to see my church family and hear my dad preach.  What wonderful word I heard!  Yes, I am rhyming again, I stayed up way too late last night.  My dad taught out of Luke chapter 10 verses 1-24.  You can catch the sermon at http://www.machias.org/ in the podcasts.  Definately one to listen to!  I am SO grateful for this sermon because it touched on so many areas that the Holy Spirit has been training me in.  It brought a little tear to my eye at one point too because I got a pinch of personal conviction.  I would rather a pinch then a spank, so point taken God!  I am sorry.

God is so good!  I was blessed by the music, by prayer and by the word!  It was a great day!  Now we are up at my folks about to enjoy some of Papa Ron's delicious oriental fare that he is whipping up in the wok on the back porch.  *SMILES* YUMMY!

So without further ado I give you Momma Marilyn's Apple Spice Carrot Cake.

Ingredients

Betty Crocker Carrot Cake Mix

Instead of the cup of water the box calls for Mom uses pineapple juice (and the magic begins)

3 eggs

½ cup vegetable

1 large carrot grated fine

2 apples peeled and grated fine

Preheat oven to 340.  Grease two 8” cake pans and line with parchment paper.

Follow the directions on the box, mixing together the wet ingredients on medium speed for two minutes.  By hand, stir in the grated apples and carrot.  Pour batter evenly between the two pans.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes and a tooth pick inserted should come out clean.

Let rest in pans for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Then peel off parchment paper.  Cakes should be completely cool before you frost them.

While your cake is cooling you can whip up your cream cheese frosting that is the perfect complement to carrot cake.

Featherweight Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz package cream cheese

¾ cup butter at room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

In a medium bowl combine the first three ingredients and whip them on high until light and fluffy.

Gradually (slowly) add your powdered sugar and continue to whip until it is the right consistency.

Once your cakes are cooled and your frosting is prepared you are ready to bring it all home and put this thing together.

Place one of your cakes on a plate (make it a cute plate; first people eat with their eyes).  Spread a light coating of frosting on the top.  This is where Mom says you can get “creative.”  She took and spread Peach Mango Orange Preserves all over the top…sorry I had to pause so I could wipe the drool off my face.  This stuff was yummy and gave this cake a skip in its step.  Spread the preserves to ½ an inch from the edge of the cake.  Mom noted that these preserves that she used were ½ the calories of regular preserves, but they were full flavor!  Apricot or marmalade preserves would do if you needed a substitute.

Using a decorator bag and a “star tip” filled with your frosting pipe a border all the way around the top edge of the cake (this will keep your preserves contained when you top it with the second layer of cake).

Place your second layer of cake on top.  Frost the top of cake.  Then with your frosting bag go up and down to cover sides.  Drizzle preserves over the top and then pipe a small border around the base and top edge.

Mom toasted almonds by taking a frying pan and melting ½ tablespoon of butter to which she added ¼ cup slivered almonds.  She says to watch carefully and stir with a wooden spoon so they don’t burn.

When they look nice and toasty remove from heat and let cool.  Sprinkle on the top of your cake as a finishing touch.

Enjoy! Love, Mom.

And here is the cute little cake that she made special for Caleb:

I am so blessed to have such an amazing mother.  Next week we will resume with Sunday with Sam.

xoxo

Ronda