Tough Girl

"Vows made in storms,
are forgotten in calm." -- Thomas Fuller

Confession: I don't have much tolerance for babies... the actual child or adult kind. But when my girl dog turns it on, during the myriad of storms that the midwest tends to endure (see thudmunson.blogspot.com), I tend to have a soft spot. At least soft enough to take pictures of her meltdown while sitting in the laundry basket of Brett's closet!

The storm is upon us:

The storm has passed:
Meanwhile, the boy dog sleeps... like a dog: It's time for bed now:
We all try to help get Abby out of the closet (I hope she will always know we are an affirming household.):
This is gonna have to be a snatch and grab job:
Off to bed she goes... the storms have passed for petes sake:

(I'm sorry, I can't figure out how to turn the photo upright!)

Everything is Blooming Most Recklessly

Everything is blooming most recklessly;

if it were voices instead of colors,

there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

Confession: I don't really like flowers. I'd take green trees and leafy plants any day over a flower... but there are exceptions. And today is one of those exceptions.

And I just couldn't resist:

Shuffles' Big Day

"You'll wake up on Easter morning,

And you'll know that he was there,

When you find those choc'late bunnies,

That he's hiding ev'rywhere." Gene Audry

Confession: We're awful Bunny Parents. We were good once. But that was before dogs took the coveted "cuddle spot." Now the bunny is lovingly tolerated.

But, Easter's her big day... and we weren't going to take that away from her! So we got a few pictures of her, with the Easter eggs that Brett and my Dad colored, while my Mom and I cooked! (Note to self: anticipate the obsessions, it'll save you a bundle.)

Easter Sunday

Awake, thou wintry earth -Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness! ~Thomas Blackburn

Confession: I struggle with Easter. I struggle because I witness the tendency that Christians have, to allow the resurrection of Jesus to be the last word, the pinnacle... but it's not. Resurrection moments should happen every day and through his life and teachings, Jesus taught us how to make resurrection moments happen every day. The "last word" should be when no child hungers, when no mother watches her child fight someone elses war, when no father must steal or cheat to make ends meet, and when there is justice for all people regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation. Maybe then the resurrection will make sense.

Okay... heavy stuff. On to something a little more "light and fluffy."

I tried a delightful lemon recipe for Easter Sunday, that came out of the magazine Celebrate. It’s very Martha Stewart-y and I felt quite accomplished once it was finished and on the table. I made just a few changes to the recipe as it was printed, and will list them below. (Thank you Dad, for the picture!)


















Lemon Stuffed Angel Food Cake

6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (I used the frozen stuff here... and it worked great. I know the purist's out there will scoff, but I'd had a pretty full day already and the thought of squeezing a dozen lemons to get the full half-cup, seemed improbable)
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 prepared angel food cake, torn into pieces (I used almost two cakes and it filled my pan nicely)
1 container of whipped topping

Coat a 12 cup springform pan with non-stick spray. On top of a double boiler, combine egg yolks, sugar, and lemon juice. Cook, stirring constantly for 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, soften gelatin in cold water. Let stand for 2 minutes then add to hot egg mixture, whisking to combine. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

Beat cream until slightly thickened then add sugar gradually. Beat until soft peaks form. Fold cream into egg mixture.

Place 1/3 of your cake pieces evenly in bottom of prepared pan. Pour 1/3 of the egg mixture over cake. Repeat layers with remaining cake and egg mixture. Cover and refridgerate for 8 hours.

Frost cake with whipped topping.

With or Without You

"U2 is an original species... there are colours and feelings and emotional terrain that we occupy that is ours and ours alone." Bono

Confession: I don't generally like remakes but every now and then, I've gotta throw my principles to the wind...

This one is amazing!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iwE1hE5T0E

Winter Wonderland

"When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels." Unknown

Confession: I LOVE the snow... even when everyone else is tired of it, I secretly pray for more!!

Well, it's a winter wonderland out there...

It's coming down pretty hard again, and I'm in my pj's, which means I'm not goin' anywhere today!

And so I figured, why not fill the house with the scent of cupcakes in the oven!

I've struggled with chocolate cupcakes -- they're always too dry or too goopey, too sweet or too plain. But today, I used a bit of every recipe I've ever used and came up with these...

A very viable option...

Banana Dreams

"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." Groucho Marx

Confession: I hated... like gag reflex inducing kind-of hate... bananas until last year.

My mother makes the best banana bread. I mean really. I'm not a huge banana fan, but I could eat a loaf of her bread in a single sitting. And in an evil attempt to keep the banana bread comin' my way, I would purchase wholesale-huge amounts of bananas at a time, "accidentally" allow several to over-rippen, and conveniently hand them over to my mom to "do whatever" with. And it worked for a while... until there was a banana backup and her freezer began to overflow with frozen, awkward bananas.

She has since forbidden me to bring her more bananas.

And so I'm left to fend off banana bread dreams, and make them my own reality. And this is what I came up with today...
















Mom... do you remember the Girl Scout staple? The Banana Bop? Frozen bananas dipped in chocolate? Well here you have it, in it's cupcake glory!

The trick was to make sure that it had the texture of a cupcake (i.e. light, fluffy) and not the heavyness of banana bread. I topped it with melted chocolate chips (mixed with just a tablespoon of butter to make it pliable) -- when the chocolate hardened, it had that "crunch" of a frozen Banana Bop! Delightful!


What I used for the cupcake:

1 and 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
1 and a dash tsp. baking soda
5 tbsp. sour cream
3 mashed bananas
1 and 1/2 c. flour
1 and a dash tsp. vanilla

One bite gone... an entire pan to go... Banana Dreams do come true!

Just Call Me Betty Crocker!

"Your good friend has just taken a piece of cake out of the garbage and eaten it. You will probably need this information when you check me into the Betty Crocker Clinic." Miranda on Sex in the City

Confession: I'm afraid my hobby is making me pudgy.


I'm stranded again; see post below. And so, I'm baking. For Christmas, my husband gave me a filler tip, and I'm bound and determined to use it today. Since I've gotta use what's in the house, this is what came out of the oven...






The picture quality is beyond poor, but you get the point.


They kind of taste like a creamsicle! Light and fluffy orange cake, flavored with orange juice -- I used juice that was high in pulp and every now and then, you get a bite with a pulp piece in it! They're filled and topped with a cream cheese frosting, heavy on the vanilla to give it an extra punch. YUMMY! If I had some actual orange in the house, I would have garnished the cupcakes with sugared orange rind to make them look pretty. But as they stand... not too bad!

And the filler tips? Perfect!

So What Do Ya Do When You're Stranded?

I'm stranded today. It's a long, Husband-in-the-Doghouse kind of story, that I won't get into here... but I will note in this public-type forum, that my husband is not the Doghouse Type. He's a good and faithful man, that messed up and decided that one particular Missouri state law, didn't apply to him!

That said, he's got my car and I'm stuck at home today. So, I made cupcakes.

Anyone from Missouri, has probably heard of Ooey-Gooey from Saint Looey Cake (guessing that's not it's REAL name and might be something along the lines of Buttercream Cake... but the gooey part is so descriptive!); it's a delightful mixture of sugar and butter and all things Godly, baked on an equally sugary crust. I had a piece on Sunday night and decided that I could easily turn it into a cupcake!

This is the final result!



YUM!!!

I had to use what was close, so I didn't use the traditional Saint Louis recipe... and instead used the cheaters version. Just in case you were wondering...

Traditional Gooey Butterness

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Cheeters Gooey Butterness

2 eggs
2 1/2 cups powered sugar
1 8oz. cream cheese

As the base, prepare your favorite yellow cake recipe. I made mine just a bit drier than normal so it almost balled up, rather than settled -- more like a pound cake batter consistency. Next time I make these though, I think I'll try using a different base -- chocolate or carmel -- to keep things interesting and fancy.

And don't overbake. By all means, take 'em out when there's still a little jiggle to them! I over-did the first batch (hence, the clever raspberry disguise) and though it's still tasty, it doesn't have the consistency of a Butter Cream that you'd find on a sidestreet in downtown St. Lou.

Now I'm left with a quandry... do I eat them all before Brett gets home, clearing out the evidence, and act as if they never were... or do I eat them in front of him and...

Oh, who am I kidding. I'm not THAT mean!

The Postman Came a Knockin'!

"Pantyhose should only be worn if you're in the ballet or robbing a bank." Anonymous

So, yesterday I was thinking...

Four weeks of sweeping... and the novelty has worn off. I know, I know... I've hardly given it a chance. But I need a hobby with immediate gratification. I've proven that I'm not one of those people who rock at the instand wins. And call me impatient, but I'm having a difficult time validating the time I spend, entering a sweepstakes that doesn't end until 2010! So, I was just on the verge of unplugging my computer, throwing in the perverbial towel, when...

The postman came a knockin'!!!!!

That's right! I won my first sweep! (See delightful picture below.)

Almost... almost... a flat screen television.

Shelter Dog

"We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made." -M. Facklam

If this doesn't make you weep and smile at the same time...

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=11771187

And just on a sidenote: Here in the KC area, shelters are reporting record numbers of abandoned cats and dogs, and shelters that euthanize, can not keep up with the "demand" (can't believe I'm using that word). Can anyone tell me why you would let your dog go, (even) when times are tough? A bag of dog food costs $14-$18 at Sam's and lasts one month for our two dogs. We take them to the vet every six months (sometimes more...a lot more... for the big one), but our neighbors are testament to the fact, that some dogs never go to the vet... so that's not even a necessity. So, why would you let your dog... the one who will love you in spite of your money and possessions...go? Why would anyone want to give up that unabashed joy and pure love that greets you when you walk through the door, regardless of your employment status or even how you treated them that morning? Are THAT many pet owners being pushed out of their homes and forced to move into apartments? Are people really in such dire circumstances that they can't afford an $8 bag of cat food?

I ask these questions, realizing that I am fortunate to live in a household with two incomes. I realize that I am fortunate to be able to drive to Sam's. But even in our darkest financial days, I could not have imagined letting our pups go.

I'm really, really not criticizing here... just truly wondering. So if anyone wants to leave a comment that could shed some light, I would gladly welcome the feedback and the discussion.

Sweepers Arm

"Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember, it didn't work for the rabbit." R.E. Shay

I've got sweepers arm.

That's right... I have entered the world of Sweepstakes.

My Aunt Diane introduced me to a website, that literally, allows me to enter hundreds of sweepstakes a day. HUNDREDS! And after five days of keeping up with my "daily entries" I have a numb wrist, tight shoulder, cranky neck, blurry vision, and I think I might even be developing a callous on my pointer finger! Make the madness stop!!!!

And because we live in a society that "passes the buck" whenever possible, I am laying blame squarely on my Aunt, who, by the way, has won more prizes through sweeping, than I can even imagine.

I'm playing 'till I win a flat screen television. Then I'll stop. Seriously.

Now, I'm off to ice my shoulder....

Vacation

"Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking anymore."

Author Unknown Please oh please... let me go back there... now.

Some thoughts on last night...

"Democracy is...the conviction that there are extraordinary possiblities in ordinary people." Harry Emerson Fosdick

I woke up this morning, excited that in a few short weeks, I will never have to hear a Bush speak for the American people. So what now?

I liken the country’s enthusiasm to getting married… you work and work and work to make your wedding perfect. Perfect hair, perfect dresses, perfect words to say at the alter… and then you’re married, and you realize you haven’t worked on the marriage part of getting married. And things are tough. Changes come hard as you move from living independently, to having to live with another’s idea of how life should work. Rhythms are altered and patterns questioned. The way you’ve always loaded the dishwasher is obviously wrong and the fact that he balls his socks when he takes them off at the end of the day, becomes unforgivable (not that I’m speaking from experience!).

I hope and pray that President Elect Barack Obama, has the energy to work on the marriage. But I REALLY hope, that America can ‘get over’ the balled up socks.

I thought Senator McCain’s “farewell” speech was perfect… and though I ranted about his age on here and had my fair share of disparaging observations concerning his running mate… I felt like he did more in those few minutes to elevate the world view of the Republican Party, than Bush managed to do in EIGHT long years. Now you’ll notice… he didn’t let Palin speak. Good move Mav, and may you live out the rest of your life knowing that you lost to a formidable opponent.

And then one last thing... I wonder how many little African American boys woke up this morning and decided they too, would be President of the United States someday? And I wonder how many of their moms and dads thought for the first time, that it really could happen? May we continue to inspire the children of today: children of all colors, of all languages, and of all faith traditions by calling remarkable leadership that dares to act differently in the face of our collective humanity.

Alanis Morissette

"As long as I can say, what it is that I need to say, then I'll fit whatever I'm trying to say around a melody." Alanis Morissette

Got to see Alanis at the Midland in Kansas City on Tuesday and I must say... second best concert that I've been to in a while. There's not many artists that I actually know the lyrics to ALL the songs... but I come pretty close with this one. Well, her and... Hanson. Photo credits go to Nicole Reinertson via Pitch Music Editor, Jason Harper's Wayward Blog -- GREAT photos!

72 Things Younger than John McCain

"We cannot forever hide the truth about ourselves, from ourselves." John McCain

I read the funniest book yesterday, and I'll be pushing it onto as many people as I possibly can, very soon.

It's called 72 Things Younger than John McCain by Joe Quint.

Some things that are younger than John McCain include: mac and cheese, plutonium, the five digit zip code, turn signals, duct tape, Alaska, and social security! HE'S OLDER THAN DUCT TAPE!!!!

Joe Quint went on to mention that John McCain would be older than 91% of United States citizens (according to the US Census). Begs the question... how in tune IS he with America?

Does he care about the fact that unemployment is at an all time high for people in the 30-45 year old age demographic, as he's flipping through the latest AARP magazine (which by the way, he's actually older than). Does he really care about women's reproductive research and initiatives, when he's focusing on geriatric care. Does the man even own an Ipod? Or a pair of pants that sit on his hips, rather than under his arm-pits? Does he smell like BenGay or Old Spice?

And I quote from Saturday Night Live, May 17, 2008: "I have the courage, the wisdom, the experience, and most importantly, the oldness necessary." Okay, we all know you were kidding... but REALLY?

I realize, as each day passes, that I'm getting older and I would never want anyone to tell me I couldn't do something, because of my age... but, I also realize that with age, comes responsibility. The responsiblity to know my limits, to understand my psychi, and listen to my body.

The only thing I can compare it to: In ministry, you are constantly reevaluating your call -- reevaluating your effectiveness, your limitations, and your future. And in the midst of your reeveluation, you sometimes have to make the hard realization that the current place that you are in, may not be the best place for you or for the church. And sometimes that realization is painful, especially when it uproots you and your family, leaves you unemployed, or leaves you questioning everything you've always known as Truth. But it is still, an important part of the process of life.

Just throwin' that out there...

I guess I'm just not ready... I just not ready for Palin, to be our first female President.

Fall Fun

"Autumn is a second spring, where every leaf is a flower." Albert Camus

Who can resist these things!?

Come on! A scarecrow and a bat?

Only at night, when no one's looking.

On Saturday, we traveled to Lewisburg, KS for their Cider Festival and Pumpkin Patch. I braved the corn maze, despite my control issues, and "came out the other side" fully intact. A pumpkin sling, a stroll through the enormous pumpkin patch, and one large bag of kettle corn later, we are officially ready for Fall!!

Nothin' wrong with this picture. Totally makes sense to me.

Can't you just imagine... the smell of buttercream frosting, slightly warmed chocolate...

Confessions.

Wyatt and Abby

I'm not sure what it says about me, that I write about my dogs, before my husband... but none the less, here they are.

That's Wyatt on the left and Abby on the right. You don't know love, until you've sat on the floor with Wyatt and had a tongue bath. And Abby's the baby -- always thinking something's out to get her -- and her only retribution comes from snatching unassuming flys, in mid-air.

Their greatest pleasures come from eating tomatoes out of the garden, a good bone to fight over (even though we have 10 bones lying around our house, and they're all the same kind of bone!), and a delightful belly rub at the end of the day. Wyatt's a sucker for the garden hose and Abby has an orange ball that she loves (heaven help us, the day we lose that ball).

It's hard to imagine life without them. Sometimes I think about what that day might be like, when we have to say goodbye to one of them, and I find myself with a lump in my throat. Kind-a like right now...

In the beginning...

Okay, let's face it... baking pretty much started out of a burning desire to please people. That's me; a people pleaser. Trust me... you don't go into ministry without some need to please others and to be affirmed in your "pleasing efforts." Some ministers have no way of keeping that need in check, and that's when trouble starts.

But anyway... that's all for another day.

Today, I'm starting my blog about cupcakes. Someday, I'd like to scrap four years of undergrad, three years of seminary, and as of today, six and a half years of ministry... and open up a bakery with the same name. But until then, this blog, a hot oven, and 10,000 calories worth of "gotta try this" tastings, will have to do. I'm excited to post pictures of my creations and recipies if they're worth it... and just my general "confessions" about life, ministry, and cupcakes.