dump cake

I had a couple of girls over tonight to hang out & do some life journaling together. Being someone who likes to show love by making food,
I made dump cake.

And tonight, I'm gonna show you how to make it! (Lucky you!)
Our neighbor John first shared dump cake with us. He described it as "white trash cobbler";
it's so simple to make. Oh, and it's also delicious. Not healthy, though, so wear your skinny jeans when you eat this so you'll remember why it's not a good idea to make this too often.

Ingredients:
2 ish cups of fruit (a can of pie filling can be used)
a box of cake mix (yellow is the favorite so far)
a stick of butter


DUMP the fruit into a pan. You don't even have to butter the pan. Isn't that so nice and low maintenance of this recipe? I used peaches and cranberries.

DUMP cake mix over the fruit.
Cut the stick of butter into pieces.
DUMP the butter pieces over the cake mix.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes till golden brown.

This is the glorious end result. There will be some places that still look powdery because the cake mix didn't get butter absorbed into it, but that's no problem.

There you go. Don't forget to wear your skinny jeans.

when Jesus used Coldplay to say "I love you"

Things haven't been specific for awhile. Do you know what I mean by this? I mean, I haven't asked Jesus for anything really specific in awhile and gotten a response back.


Today was different. This afternoon my I was driving my lovely family to the library and as we were on our way in the heart of downtown, listening to the radio,
I spoke aloud to AJ a desire I'd had for a little while that was bursting at the moment.
"You know, I'd really love to hear Coldplay right now. Viva la Vida..."
We were at a stoplight. AJ fiddled with the radio.
Not five seconds after I had spoken, a song from Coldplay's Viva la Vida album began playing. One of my favorites from the album.
We happened to catch the very beginning of the song as it was being played
on a random radio station he tried.
Love.
Jesus was showing me specific love right then.
He didn't have to, but I knew it & felt it and was appalled. Delighted. Blown away.
AJ laughed. I gaped and marveled for seven blocks.
We drove a longer way to the library to hear the entire song.
It's not that Coldplay is so amazing. It's simply that when AJ & I first married we played that album a lot. It brings back memories of being newlyweds and being broke and making things work and the first Christmas together, apart from our families.
Jesus was showing off for me, and He didn't have to, but I loved it.

How has Jesus showed you how He loves you lately?

Apple-ing

Today we went apple-ing at the Poets' farm. Some of us picked apples (Andrew & others). Some of us peeled them, cored them, and cut them up. Some of us stirred the applesauce on the stove. Some of us made apple cider. Some of us heard new music and found a new favorite band (me). Someone else was cuddled and peek-a-booed with and fascinated with the dogs and cats, shrieking at them (Ransom).
There were good talks. Ideas shared, stories told, recipes talked about, music jargon thrown around, Christmas conspiring.
Andrew & I agreed as we left. Our spirits were fed today while we were apple-ing with our adopted Oregon family.

So grateful.

Tonight we ate applesauce, tomorrow we'll break out the apple cider.
This is a beautiful time of year. :)

ode to dating (you)

Four years of dating you have now passed
and many memories in our brains we've amassed
of togetherness spent
in several places we've dreamt
of how we'll spend our days to the last.

The first time I let you hold my hand
I wore my mittens just as I had planned
Till the time was just right

The setting precious and bright

interlocking was awkward but grand.

On the fourth anniversary of our first date as an official couple (that's a mouthful) we went out on the town for a couple hours, just the two of us.
First we hit up St. Vincent de Paul for some treasure hunting. I found this pattern (above) on the back of a baby blanket and remember the same design on some sheets we used to have when I was little. It's a cheerful design & I'm becoming more increasingly interested in fabric, patterns, etc. so I snapped a picture.
Our purchase for the evening was a record of "My Fair Lady" that Andrew found. Rex Harrison & Julie Andrews sing the leads. It's another throwback to my childhood!

We window shopped downtown, saw bottles of balsamic vinegar that cost $70, and planted ourselves down for coffee. This is a picture I took of our surroundings. Honoring our budget, we did coffee on the cheap, a contrast to the yuppie/foodie/specialty cuisine atmosphere we were in.
It's nice to have a husband with long arms. He can take great pictures with them, eh?
A kind stranger took this one for us. That pumpkin is huge!

Thanks for reading, first, my silly poetry, and second, my happy retelling of a great date with my favorite guy.

notes

Notes regarding life lately:

-My baby boy is growing up and becoming more independent! Okay, he's not even officially crawling yet, but he got on all fours today and rocked a bit, and he turned the pages as I was reading to him tonight (with his left hand, mind you). Baby steps... Maybe listening to Nat King Cole on the record player and playing on the floor with Ransom will slow time down.


-We have acquired a record player and music sounds really good on it. Favorite music thus far: Eugene Bible College's Simple Faith (an album from the 70s, I think), Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, and some Bill Cosby stand up comedy excerpts.
-I am learning how to be a youth pastor's wife. It is scary & unknown territory for me, a job I didn't ask for or expect but find myself with. Balancing priorities is hard, but I know the order goes:
-God
-Andrew
-Ransom
-ministry/work
Often I'm off balance, but right now feels like a good time where I'm learning a lot & am hopefully remaining teachable to see how God wants to keep shaping me into a daughter that honors Him.
-Sort of related to the last note: did you know homemaking can be an idol?! What?!! Um, yeah, so, I'm beginning to get that. Homemaking=good thing. Wife=good; mom=good. But, if any of these things take more attention away from God, they're not so good things. Ouch. But, good to know, and to watch out for.
-October came very quickly. It is very important to me to savor this fall season (Ransom's first complete one) and to enjoy this precious season.
-We have identified the need to not just say we're on a budget, but to live it. We're doing a lot of math lately, and it can look scary sometimes, but having a plan is liberating even in its limits. I'm inspired.
-Two families (each family with five kids!) are inspiring me lately. The Driscolls are so encouraging in their love for Jesus and the ways they're living that out, and the Soules inspire me with their simplicity, creativity, and appreciation for the seasons (Amanda makes me want to learn the purl stitch).
-Tomorrow I'm looking forward to coffee with a sweet girl in her first year of college and to a date with my husband while the Poets babysit Ransom.


(This picture is from September 28th, tanniversary of our relationship's start. We're sitting at the table of the patisserie where AJ & I officially became a couple. )

four years ago today...

Four years ago, today Andrew & I became an official couple.
We had been getting to know each other the previous spring through cribbage games, a group date, and phone calls while we were in separate states that summer of 2007. When we returned to college for the school year, we wanted to make sure we followed God's plan and not just our own desires, so we took a day to pray and fast & on September 28, 2007 over peppermint tea and vegan peanut butter cups (because I'm dairy free and he honors that) we talked about what the Lord responded to us with.
Happily, we heard similarly that yes, it was time to date as long as we
1) moved slowly and
2) were open to correction.
We went to a movie and I wore mittens the whole time, not making my hands available to be held just yet. It was in the car ride on the way back to campus that Andrew brought up the topic of physical boundaries & that he was comfortable with us holding hands, but nothing beyond that. I'm sure I smiled right then and thanked Jesus that this guy I liked so much really wanted to honor God and me by making sure he was establishing healthy boundaries that would permit us to really work on a friendship and to not get too physically attached before we were ready for marriage.
And when we returned to campus, I took my mittens off and we held hands. We still like to hold hands.
This is what we looked like in those early months of dating:

And this is what we look like now:

How thankful I am for the man God gave me. Aside from the gracious gift of Jesus he is the most precious gift I've ever received.
Still going steady. :)

melon madness

It used to be that I abhorred every melon. How could people consider watermelon to be a refreshing thirst-quenching dessert in the hot days of summer? And those horrible black seeds you have to spit out...sick. Then there was cantaloupe. It seemed restaurants would serve this pale, flavorless melon to act as an unappetizing "fresh fruit" side to make their menus appear more healthy. I wasn't fooled.

Then, this summer rolled around. It probably started because my sister Moriah was teasing me about melon, always offering it to me ("Rachel! Watermelon! Your favorite! Here, you can have my last piece...") and so when I saw her in June, I nonchalantly put some melon onto my plate and proceeded to eat it in front of her face. And suddenly, I liked melon.

The CSA (Community Supported Agriculture=local farm you pay at the beginning of the season to supply you with weekly veggies & fruits from their harvest) we are doing this year had watermelon in August and I'm loving it and feeding it to my baby. (There aren't tons of seeds in this variety.)

As for cantaloupe, when you find a ripe one there's nothing like the smell and taste. Ah...

So here's a recipe to try out if you've got a free cantaloupe. The original recipe can be found in the cookbook "How to Eat Supper" by Lynn Rosetto Kaspar and Susie Swift. A good cookbook, one I used for this asparagus recipe that delighted my taste buds.


Iced Cantaloupe Soup with Jalapeno and Basil
(I know, cantaloupe soup?! It got the vote of approval from my husband, and it was delightfully refreshing in the 90 degree weather we had lately. The heat of the jalapeno and the coolness of the soup was a playful flavoring that I liked. This soup would be great as a starter or a side for a three course meal instead of as a main dish which is how I used it. Note: wear kitchen gloves when dicing jalapeno. No one warned me and my left hand was tingling even the next morning.)

one 2 1/2 lb intensely sweet smelling cantaloupe
2 cup ice cubes
generous pinch of salt
4 or 5 grinds black pepper
2 Tablespoon sugar
juice of 2 large limes (about 1/2 cup)
grated zest of 1/2 large lime

Garnish:
1 or 2 jalapenos, seeded & cut into fine dice
10-12 fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 medium red onion, cut into 1/8 dice (optional)

1. Cut melon into quarters. Scoop out seeds and trim away rind. Slice it into chunks and put in a food processor. Add ice, salt, pepper, sugar and lime juice and puree. Stir in the grated zest.

2. Place the jalapenos, basil, and onion in separate small serving bowls. Pour puree into individual soup bowls or into a pitcher for chilling.

3. To serve, pour soup into bowls and pass the condiments. The basil & jalapeno are the essential finishes for the soup, while the onion is an attractive option.

(Don't you love the way LRK & SS word recipes? "The onion is an attractive option...")