From the Recliner

I keep coming here and thinking that I really need to update the blog, and wonder what I should write about, but I just haven't had the energy or motivation to come up with anything wonderful... or meaningful.... or even interesting.  Well, I've had a few ideas that might have been.. but just couldn't get them written down.  So....

I've spent most of the last week in the recliner chair in my living room.  Recuperating from knee surgery for a torn miniscus. It is slightly depressing that it wasn't an injury, per se, but a "getting older, wear-and-tear" type of thing.  Over the past year or maybe two, I've had pain in my left knee that started as being occasional and slightly irritating, to being more and more frequent and more and more severe, to the point of being somewhat debilitating.  Finally, a couple of visits to the orthopedist, an x-ray, and an MRI got us to the diagnosis of arthritis and a torn miniscus. So a week ago last Friday, I went in for arthroscopic out-patient surgery. Not a big deal.  I went in at 8:30am to prep, was taken back to the OR at 11:00am, and was home by 4:00 pm. 
My wonderful friends have been bringing meals for my family, and Amanda has taken Jason to his classes/practices all week.  So I took my pain meds and sat in the recliner with my leg up most of the week, getting up occasionally to hobble around on crutches, and after a few days, to venture out without them.  Still some soreness, stiffness....  I go back to the doc for my post-surgery follow-up appointment tomorrow, and hopefully will set up some times to meet with the physical therapists to get this leg on the road to strength and flexibility again!

thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you to everyone who prayed, brought a meal, sent a note, or just stayed out of my hair last week!    :-)

As I've been sitting in my recliner, I've taken the opportunity to read a book for pleasure - usually I read for a purpose, for information, for preparation for something.  But this time I read The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.  I saw the movie a few weeks ago with my daughter and some friends.  Great movie! Wonderful book!


Yesterday afternoon we mourned with some dear friends who lost their baby boy at 6 months gestation.  He was child number 6,  son number 3, grandchild number 12.  His parents and siblings were so excited as the date of his arrival was getting closer, and preparations were underway ... the crib came down from the attic, other baby items were being recollected from various friends and family, anticipation over having a baby in the house again after 4 years was building.  Every single life -  even when a breath has not yet been taken - is precious and so full of expectation and possiblity.  There was a small memorial service at the funeral home, and friends and family joined together in sorrow, but also in hope and a shared assurance that this child was in heaven and there will someday be a reunion with those who live him so much in the here and now.

Wrapping up August

Well, August has been interesting.

Amanda traveled to Africa and back this month, where she helped conduct a basketball camp for kids in Kampala.

view of Lake Victoria from Father's House

My baby turned 13 years old.

We started back to homeschool this year with only ONE student.

Eric went back to Appalachian State University for his SENIOR year!  woo hoo!

We had both an earthquake and hurricane here last week.

My hubs and I celebrated 29 years of marriage on my 51st birthday. Mark celebrated his 51st birthday today!   We also  helped surprise my friend, Shelley, for her 50th birthday, and I baked CUPCAKES.

I had an MRI done on my left knee, which has been getting more and more painful over the past several months, and found out that the meniscus is torn. So I have surgery scheduled in 2 weeks.   In the meantime, my right knee is starting to "catch" and give me some trouble. 

Today we went on a field trip to Fort Bragg, NC, visiting the Golden Knights Army parachute team headquarters and also the Airborne and Special Operations Museum.

 

On to September. 

Searching for the Perfect Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

Vanilla cupcakes -  classic, basic, simple.....
Simple?
If you spend any time looking through cupcake blogs ( as I do ), you will find that there are numerous quests going on for the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe!  It seems like it would be simple, but there are many variables that go into a basic vanilla recipe, and everyone seems to have different expectations for what makes a "perfect" vanilla cake!

Since I was baking Neapolitan cupcakes this week, which start with a vanilla cupcake filled with strawberry filling and then topped with chocolate buttercream, I looked through numerous recipes and chose one that sounded good.
Double Vanilla Cupcakes - found at Simply Recipes.

I have been baking cupcakes for about 9 months now, and have made vanilla cupcakes a couple of other times. But I hadn't been completely happy with them.  Some recipes are dry.  Some are flavorless.  Some are heavy and "cornbread-y".   Some are so tender that they crumble and fall apart when you take off the cupcake paper.

These Double Vanilla Cupcakes were delicious!  Just the right sweetness with a strong vanilla taste, moist, fluffy -  beautiful!  I don't have any vanilla beans, but I do have Nielson-Massey vanilla bean paste, so I used that along with the vanilla extract. The recipe only made 12 cupcakes, and I needed to make 7 dozen.  At a glance, it seemed like the recipe should double easily.

Not so.

The batter seemed fine, but the cupcakes exploded in the oven.  At some point as they baked, the batter flowed up and over the top of the cupcake pan, and the cupcakes didn't cook all the way through, making a soggy, gloppy mess. I have no idea why, except that perhaps the ingredients didn't mix thoroughly in the larger amounts. Thinking that perhaps I had measured some ingredient incorrectly, I tried the double recipe again, and the same thing happened.  Into the trash.
So I decided to try another recipe that seemed similar, but made a larger amount of cupcakes. That recipe produced cupcakes with a "muffin top",  and the edges broke as I tried to take them out of the pan, making them not very pretty, and the texture was too soft.  That batch went into the trash can along with the failed exploded cupcakes. 
A third recipes yielded unsatisfactory results as well, with big airholes in the cake and a dry texture.  ugh.

So I went back to the original Double Vanilla Recipe, and made it as written for 12 cupcakes, and they came out perfectly.  If anyone has success doubling this recipe, I'd love to hear about it.  It doesn't make sense to me, but after two failed attempts  I'm sticking with the small batch version.

Double Vanilla Cupcakes

1 1/2 c. + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temp
1 c. sugar
1 egg + 2 egg whites, room temp
1/2 c. milk, room temp
1/4 c. sour cream, room temp
1 1/2  tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter for 3 min. at medium speed.  Slowly add the sugar and continue to beat for another 3 minutes, scraping the bowl once or twice.  Add egg and beat for 30 seconds. Scrape bowl and add the egg whites, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds each.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean paste.

With mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and combine, then add 1/2 the milk mixture, stirring just to combine. Add 1/3 flour mixture, mix, then the rest of the milk mixture, mix, and finally the remaining flour mixture. It is important not to overmix the batter once the flour is added, so stir just until smooth and combined.

Divide the batter into 12 cupcake papers in a muffin tin, and bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees, until slightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.  Cool for about 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.
Fill and frost.
Makes 12.

When Your Child is in a Third World Country on Another Continent

Be careful what you pray for!  When your children are small and you pray that they will grow to love, trust, obey, worship, and serve God more and more, that might take them places you never dreamed of!
Like Iraq.
Or Haiti. 
Or Uganda.

My 18-yr-old daughter, Amanda,  left Thursday for a 10-day mission trip to Uganda.  She has wanted to go to Africa for about 4 years now, but the right opportunity never presented itself until this year.  She is part of a small mission team of 6 people led by our friend Jennings Wright, who heads a ministry called Ten Eighteen.  They will be partnering with a ministry in Kampala called Father's House to put on a sports camp for 40 kids from the Namuwongo slum.  They will also be visiting the slums and delivering donated clothing and medical supplies.  In addition to ministry, they will be doing some fun things too, like going  to the National Theater and Friday markets, attending the Ndere Dance Troupe dinner theater, and going on a one-night safari to Lake Mburo, during which they will actually cross the equator!

They are actually staying at a beautiful house in Kampala that is the home to an ex-pat  American family  who have lived there in Uganda for the past 5 or 6 years. I am very comfortable with that.  I know they are with people who are wise and knowledgeable about the culture and the political situation, who know where to go and where not to go.   I know she will see and experience things on this trip unlike anything she has ever seen before, and it will change her forever.  Going to a third world country is life changing.  Amanda already has a heart of compassion, and I'm sure this trip will expand that aspect of her life. 

It is hard not being able to communicate at will.  We are so spoiled now, with nearly everyone having cell phones. I am used to being able to get hold of my kids pretty much whenever I want to.  But with Alex in Iraq and now Amanda in Uganda, I have to practice patience and trust, waiting for occasional communications via email or Facebook.  It really does cause me to be in prayer more, entrusting my children to the care of their heavenly Father.  I can't get to them if they are sick or hurt, I don't know what they are doing or where they are all the time.  It makes me marvel at the strength and faith of our ancestors, who watched their children get on a ship to travel to the New World, or load up a covered wagon and head west, or board a train or ship and head off to war, not to be heard from for months, until a letter could make its way back to their hands.  What a different world this is!

Amanda gets back on Aug. 15, and about 10 days later my daughter Sarah will leaving for Haiti.   Looks like God is giving me plenty of opportunity to work on my prayer life! 

When Your Child is in a War Zone

Alex, my first born,  has been back in Iraq for almost a month now.  There has been very little communication from him - just a couple of sparse emails.  I'm chalking it up to sporadic internet service, although it is just as likely that he has a heavy workload and writing to mom isn't top on his priority list.
I'll hold on to my fantasy, thank you anyway.

People ask me how I'm doing.  Sometimes that catches me by surprise.  I'm doing fine! He's the one living in the desert in 120 degree heat, eating army food, working 12-18 hour days. I think about him often and worry about the fact that it is so hot there and wonder if he is drinking enough fluids and getting enough sleep.  I'm proud of him for serving his country and sacrificing comfort and convenience and security for something greater than himself.  I pray for him and for his safety, health, and spiritual and emotional strength. I wonder who his friends are and how he spends his days.

But occasionally something breaks through the veneer of calm.  A news report of a missile strike or IED explosion near Baghdad.  A tv reality show of surprise reunions of troops with their loved ones.  A song on the country radio station about a soldier who doesn't come home. A soldier we know making the ultimate sacrifice and losing his life over there.

That's when I think about the fact that he is living in a war zone, where there are people who want to do him harm.; that he wears body armor and carries a weapon with him everywhere he goes. And my heart starts to race, my hands start to tremble, and I sometimes burst into tears.  And I realize that maybe, underneath, I'm not as okay as I think.

I know that God is sovereign. I know that we are all here temporarily, and that my son has a room in a heavenly mansion awaiting him someday, as a child of the King.  But I am his mama and I have hopes and dreams for him, and I want to have him here where I can hug his neck.

Boy oh boy.  God has some work to do in me yet.

Sarah and SafeWorldNexus

My daughter, Sarah,  has been in Bristol, TN at her new internship with SafeWorldNexus for just about a month now. The weekend after the 4th, we loaded up the van and her Honda and moved her into the over-the-garage studio apartment ( generously provided by a friend of the ministry) which she is sharing with Rachel and Katherine, two other interns.  Things are cozy, so they are getting to know each other fast! After spending the weekend acclimating, they dove right into work,  brainstorming ideas for a September missions conference at a nearby church which they are leading, volunteering at Jon Acuff's "Quitter" Conference in Nashville, and preparing for upcoming trips to Haiti and Uganda.  

This internship is unpaid, so Sarah has been working hard for the past 6 months, saving her money and raising support from family and friends.  She will also be working part-time at a cafe called Java J's in Bristol.  In additon to regular living expenses, she also needs to pay for her travel expenses.  Right now she only has about 3 months out of the 12 covered.  If you would like to contribute to her support, go to her blog and follow the instructions on the right side menu. My cupcake baking will be helping to support her as well.

I am extremely proud of her in taking this leap of faith and giving her heart to serving God through this organization.  Whether she is there for 3 months or 3 years, I know God is faithful to complete the work He has begun in her life. Philippians 1:4-6

Follow her adventures at her blog.  http://saraheherbert.wordpress.com/