Prepare Him Room

This is the title of the new series at church. We were able to go to church this morning and the message was an awesome reminder of what Christmas is about. The series will talk about ways to prepare room for Jesus throughout this crazy holiday season. This weekend Mike talked about humbling ourselves and living in humility. One of the things that really stuck out to Jeff and I was that God is "looking for people who aren't going to mistake themselves for the treasure instead of the vessel that contains the treasure." After reflecting on this there are definitely times when I think I am saving people and I am what others need, when what they need is the treasure I have in me. I look forward to continuing to explore the ways I can prepare my heart to celebrate Christmas this year. The countdown is on as Kaelyn reminded me tonight...25 days! :)

Yummy Cupcakes

This weekend Jeff had to work on Saturday, so I decided to spend some time baking. I found this recipe on the Bakerella Blog, which is one of my new favorite blogs. I changed it up a bit, so here's my version.


Double Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa, natural unsweetened
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 cup shredded zucchini
3.5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350º F
2. Line cupcake trays with 18 baking cups.
3. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda with a wire whisk. Set aside.
4. Cream butter with a mixer in a large bowl. Add sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla one at a time, mixing well with each addition.
5. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions (flour, milk, flour, milk, flour)
6. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips until combined.
7. Fill baking cups 2/3 full and place in oven immediately.

8. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
3 cups confectioner's sugar, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla
heavy whipping cream

1. Sift sugar and set aside.
2. Beat the goat cheese, cream cheese and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until creamy.
3. Gradually add the sugar, mixing and scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl in between additions.
4. Add cream to get correct consistency


Chocolate Ganache

2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup confectioners sugar

1. Place chocolate and whipping cream in the microwave. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until melted. Blend thoroughly.
2. Add sugar and stir until thoroughly combined.
3. Pour ganache into a small plastic squeeze bottle.


To assemble:

* Insert opening of squeeze bottle halfway into cupcake center and squeeze ganache until you see it start to surface.
* Then, spread creamy goat cheese frosting on top with a knife or small offset spatula.
* Chop up any leftover semi-sweet chocolate chips to sprinkle on top of cupcakes.

Washington Part I

We traveled up to Washington this weekend for Brandon's memorial service. I was able to leave on Wednesday morning and Jeff came on Thursday night. We had such a great time hanging out with family and friends. We spend a lot of time with Stacy and Peyton! She's 9 months old now and we hadn't seen her since she was 3 months old. Jenny and Lucy also came up to visit. The girls had a great time together.

More of my Brother

A few more pictures of B. :)

We'll Miss you B!

This morning our close friend and pretty much brother passed away. He has fought long and hard in a battle with cancer and has taught us all so many things. He is such a fighter. When it would have been so easy to give up, he would choose to fight and he did it with everything in him. We love Brandon and we will miss him so much! There are so many fun memories and times that we have shared together. Soon we will all be together in a much better place, but until then, we'll miss you B! Love you!

A fun visit!

When Kendall and I were in high school we had a foreign exchange student from Germany live with us. It had been 6 years since we'd seen each other and she was in LA, so she and her cousin and friends stopped by and we went out to dinner. It was so goof to catch up and see each other. We took them to Yardhouse since I know German's like beer! Unfortunately they told us that if they would have been served beer in Germany the way they serve it here, they would make the waitress take it back. I guess they like a lot of foam on their beer. New news to me.

Sprinkles

Last night we had some friends over for dinner so I decided to make some 'Sprinkles' cupcakes from a little can I got for my birthday. They were lemon and were soooooo good! I still have a few left and it's taking everything I have not to eat more of them!