Anyone who knows me will know that baking is something I absolutely love to do.  It's one branch of culinary expertise that I can actually bless Joey in.  I can cook few meals that can even compare to his amazing cooking abilities, but baking?  THAT I can do.

Enter these muffins.

I know.  They are beautiful.  And totally not my invention.  I happened to stumble upon a pretty little blog by Joy the Baker.  All it took was for me to read over the recipe, and I was sold.

Are you interested?  Then, happily I present to you

Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins
makes 12 glorious muffins

7 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries

For the topping:
3 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Put a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Keep an eye on the butter.  Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan.  The crackling will subside and the butter will begin to go brown fairly quickly after that.  Keep a close eye.  Remove from heat.

Whisk milk, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined.  Add the brown butter and stir to combine.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Add milk and butter mixture all at once and stir gently to combine.  Gently but thoroughly fold in the blueberries.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups and spread evenly.

To make the topping combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the cups.

Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.  Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes then remove from the pan.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

And there you have it!  So simple, but so good.

I must tell Jesus

There are a many things I enjoy doing, such as knitting, painting, drawing, and baking.  The common theme among these things? Creating.  I love to create, and in this way reflect my Creator.  My gifts aren't meant to be wasted on myself, but used in such a way that brings glory to God.

Last night I had a conversation with one of my closest friends.  Funny, even though we admit that our relationship is awkward at times and that we're often intimidated by each other, she is still one of the dearest people to my heart.  I love her for how much she loves Jesus and seeks to live for Him.  This talk was long overdue. "I just want to live for Jesus.  I just want to be faithful" she says to me.  "I must tell Jesus how much I love Him."  Her heart is so broken for her Lord.

Why am I not living out of love for Jesus?  Giving all that I do and have to Him?  It is a daily struggle.  I wake up in the morning, begrudgingly roll out of bed, and start my day with complaints most of the time.  When I'm not living for Jesus, everything seems so futile.  Cleaning the house? pointless.  Relating with people? unnecessary.  What have I got to live for if not living for Him?

That conversation last night was monumental.  I told my friend how God had used her to touch my heart and point me back to Christ.  I wasn't surprised at all that she was completely unaware of having done so.  You see, when God uses us, He doesn't blow the trumpets and announce our good deeds to the world.  He says, "Andrea, have faith.  I will do what I set out to do. Period."

I woke up this morning with purpose.  I must tell Jesus how much I love Him.  First, I used my gifts and made muffins, and now I'm about to sit down and soak in His word.  I don't do it often enough.  Don't look at me like that.  I'm not perfect, and you know it.

I actually started this post to put up pictures of my amazing muffins, but I guess the plan changed.  I'll post some pictures some other time.  Right now I need to talk to Jesus.

grandpa's influence

in which I don't have a point

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in so long, especially since I had been posting like crazy previous to this silence.

It's been just one of those weeks--not in a bad way, though.  The revelation extreme heat has zapped nearly all of my energy, and what I had left I've used up to look after my baby and slowly tackle the family laundry monster.  It's not like I've been neglecting it altogether, but I haven't actually done it ALL all summer long.  The excess has grown enough to become it's own entity.

Judah is happily bobbing up and down, up and down, up and down in his jolly-j this morning.  He's so cute.  It's been kind of a rough week for him as well.  It's just not fair that he's having to deal with the heat AND teething all at once.  I feel sorry for the little guy.  He's taking it pretty well, though, and I am still in possession of most of my sanity.

This hasn't been too bad of a week for eating properly.  I did kind of forget my rules on the weekend, though.  Really, you have to eat the food you take, even if you remember that oops! I wasn't going to eat that a split-second after it's on your plate.  But I am proud to say that I have not gone up for seconds once and have not enjoyed the camp desserts.  That in and of itself is an accomplishment to be proud of (for me). 

The summer is quickly coming to a close.  We've entered the scary land of Teen Weeks--I never did enjoy being a teenager.  The independence and responsibility? That was good.  But being constantly pressured to dress that way or act this way or do those things with boys (sheesh, even to have a boyfriend) is definitely not the ideal situation for a young Christian teen.  I am so glad that I am married and done with all that drama. 

Guess what?  I'm shirking my duties.  I am a duty shirker.  I really should be feeding my small child (and myself), putting him down for a nap, and greeting the day with a good attitude and a heart full of praise.  Maybe I should get on that.

look what I did!

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that it is far from professional.  But it's my first {iced} cake EVER!  And I totally just flew by the seat of my pants.  I have a sneaking suspicion that it's going to be D-E-licious! 

Yay for my husby!  He's so... mature.  Tee hee.

...zero steps back!

So, this whole making small changes thing is working pretty well, I think.  I have not touched a dessert/tuck in two days, and I've only had one serving at each meal (which isn't that hard when your plate is piled sky high and it's not really your favourite food to begin with).  I'm going to allow myself a treat today, however, because it's my husby's birthday and birthdays simply REQUIRE birthday cake!  Which I am baking at this very moment.

It is from a box.  Don't judge.

Today's goal is to cut down my salt intake severely.  I'm going to forsake the salt shaker completely... within reason, that is.  Food has it's own flavour, surprising though it may seem.  I'm going to discover (and love) that flavour.

Well, I'm off to attempt to ice a cake.  If I succeed, I will be extremely proud of myself.

one step forward...

So, today wasn't bad at all.  My self-induced pressure worked!  I saw that dessert passing in front of me (in all of it's caramel drizzled majesty) AND I REFUSED POLITELY DECLINED taking one. A victory for me!

Tomorrow's goal (in addition to the first): giving up my right to seconds.

It's going to be tough, I know. 

Not really.  But, whatevs.

it's a start

because it's gotta start somewhere

Guys, I really need to start eating properly, and I need some encouragement to do so.  Yep, you got it.  I am going to attempt to keep a daily "log" on how things are going--and I'll try to keep it as interesting as possible. 

Technically I started today at supper time, but I'm going to keep track of all I eat starting tomorrow. 

The plan: make one small change per day.  Tomorrow's goal is to say no to desserts and tuck.  Honestly, camp provides way too many opportunities to ingest food that my body does not need and cannot deal with properly.  Those two desserts a day that are so lovingly placed before me? Yeah, those will be the first to go. 

Why am I doing this?  I work best when under some pressure.  If people are expecting me to complete something, then I simply have to.  No ands, buts, or maybes!  Oh, and if any of you (awesome) readers have any tips or encouragements, please pass them on! 

So, here's to my gradual transition to healthy eats!