Bless Her Heart

Wordless Wednesday: Still Fragile

Wordless Wednesday: Game. On.

Music for your Monday: From O Brother Where Art Thou

 

 

Blueberry Buttermilk Bundts

Blueberry Buttermilk (Mini) Bundts

Recipe makes 5 mini (5") bundt cakes or one large 12" bundt cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pans and set aside.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp salt

 

1 ½ cups of sugar

1 cup softened butter

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon extract

1 1/3 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup sour cream

 

2 tbsp lemon zest 

1 ½ cup of blueberries

1 tsp flour

 

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter.  Beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the extracts. Beat until light and fluffy. 

Add half of the flour mixture, half of the buttermilk and all of the sour cream. Mix until smooth.

Add the remaining flour mixture and buttermilk, mix until smooth.

In a small bowl toss the blueberries, lemon zest and flour. Fold this mixture into the cake batter.

For the mini bundt cakes, bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  For a 12" bundt cake, bake for 65-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  In both cases, allow the cakes to cool in pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. 

 

 

Music for your Monday: Miike Snow - Animal

 

Excuse me while I untangle myself...

It's been a crazy couple of months.  I started a new job a couple of months ago that has occupied every spare moment of my time.  This past weekend really feels like the first time that I have been able exhale and take stock in quite some time.  

A few things that I am certain of:

-I love the dedicated people that I am blessed to work with.

-This type of appreciation and respect can buoy a team to move forward regardless of sleepless nights, injury, illness, frustration and disappointment.

-The mad support that The Man provides me in unwaivering.  After 6 years of working together and almost 16 years of marriage, you would think that I wouldn't feel the need to state the obvious...but the transition has been a bit bumpy around these parts and it's worth noting how much I value his steadfast belief in my abilities. 

Things that are a little muddier:

-The thing I'm having the most difficulty with is carving out real time to spend in the kitchen.  I find such joy in creating, capturing and blogging about the food that we cook. Lately we've eaten out of more boxes and cans than I will can reveal to you without seriously embarrasing myself.

- My work schedule has always revolved around my children.  I would leave my office at 2:30 each day, and pick up my second shift after the kids were in bed.  Often this meant working through the night, but being present for the kids and their needs when they were home  We've known that this would not last forever, but it's been difficult to find our rhythm in the evenings when our daily schedule has been pushed back hours later than we're accustomed to.

And so...

Today I sat with a dear friend and she reminded me of the metaphor that all the mamas I know use to call on each other to take care of ourselves.  You know the one.  It's the one about the oxygen mask and how you're supposed to put it on yourself first when the airplane is experiencing a drop in cabin pressure. You wonder why they tell us EVERY single flight?  Why we repeat it to each other constantly?  Because by nature taking care of ourselves is not what we think of first, but truthfully if we don't find a way to allow for our own needs then it can effect everything negatively.  I find that a few solitary moments make me more present and patient with my children.  An afternoon sitting on a beloved friend's porch, catching up, fortifies my soul and releases burdens that I didn't even realize I was carrying.  An evening of baking cookies for a fundraiser busies my hands and calms my mind.

All of this to say...I feel like out of necessity we're slowly creeping back towards a more normal routine. I actually made a meal plan for this week, and spent almost 3 hours in the grocery store to restock our woefully depleted pantry. It may not seem like this is 'self-care' but believe me, I get a great sense of satisfaction from being prepared to feed my family.

Starting now, I hope to be more present here on the ol' blog, but please understand that I might falter now and again. As always, I appreciate your support.

Much love,

J