came here for cookies? scroll down for the recipe. :)
Ohhh hellooooo there. I know, I’ve been a terrible blogger lately. Shame on me! But I’ll be real… every time I open up the “new post” window I end up closing it within minutes because I either think but I don’t want this to be a food blog OR but I don’t want this to be a “poor Laura, her baby died” blog OR but I don’t want to write just for the sake of writing.
Well all of that sounds pretty silly now that I’ve laid it out there. A lot of y’all love to cook (and I love to eat), so why not post recipes? A lot of y’all know me personally and care about how my heart is healing, and those who don’t know me personally might care because their hurt is hurting, too. Why not post about my baby? It’s my blog, and he’s my baby! And I should always be willing to write for the sake of writing, because that’s what a writer is supposed to do! AGH! (I’m not yelling at you, I’m yelling at myself.)
:)
It’s been an interesting year so far. There have been a lot of ups and downs... a lot of sorrow and sickness and a lot of time spent in prayer. I’ve seen growth in my relationship with God and also in my marriage. I’ve seen changes in the way I grieve. I’ve been experiencing a period of… quietness? Solitude? I’m not sure what to call it. I spend a lot of time out of doors, walking the dog or sitting with her on our deck or our stoop. I’ve always enjoyed being outside, but ever since John died I find it more than just relaxing. It’s healing. (Up until your neighbor starts screaming at her children to “shut up” or all the neighborhood dogs start barking.) I’m finding joy in the little things—gratitude in every thing I can possibly think of. When I approach God with frustration or exhaustion, it helps to have something to bring to mind and say, “but, thank you for ____.” Sometimes it’s my bed, or my book, or my husband. Or dessert.
Other times it’s answered prayer. The kind of answered prayer that you recognize INSTANTLY and think whoa, that was only You, God! I’ve been seeing a lot of that lately, and it makes me tear up just thinking about it. I know God has a lot of reasons for answering prayer, but I like to think that He’s been answering mine lately not just for His glory but also because I needed to be given clear signs that He is working in my life. That He hears me when I call.
One of those answered prayers has to do with my desire to share God’s truths with other people in person—not just through my blog, or through my articles on ibelieve.com. (Here’s my most recent article, btw. It’s a reflection on Isaiah 6.)
I miss meeting with other women and sharing about how God is working in my life. I miss seeing the look on peoples faces as they begin to understand how much God loves them and how accessible His gift of salvation is. I’ve been praying that God would put someone in my life that wanted to learn more about Him, and He has! You know you “click” with someone when you go out to grab coffee and end up chatting for four hours straight. :)
Bear with me, friends. Sometimes my thoughts seem to be so many they could fill a book, and other times I feel completely blank.
In case I feel blank for a bit longer, here are some cookies to tide you over. I wrote about these back in 2010 (what!) but thought I should re-post about them since they’re so fantastic.
Ohhh hellooooo there. I know, I’ve been a terrible blogger lately. Shame on me! But I’ll be real… every time I open up the “new post” window I end up closing it within minutes because I either think but I don’t want this to be a food blog OR but I don’t want this to be a “poor Laura, her baby died” blog OR but I don’t want to write just for the sake of writing.
Well all of that sounds pretty silly now that I’ve laid it out there. A lot of y’all love to cook (and I love to eat), so why not post recipes? A lot of y’all know me personally and care about how my heart is healing, and those who don’t know me personally might care because their hurt is hurting, too. Why not post about my baby? It’s my blog, and he’s my baby! And I should always be willing to write for the sake of writing, because that’s what a writer is supposed to do! AGH! (I’m not yelling at you, I’m yelling at myself.)
:)
It’s been an interesting year so far. There have been a lot of ups and downs... a lot of sorrow and sickness and a lot of time spent in prayer. I’ve seen growth in my relationship with God and also in my marriage. I’ve seen changes in the way I grieve. I’ve been experiencing a period of… quietness? Solitude? I’m not sure what to call it. I spend a lot of time out of doors, walking the dog or sitting with her on our deck or our stoop. I’ve always enjoyed being outside, but ever since John died I find it more than just relaxing. It’s healing. (Up until your neighbor starts screaming at her children to “shut up” or all the neighborhood dogs start barking.) I’m finding joy in the little things—gratitude in every thing I can possibly think of. When I approach God with frustration or exhaustion, it helps to have something to bring to mind and say, “but, thank you for ____.” Sometimes it’s my bed, or my book, or my husband. Or dessert.
Other times it’s answered prayer. The kind of answered prayer that you recognize INSTANTLY and think whoa, that was only You, God! I’ve been seeing a lot of that lately, and it makes me tear up just thinking about it. I know God has a lot of reasons for answering prayer, but I like to think that He’s been answering mine lately not just for His glory but also because I needed to be given clear signs that He is working in my life. That He hears me when I call.
One of those answered prayers has to do with my desire to share God’s truths with other people in person—not just through my blog, or through my articles on ibelieve.com. (Here’s my most recent article, btw. It’s a reflection on Isaiah 6.)
I miss meeting with other women and sharing about how God is working in my life. I miss seeing the look on peoples faces as they begin to understand how much God loves them and how accessible His gift of salvation is. I’ve been praying that God would put someone in my life that wanted to learn more about Him, and He has! You know you “click” with someone when you go out to grab coffee and end up chatting for four hours straight. :)
Bear with me, friends. Sometimes my thoughts seem to be so many they could fill a book, and other times I feel completely blank.
In case I feel blank for a bit longer, here are some cookies to tide you over. I wrote about these back in 2010 (what!) but thought I should re-post about them since they’re so fantastic.
 |
| photo by Alice Currah |
"The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe EVER!"
slightly adapted from Savory Sweet Lifetime from start to finish: about 25 minutes
makes 48 cookies (easy to halve, though I recommend forming balls out of cookie dough and freezing half of a full batch. You can bake them from their frozen state.)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (not melted)
½ cup sugar
1½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2¾ cups all-purpose flour (if halving the recipe, use one cup + 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp)
1 tsp. smallish-medium coarse sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. baking powder
1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 360 degrees.
2. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy (about three minutes on medium-high speed).
3. Add both eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional two minutes.
4. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour until cookie batter is fully incorporated.
5. Mix in chocolate chips until well distributed.
6. Drop about 2 tablespoons of dough or use a medium cookie scoop and plop the batter onto a baking sheet that’s either lightly greased or lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown. (I remove them at 12 min.)
8. Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Then remove the cookies and place on a plate or room-temperature surface and let cool for another couple of minutes.
To give your cookies that crackled look like they have in the picture, quickly bang the cookie sheet against the stovetop one time. That should do the trick! Just make sure you don’t bang so hard that the cookies fall off. :)
To give your cookies that crackled look like they have in the picture, quickly bang the cookie sheet against the stovetop one time. That should do the trick! Just make sure you don’t bang so hard that the cookies fall off. :)
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thanks for reading!