THANKFUL

Its been quite a while since I've posted, but I'll start back with a thankful post. Lots of things to be thankful for in the last month (as always)!

For one wonderful year of marriage & a man who loves me more than I deserve. And, for a relaxing getaway to Chapel Hill to celebrate!

For friends who come & stay at the Cooper B&B, we loved it!

For this little lady, her huge heart & all her sass. Love her dearly! 

For homemade chicken tortilla soup on a rainy day

For finished bulletin boards & my far-from-perfectionist-attitude

For having people in my life where goodbyes are hard

For a partner when lesson planning

For girls' weekends & time with my Mama

For old recipes and a lot of butter

And that I have the best date to weddings forever.

Lemon Blueberry Cake

Summer is my favorite season because I love the hot, sunny days, time spent at the pool, cookouts and evenings spent on the porch as the sun is going day. But, I also love summer because of all the fresh fruits & veggies, visits to street side produce stands & the taste of a juicy peach. I wanted to make a summer-y cake for a sweet friend to celebrate her birthday. This cake is very light & just tastes like summer. 

 She informed me the next day that it tasted even better chilled for breakfast. That has been noted & I will gladly eat this for breakfast any time it is available.

The cake was pretty easy to make and left our kitchen smelling fabulous.

Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Grease & flour three 8 inch round cake pans. 

Cream together butter, sugar, lemon zest & lemon extract until fluffy. Then add the egg whites gradually, two at a time, mixing well between additions.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder & salt.

Alternating between the flour mixture & milk, add into the butter mixture. Beat for one minute to ensure all lumps are eliminated. I have always found it easier to begin & end with the dry mixture.

In a small bowl, set aside 1 c. of batter. Divvy up the remaining mixture into the three cake pans as evenly as possible.

Add 2 1/2 tsp. of blueberry lemon preserves to the 1 cup of batter that you set aside. Then, swirl this batter into all three of the cake pans, making a marble-like appearance. *I used a wooden skewer to swirl the mixture, but a knife would suffice as well.*

Bake 25 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 min, then remove from pans onto wire rack & let cool completely. 

CAKE:

• 2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 2 C granulated sugar
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 7 egg whites
• 3 C cake flour
• 4 tsp baking power
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 C whole milk
• 1 13 oz. jar blueberry jam with lemon juice

 I made a simple lemon buttercream frosting that was sweet, but tangy. I think it paired well with the cake & as Lia suggested, I can imagine it is delicious when chilled. 

ICING:

1/2 c. butter

3 1/2 c. confectioner's sugar

1/4 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 T. lemon zest

2 T. lemon juice

Mix butter, lemon zest & vanilla together. Make sure all the lumps are out. Add milk, then by 1/2 c. add sugar gradually. Cream on high for two minutes. Then add lemon juice. I did find that the icing was a little hard to work with immediately after as it tended to "slide off" the cake. It may work better to refrigerate for a little while before using.

Humility

Over the past few weeks, I have been learning a lot about humility & so often how far I am from living this out. C.S. Lewis once said, "True humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less." 

The older I get the more I realize how often I think of myself, and even more so, how often I compare myself to others and  try to "one up." I've been trying to grasp at what point in my life did I begin comparing myself to others and considering myself better than them. Yes, I'm sure as a child, I compared myself to others, but I also know there was a child-like innocence. One where when I went to the homeless shelter, I truly didn't believe that I was any different than anyone in there. I had no fear of walking right up to one of them & having a conversation. Even though it was obvious to others, I honestly did not seem to notice any differences. At what age did I realize the differences? I'm still not sure, but I hate that I ever did. I hate that I see others and I judge them. I hate that I notice social classes and education levels, but more so, I hate that at some point in my life it became almost innate to think of myself as better than someone else. 

As I learn about humility & the idea of thinking of yourself less, I am challenged to train my mind & heart to think differently. I know that I will have to train and then re-train, probably multiple times a day, but its something to work on for sure. Its a process and I have no doubt I'll be working on this for the rest of my life. I'm planning on posting C.S Lewis' quote by the kitchen sink so I can be reminded of it often.

Gratitude.

Oh you know, just went MIA for a few weeks. But I'm backkk.

So my favorite season is upon us & I couldn't be happier. There are so many things to be thankful for- here are just a few things that I'm thankful for over the past few weeks or so.

For American flags & film jobs in Wilmington.

For sleeping kittens who cuddle up beside you

For friendships that endure life changes & miles of distance

For market lights on the porch & warm summer nights with friends

For visits with friends and time to slow down & catch up

For surprises on my pillow from my sweet husband.

Married to a photographer

When you're married to a photographer you often find yourself in awkward situations where you're posing for a ridiculous amount of time only for him to say, "can you move slightly to the left?" I'm not that photogenic, yet somehow I become the subject of so many photos Will takes. Its sweet & I'm learning to stop making funny face & just go along with it. Luckily we do have some awesome photos & I am thankful we will have wonderful pictures of our future children for FREE!

Anyway on this past vacation I decided I was going to take some video. I'd been thinking about life & capturing all the wonderful, simple moments. I love still photography but there is something to be said about a video. I took random clips throughout our trip on my iphone and my point-and-shoot. I promise this is nothing great at ALL & compared to Will's work it is horrible, but I think I captured the beautiful scenery and simple moments with my favorite person. 

You can check out the video at https://vimeo.com/66368227. A look at our trip through the eyes of the non-photographer.

Everything's bigger in Texas

After our trip to the farm, we headed south to hit a few cities in Texas. First, we had a wonderful visit with Will's aunt, uncle & cousin in Fort Worth. It was such a joy to spend time with them & catch up on life. We so would have liked to spend more time with them, but we had to keep moving to squeeze everything into a short week. Aunt Kris & Uncle Chuck took us to a fun Mexican restaurant in Fort Worth & gave us a driving tour of their city.

The next morning, we headed on to Austin. We've been wanting to go there for a while now. It seems every magazine you pick up lists Austin as one of the top cities to visit or top "foodie" cities. Since Will & I are aspiring foodies, we were itching to get out to Austin & experience the food scene. One of our first stops was at a local coffee shop, Houndstooth Coffee, where the baristas began listing off restaurants and bars that we should hit up while we were in town. I won't list all of the places we ate & went, but let me tell you we eat WELL. Austin, we loved your charm & eclectic feel; we will most definitely be back.

One of many cups of coffee on this trip.

Awesome pizza in SoCo.

Second Bar & Grill- loved eating outside!

Hotel San Jose-check it out. Awesome location & wonderful hotel.

Our last stop was Corpus Christi to visit one of our good friends, Ben. We loved getting to see him & seeing where he works. Ben works at a high-end gun shop in Corpus. He also is currently living on a sailboat. Dream bachelor pad? Pretty much. I think Will was a little jealous & we fully enjoyed laying on the deck & admiring all the boats. 

Observations about Texas: everyone owns a truck. whataburgers are everywhere. gas is cheap. and mexican food is served for breakfast.

Vacation: Part One (Farm Life)

Its been awhile since I've been on here. Finally getting organized & settled after a wonderful vacation with Will. Sometimes you don't realize how badly you need a break until you get one. It was glorious! Time together & with family/friends, good food & lots of rest. 

We did a little southwest tour of Oklahoma & Texas. Our first stop was to see Will's older brother, James, who manages an organic farm in Oklahoma (about an hour or so from Oklahoma City). We so enjoyed our time on the farm & the quietness that comes with farm life. They have a little farmhouse that we stayed in & I loved the simplicity of the place- no TV, no internet & a beautiful view. We slept in & then toured the farm. I was so impressed by how hard James works & I loved seeing him in "boss mode." We are truly so proud of him- what an awesome example of hard work & persistence. 

view from our farmhouse

We saw how difficult & unpredictable farming is while out there. A hail storm ruined newly planted crops.

James made us breakfast from fresh farm products: eggs, spinach & turnips. Also, peach butter on the toast (my favorite!).

Thankful for another older brother who welcomes us into his home.

Check out that "Cooper Organics" label on there!!