This morning as I was doing my quiet time and reading my Bible, I came across this story in John. A story I'd read many times before, this morning it jumped out at me from the pages and stuck in my mind. I found myself going back and rereading it just for the calm, joy, and reassurance it gave me.
"As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.'" Jesus proceeds to restore this blind beggar's sight with a little bit of spit and dirt.
This morning I just want to encourage anyone who feels like they are in a hopeless situation, maybe even as hopeless as being blind from birth and reduced to begging every day to hopefully gain enough from passersby to merely survive. God did not give you that situation as a punishment for some sin or another, for our God is not punitive. He is Love. He gives us trials and challenges as a way for His glory and magnificent work to be displayed in our lives, for His goodness to be revealed and His truth spread to those around us. And the truth is this: if you are still breathing (which I hope is the case if you are reading this right now!) God is not finished with you yet. Trust in His power and His solution might be as simple as some good ol' fashioned spit. For in God's hands, even mud is a powerful thing. Praise God.
Well, I am taking full advantage of this actual-fall weather while we are still in Virginia, snapping a pic of every fall leaf or tree I come across and baking anything that involves pumpkin or cinnamon. And Baby Barnacle is a fan of the fall deliciousness as well. (Side note...I really don't know what I'm going to do when she is born and I can no longer call her Barnacle...it has such a ring to it!) I sense a fellow fall fanatic in the making! Speaking of Barnacle, I just can't help but share this pic. I had a 3D ultrasound the other week and the technology just blew my mind. My favorite picture of all....her sweet little profile between an arm (on the right) and her foot (on the right). I think we may have a dancer on our hands! And considering she engages in some sort of baby tae bo class each night, I'd say that's a safe bet.
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his might heavens....
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing....
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Psalm 150
Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pumpkin Coffee Cake:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup milk
Vanilla Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1-2 Tbsp pumpkin spice coffee creamer or milk (I used milk)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Make the crumb topping first: In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter or fork. Mix until crumbly and set aside.
3. For the cake: Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil, maple syrup, and milk until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (it will be thick!) Pour the batter into the baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly on the top and press gently into the batter. Bake for 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar and 1 Tbsp of the creamer or milk until smooth. Add more creamer or milk to thin, if desired. Drizzle over the cake. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Believe me when I say this cake is out-of-this-world! Next time I want to try doing half oil-half applesauce to keep it moist but make the nutritional content *slightly* better. We had it for breakfast the first morning then proceeded to eat it as dessert each night after. Plus some bites in between....like maybe every time someone walked past the dish...
Next pumpkin recipe.....muffins! Baby is all for fall breakfast treats!
Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
*This recipe originally called for a brown sugar-cinnamon filling of 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. While I am always a fan of more brown sugar, after reading the recipe I decided to omit this. I am actually glad I did as these muffins are already very sweet and might be a little too sugary with the
additional filling! Disclaimer over.
Muffins:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
(I used pumpkin pie spice instead since I'm not a huge nutmeg person)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup water
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Streusel topping:
1 1/4 cup oats
1 Tbsp flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
6 Tbsp cold butter, cut into cubes
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin tins with cooking spray or paper liners. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, water, pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth and combined.
4. Slowly stir in the flour mixture. Mix until ingredients are combined.
5. For the streusel topping: In a small bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix in the butter with your hands until crumbly.
6. Fill the muffin cups with the batter and top each one with streusel topping.
7. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until the toothpick test comes out clean. Cool muffins on a wire rack. Enjoy!
And last but not least, the Franken-treats. While these do not contain any sort of pumpkin ingredient they are quintessential Halloween-y (anyone else giggle when making the word "Halloween" into an adjective? Just me? Okay cool.) Inspired by Pinterest of course and super easy, although slightly time consuming, these really don't even need detailed step-by-step directions. Here's pretty much the gist of it...
Franken-treats
What you'll need....
Recipe for classic Rice Krispie treats - butter, marshmallows, Rice Krispies, and green food coloring
Melted chocolate chips for the hair, smile, and pupils
White chocolate chips (unmelted) for the eyes
Toothpicks and mini marshmallows for the bolts
Cute paper straws from Target, Michael's, or other craft store
Pretty simple and almost too cute to eat....sorry Frank, I said almost :)
Happy Halloween everybody!
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