Yours

(Video from: http://splatexperience.com)

In light of Easter weekend I thought I’d repost a blog and poem I wrote a couple years ago for my other blog, The Waking. Hope you guys enjoy and are reminded of the amazing sacrifice our Savior made for us. Happy Easter, friends! :)

I feel like I’ve been a little more reflective this year of the sacrifice that Jesus made for me … for us. It’s amazing to think that the sinless, blameless Son of God would take my sin and shame on himself.

I think of my life thus far, all of 26 years, and I can’t help but think of all that has been forgiven. I look ahead and I’m sure there will be many more things that need to be forgiven. I think of the times that I’ve asked for forgiveness and still felt guilty… so I would ask again, and again. As if He couldn’t or didn’t hear me the first time. There have just been times I haven’t trusted his forgiveness enough to forgive myself. But he paid it all. My debt has been paid in full and there is nothing I did or could ever do to deserve it. It’s a gift Jesus offers with open arms and all I have to do is accept it and trust in it.

The miracle of the cross is that Jesus not only died so we could be forgiven of our sins, but that we could also turn from them and be transformed. His grace is not there to excuse our sin but to save and free us from it. I didn’t mean to ramble on this much… I just feel thankful.
 
This Easter I hope you reflect on all Jesus has done for you, I pray that you accept and trust in the gift of salvation. I pray that you experience the fullness of salvation that was purchased for you on the cross.
 
Yours
You’ve grown me up. Sculpted my skin, skin that still has the imprint of your hand. I am uniquely yours.
 
And for a time I breathed nothing in but you. For a time in my life beauty was about to begin. But I caved in, into my own sin. It was then that there was a new imprint on my skin. One that was uniquely mine.
 
But the blood that was shed to wash away my sin, the iniquity of all men. The life that was taken so I could be born again. Thorns on your head, nails in your hands left an imprint of my sin on your holy skin. Son of God, son of man the imprint of the nails on your hands has brought me back to life again.

Songs For Easter Reflection:

A Drop of Blood by The Ember Days
I Wonder by Tara Leigh Cobble
Revenge by Jon Foreman
Why by Nichole Nordeman
The Beginning by Showbread (Nervosa album)

Snickers Cupcakes

If there’s anything that can make chocolate cupcakes even better … it’s definitely a Snickers Bar. I made these Snickers cupcakes for my cousin’s baby shower last month and I’ve been meaning to post this recipe.

This being her first baby, to say that we were all super excited would be an understatement. So planning for this shower started early. We knew there had to be cupcakes involved, they were just simply mandatory, but we weren’t sure what kind. We looked at several different recipes but finally landed on testing out a recipe we found for Snickers Cupcakes. Unfortunately, we were less than thrilled with the results. But it sort of became my mission to get these right … therefore I admittedly went a little nuts and tried out two more recipes lol. I mean this girl is not just my cousin she’s like my sister, it was important to me to get these right. But the good news is after combining a few different recipes, I got it! :D

I was so happy with how they turned out! My cousin said she loved them and everyone at the shower seemed to really enjoy them as well, which made all the recipe testing totally worth it! It was actually one of many delish treats at the shower, which was so lovely by the way!

And just a couple weeks later, her beautiful baby boy was born almost a month early. It was so special to see and hold him. It seems like just yesterday that my cousin and I were playing dolls and now she has a baby! Crazy! We’ve been through so much together and have so many good memories with each other. From Barbie's, Saved By The Bell, *Nsync, road trips, and lots & lots of concerts to weddings, and now babies! Okay, now I’m getting too emotional lol. So I’ll spare you the water works and just give you the cupcakes! ;)

Snickers Cupcakes -

(Recipe adapted from http://www.annies-eats.com/)

Moist chocolaty cupcakes, fluffy caramel frosting, and Snickers…needless to say these are a little rich but very delish!

I used Hershey’s chocolate cake recipe, which is my old stand by, you just can’t go wrong with it. I also added in a little coffee & melted Ghirardelli chocolate. The filling is chopped up Snickers coated in caramel topping. They’re topped off with Salted Caramel frosting, more chopped Snickers, and caramel topping.

These cupcakes are so easy to make. And let me just say this is the best Salted Caramel frosting I’ve tried so far. It complements the chocolate cupcakes perfectly!

With bits of Snickers inside as well as on top, this will make any Snickers fan a happy camper! Hope you give ‘em a shot! :)

Cupcakes -

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into lined cupcake pan.

Bake 16-18 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cool completely.

Filling -

Ingredients:

24 fun-size Snicker bars, chopped

1/3 – 1/2 cup store bought caramel topping

Directions:

Combine chopped Snickers bars in a bowl with the caramel topping and mix to coat.

Salted Caramel Frosting -

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

2 cups powdered sugar

15-20 caramels

2 tbsp. heavy cream

Kosher salt

Directions:

In a small bowl, melt caramels with the heavy cream. You an pop it in the microwave for 30 second increments till smooth. Allow a few minuets in the fridge to cool.

In a large bowl, whip the butter for 20 seconds of medium high speed until fluffy. Add in one cup powdered sugar and mix until combined. Once the caramel is completely cool to touch, drizzle into frosting and beat on medium speed until well incorporated.

Then add in the second cup of powdered sugar and the salt (1/4 tsp. – 1/2 tsp.). Beat 3-4 minutes or until fluffy.

Garnish:

8 fin-size Snickers bars, chopped

Caramel topping

Assembly - 

After cupcakes are completely cool, use a knife (I use my cupcake corer) to hollow out out the center of each cupcake. Fill each cupcake with a spoonful of the filling mixture. Spread or pipe on caramel frosting. Garnish with chopped Snickers and drizzle with caramel topping. Then devour! :)

Currently…

Reading: Um… sad to say nothing at the moment lol. But the last book I read was “A Homemade Life” by food blogger, Molly Wizenberg. Let me tell you, I fell head over heels in love with this book! It actually came out a few years ago but I just got it as a Christmas gift. It’s half memoir half cookbook. Molly shares her beautiful stories of growing up with foodie parents who gave her a love of cooking, losing her dad to cancer, living in Paris, and meeting the love of her life through her blog, Orangette. Each chapter ends with one or two delicious recipes that tie into her stories. If you’re a foodie, this is the book for you! It will make you want to get in your kitchen and cook and bake your heart out! 

Watching: The Holiday! It’s on right now in the background as I am blogging. It’s one of my favorite movies, never get tired of it.

Thinking about: How I haven’t blogged in a while. It’s funny, I can get so frustrated with the whole blogging thing sometimes but when I don’t do it, I miss it. Go figure!

Anticipating: My sister coming to visit in a couple weeks! We actually just got to go visit her for the first time since she moved to GA, which was so fun! But our cousin just had her first baby, an adorable baby boy, so she’s planning to come down to meet the little guy! Really excited for us all to be together again!

Listening to: “Heartbeat” by Kopecky Family Band. Just discovered these guys and I’m really digging them! Check ‘em out:

Eating: Healthy No-Bake Chocolate Bars. Found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a try. I was a little skeptical as in my experience any recipe with the word “healthy” in the title tends to be questionable, but these are actually pretty delish!

Working on: Getting fit & healthy! It’s not easy but I’m trying. And I was working on this making this cake stand a week or so ago. I made it out of a plate my mom bought at Target and a milk glass goblet I found at the antique store in my town. I think it’s my favorite one yet.

Wishing: That I could’ve gone to this years SXSW! So many awesome artists were playing, drove me crazy to have to miss it!