waking up

I've wanted to write for a while now. Throughout the day, as I go about my Mama business, I find myself thinking in prose. I take little snapshots of my day and surround them with long, lovely sentences full of superfluous adjectives and lists separated by commas. 

All in my head.

I know I'm a writer. My mind keeps an active list of all the things I want to document but my day keeps me from actually getting anything down on paper. Part of it is busyness, but another part is laziness coupled with fear. 

All this to say, I'm hoping to get back into the swing of blogging. And not just about my kids, but about me. About life. Church planting. Community. Eating clean (or trying). Suffering. Hoping. 

I'm waking up. My heart is waking up. My words are waking up.

At least, they're trying to. :)

Thanks for sticking around. XOXO

liebster love / things about me / blog love

So a lovely girl named Ellen, whom I met through the mug swap, nominated me for a liebster award. Who even knows the heck what this means, other than somebody reads my blog and wants to spread the love. I can get behind that! :) It's sort of a meme.

Liebster is a German word meaning sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. Considering I just came back from a Bavarian wonderland, well let me just say, Das ist zer gut!!!

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers.

It's simple...

1) List 11 things about you

2) Answer the 11 questions from the person who nominated you

3) Nominate 11 new people

4) Write 11 new questions for them to answer

5) Be sure to let the folks know they've nominated

11 Things About Me:

I love to bake. Being grain-free didn't stop me, but now that I'm back to eating flour and sugar (in moderation), I've been baking up a storm. This was my most recent and favorite recipe. I browned the butter and used the chai-cashew brittle. I almost died they were so good. Then I promptly wrapped them up and gave them away so I wouldn't finish the whole 8x8 pan myself.

I love the beach. I feel so at home at the ocean. I could walk for hours in the sand along the crashing waves. I got this from my sweet mom. She loves the beach more than anyone else I know.

I have THE MOST amazing family. I can't imagine a more wonderful, loving, supportive group of people to whom I happen to be related. I wish I could move my entire family down to my neighborhood. 

I love to read. I devour books. I read really, really fast and mourn when books are over. I wish I could slow down and enjoy books more, like a long, multi-course meal. I'm working on that. I love the smell of library books and used bookstores. Maybe when I "retire" I'll open a B&B where I can bake lovely things, host lovely people, and store a collection of lovely old books.

I have ulcerative colitis. My last scan showed that my insides are red and angry. That's why I head into SF every two-six weeks to get remicade infusions. Sitting in a chair for 4 hours isn't exactly a punishment. So far today (getting an infusion as I type this) I've instagrammed, facebooked, blogged, knitted, and looked at my new magazines. Sure beats running to the bathroom 9 times a day.

Speaking of colitis, I'm taking prednisone right now, too. It makes me crazy. And productive. And emotional. And wordy. The end.

I've been married for 12 years to my hubby Ben. I like him more every year. That is definitely God's sanctifying work in both of our lives. I highly recommend marriage and parenthood to increase the rate of personal sanctification. :)

Speaking of parenthood, I returned home from three days away last night to the most lovely, amazing, sweet, affectionate, and wonderful children. Sam said, "You such nice Mama. I love you so much. I never let you go away again......just kidding!" It seriously made me laugh and cry at the same time. His ability to express his feelings and his sense of humor grow with each day. What a crazy nut! Maddie kissed me a thousand times and shared all about her week. We snuggled together in the big bed, singing songs together and marveling at our luck to be parents to two strong, resilient, fun, loving, joy-filled kids. Such a great homecoming. Such a gift. I guess what this says about me is that I love being a parent, on the best of days (kisses and snuggles) and the worst (sanctification, baby!).

I am pregnant with our third child. We think it's a girl. I'm so sure it's a girl I'm knitting a pink blanket. If I'm wrong I'll be quite surprised, but I don't really care either way. We have a girl's name picked out, but not a boy's. I'll find out for sure on Tuesday at our 20 week ultrasound, as long as the baby is cooperating.

I'm a total klutz. I spilled bleach all over my black pants this morning. I trip all the time. I drop things. My hands shake when I'm concentrating, and it's worse if I'm hungry or highly caffeinated. I always have bruises that I don't remember causing. I run into things every day. I come by it pretty honestly.

I really, really love Jesus. Every day I fall more and more in love with the person and work of Christ. The love he has for his kids overwhelms me to tears. I feel so humbled and honored to be a part of his church and his family. I hope above all else that my life points people to the love, care, compassion, hope, joy and healing of a God who loves them.

11 Questions from the lovely Ellen:

1)   If you could be a book character who would it be? 

I'd want to live in the book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. 
Love it. I don't think I want to be Mary, but I'd like to be her friend.

2)   What color are the walls in your home?

Downstairs they are a neutral taupe with accent faux-marbled painted walls. 
The previous owners did it and it looks good. Our room is light blue. Maddie's room is light green. 
Sam's is taupe.

3)   How often do you stop to thank God in and through your day?

Some days I feel like I'm in a constant state of gratitude. Other days, I'm way self-focused. 
I'd like to be more of the former.

4)   If the TV is on in your home, what are you watching?

DVR'd shows from the week: Grimm, Glee, Office Space, Modern Family, 
Parenthood, Pioneer Woman

5)   Vanilla, Chocolate, or Strawberry milk shakes?

CHOCOLATE, baby! But ice cream makes me really sick. :(

6)   How would you describe your style?

Mom style: workout clothes or jeans with a tank top, cardi and flip-flops (summer) 

or flats (winter). I'm not one of those girls who really loves to dress up. I don't wear a lot 
of makeup. Low-maintenances is the way for me. :)

7)   Name one thing about you that you wish more people would notice.

My green eyes! So few people have truly green eyes.

8)   Who was your teen idol?

John Stamos was my pre-teen idol. I was in his fan club.

9)   What is in your CD player or iPod cue right now?

Mumford & Sons, Civil Wars, Jesus Culture, Matt Redman

10)  What is your favorite accessory?

scarves

11)   If you could get on a plane right now, where would it be going?

Kauai, with my family & best friends, for a long vacation

11 New People (some of whom have more than 200 followers..but you should follow
 them anyway, because they're some of my most favorite bloggers):

Tiffany

Keri

Jessica

Heather

Heather

Annie

Kim

Wendy

Mel

Emily

Emily

11 New Questions to Answer:

1) Who is your personal hero?

2) Where is your favorite place in the whole world?

3) What is the best meal you've ever eaten?

4) Jesus: what does that name mean to you?

5) What do you admire most about your hubby?

6) If you could choose one super power, what would it be?

7) What do you like most about yourself?

8) Who is your favorite author (or what is your favorite book)?

9) Coffee, tea, or an alternative? Details, please.

10) Plastic, paper, or bring your own bag? 

11) What is one thing you wish for yourself, your kids, or your family?

a little sprucing up

I started prednisone about a week ago. One of the side effects is an increase in energy (and a decrease in sleep). Sam's been waking up around 5am most mornings this week and after a few days, I fell into the same routine. Well, give me coffee plus prednisone at 5:30am and I have THREE productive hours ahead of me before it's time for school.

Maybe it's pre-nesting phase, maybe it's the prednisone, WHATEVER. I have barely had enough energy to clean my kitchen for the past few months, let alone take on any extra projects that needed doing. Well, in the past week alone, let me share what I've accomplished:

all of my laundry is currently clean and put away...this is a freaking miracle!

I cleaned out both kids' closets, got rid of all the too-small clothes, and updated drawers with current-size hand-me-downs. yay for a whole new Fall wardrobe for Sam!

I made dinner. Three nights in a row. Involving three different dishes. Yes indeed.

Laid down the gauntlet with the insurance peeps and finally got my remicade approved! Praise Jesus!!

Organized the kids' toys in the garage, donated old items and cleaned and prepped good-condition items for consignment.

And this, my friends, is where my inaugural Pintertest Kitchen link-up comes in:

I love coconut oil and I noticed a while back on pinterest that you can make a natural goo be gone from coconut oil and baking soda. The items I'm taking to the consignment store include a beautiful PBKids kitchen and a Radio Flyer tricycle. Both of these items were covered in kid gunk. I think it was a combination of marker, ballpoint pen, sunblock, TBD snack item, dirt and those super annoying cheap foam stickers from the craft store that covered the once-white exterior of the kitchen.  Well, I'm happy to report that with the use of my all natural (and great smelling!) goo be gone, a Mr. Clean magic eraser, a putty knife and a little elbow grease, the toys look awesome and totally ready for consignment!

I didn't take a before picture because I'm lazy. (Well, not too lazy because I worked hard getting all the gunk off, but, whatever.) You should know that the left front corner of the kitchen (near the fake burners) had two large foam stickers, marker and pen covering a good portion. Now there is just a trace amount of someone's ballpoint pen masterpiece.  So, should you have any stickers, even the stickiest, gooiest, most stubborn cheap foam stickers, give the natural goo be gone a shot! I was pleasantly surprised. :)

good eats, good reads

good reads:

"She who is always the first one awake pulls a book off the shelf and snuggles up next to me in silence, her nine-year-old lankiness curling up like an infant inside waiting arms. I see hope in her – and I see myself. I kick and I scream and I thrash hard against the Father’s love. I shift my focus and become a prisoner to the panic instead of the promise, and still He says, 'mine.' He looks at me, broken, and calls me daughter and ever so lovingly pulls me right back in."

Have you read Kisses from Katie? Do you follow her blog? Oh my, oh my, oh my. Her writing pulls at my heart and brings tears to my eyes. So good to know there are folks like Katie caring for orphans in places that few feel called to. In the blog post quoted above (Friday the 24th), I could so relate to the feeling of being prisoner to the panic. With so many transitions going on in our lives right now, it is easy to succumb to fear and panic when I should instead be surrendering to joy and peace.

Another of my all-time favorite authors, Ann Voskamp, has a blog. One night, as I lay upon a heating pad, I clicked from page to page, weeping silently with each passing post. I can't even begin to describe her writing. It's like a waterfall of emotion and imagery with each sentence, the kind of writing you want to slow down and savor so as not to miss anything profound. Her prayer for a daughter had me moved beyond words, to a place of silent reflection and nodding agreement.

A good explanation of the problem of grains for people with ulcerative colitis and other auto-immune disorders. A must-read for anyone wanting to understand why folks like me limit their diet so significantly. It's worth the sacrifice.

good eats:

If I were eating cake right now, I would totally be making smitten kitchen's apple spice birthday cake! It sounds like a big delicious slice of Fall. By the way, her first cookbook comes out next month and she'll be touring through SF Sunday, November 4th at 2:00. Signing plus demonstration. Anyone want to come along???

My attempt at shutterbean's vegetable lentil soup made it in the bylines of her blog today. Hooray! I love that feature on her Friday posts and it's led me to some new fun friends. If you've never clicked over to shutterbean, today's the day to do it. The girl has AMAZING recipes all week long.

I must be pregnant. Look at these recipes I'm recommending. Fried guacamole? People, do it for the pregnant girl on a strict diet. Make these cakes and crazy fried treats. Enjoy them. Savor each crispy sweet salty moment and then relay it back to me. Okay, don't actually tell me how good they are.

Happy Friday, dear readers! Have a super weekend!

here, near, far (like Africa far!)

At church we are launching a new vision called Here, Near and Far. The idea is based on Acts 1:8:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Cool verse! Basically, Jesus is saying, I'm giving you my Spirit power to take the good news of the gospel here (Jerusalem), near (Judea & Samaria), and far (ends of the earth!). At Soma SRV, we feel called to be part of a church-planting movement that supports ministry here in Danville, near in the San Francisco/Bay Area, and Far (to the ends of the earth)! How exciting! 

So, near and far...some friends of mine are totally putting this into practice. In supporting them, I'm supporting the mission both near (San Mateo) and far (Sudan).

Several posts ago I mentioned Kim and Jess. These two lovely ladies are part of a church plant (holla!) named Hope Church in San Mateo. You can read all about the Hope for Sudan news and also answers to prayer here. Basically, a trip to Sudan forever changed a pastor's heart. He came back and with his church organized a mission to raise $25,000 to help feed the poor, starving, malnourished and mistreated refugees near the border. 

I noticed on Jess' instagram that they were starting a 24-hour prayer chain for the guys that they sent to Sudan. I volunteered to take a 15 minute slot (not that much of a sacrifice, considering my time is 10:30).

How can you help? Pray. Give. Educate yourself. Pray some more. Just this week I was lamenting my colitis. I've been pretty sick. But you know what? Three of these precious Sudanese refugee children, beloved by God, will DIE of DIARRHEA today. I am not going to die of diarrhea. I have plenty of nutritious food, knowledgable doctors, access to the best medical care in the world, and resources to pay for it. 

The Sudanese refugees have us. You and me. Consider how you might help.

XOXO

a mug swappin' we will go

Several weeks ago I made a new friend. Well, many new friends, actually. All of them super bloggers, fun women with big hearts who happen to be friends with Mel.

Right after I started following Kim's blog, A Cuppa Kim, I read about her annual Mug Swap. You know those crazy old panty exchange/mail thingies? Well, this is nothing like that. :) Thank goodness. Those things were crazy pyramid schemes at their worst. The Mug Swap was simple, fun and full of joy. You sign up for the swap, get a name to send a mug to, and then receive a mug yourself. How fun is that? 

I shopped at Anthro, my go-to place for cute mugs, journals, and gifts. They have the cah-utest mugs in bright, happy colors. I sent a mug to the lovely Jessica over at Keeping up with the Johnsons. A perfect partner for me: she's a mom of two, church planter with a HUGE heart for people. Here's a shot of the package I sent her:

I was lucky to receive a mug from Ellen over at Just a Work in Progress. Teacher, traveler, lover of Jesus--need I say more? She had a cute little birdie theme going in her package of abundant love:

Being a newbie to the mug swap, I had no idea the generosity of fellow swappers. Ladies were including handmade items, hand-penned art, crafts, goodies, mug cozies. It was so fun to watch the instagram group pile up with photos day after day. I just sent Jessica a mug and my recipe for homemade chai. Next year I'll know to stick in extra goodies. :)

Thanks, Kim, for a super duper fun mug-swappin' adventure. Can't wait for next year! 

What kind of swap would interest you?

Linking up over at A Cuppa Kim!!

Tales from the Motherhood: Parenting with Chronic Illness

In case you missed this post earlier this week on Wendy's blog, here it is for your reading enjoyment.

Today I'm going to share with you what it's like to live with chronic illness. Because my full-time job is caring for and nurturing two little people, it's inevitable that in explaining how I manage my illness, I share a bit about how I manage parenting in the midst of it. So welcome to tales from the motherhood: parenting with chronic illness.

After several years of sporadic symptoms (nausea, diarrhea, indigestion) starting as early as high school, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in February of 2001. My husband and I had married the previous Summer, moved across the country to start graduate school, and on top of it all, I was stuck in a job that was frustrating and unfulfilling. With the number of major life changes couple with high emotional stress, my body started to shut down. (I later learned that stress is my major trigger for sickness). In my agony and frustration I met with a doctor who was the first to tell me, "chronic diarrhea and nausea is NOT normal." It had been my normal for so long that I was completely out of touch with what healthy looked like.

Maybe you've seen this little ditty floating around the internet. Yes, indeed. Colitis (UC) involves many unfortunate bathroom-related situations.

A G-rated version of UC goes something this...always: 1) knowing the closest restroom, 2) having extra underwear accessible, 3) not getting to eat a lot of delicious things, 4) being embarrassed by your own gas, 5) avoiding Mexican food at all costs, 6) taking along twenty-plus pills and supplements when you go out to eat (which isn't often because restaurant food is tricky).

At this point I was only 21. I was young and used to a degree of freedom. My UC diagnosis seemed like a big heavy iron door slamming on my future. Thankfully, I had a great doctor who was most concerned with restoring my health and improving the quality of my life.

My doctor immediately placed me on prednisone (steroids), with the understanding that if I didn't respond immediately, I was looking at a hospital stay in my very near future. Praise God I responded favorably and didn't have to be hospitalized. Along with the new medication regimen, I started doing some research into how diet affects colitis. My research led me to a book called Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall. This book has changed so many lives, mine included. It is based on a simple nutritional principle that complex grains and sugars are more difficult for the body to digest. By cutting out hard-to-digest foods, folks with unhealthy guts can once again feel normal.

Within two years of being diagnosed, after following my doctor's medical protocol and sticking to the specific carbohydrate diet, I was symptom-free. Other than the occasional bad day, my health was really quite good. A colonoscopy in the Spring of 2004 showed no signs of colitis. I had been completely healed! For the next several years, I followed the diet on and off, always took my medication, and tried to monitor my stress. Managing my illness was fairly easy when it was just me.

Enter pregnancy number one. I had no problems at all until the very end of my pregnancy, when I had a minor flare. I was a few weeks away from delivering my baby and my mom was in the middle of a super strenuous time of breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent chemotherapy. It was a stressful time and my body was showing the effects. Miraculously, after the delivery of my daughter Maddie I regained my health. Life was good, parenting was filled with joy, and I relished in my daughter.

After my second son was born is when things started to go downhill. We exchanged thrush back and forth many times. Then I got mastitis. A few weeks later, I got mastitis again. Then again. By the fourth bout in six months, I was quite sick. I had never experienced such acute pain and illness as with the mastitis. It was WAY worse than childbirth for me. In a desperate attempt to feel better, I started on antibiotic therapy to kill off the yeast. But as any sufferer of colitis knows, taking antibiotics is like asking for a flare.

Without totally boring you, the science behind a healthy intestine has much to do with the balance of good bacteria (think the active cultures in yogurt). A lot of stomach issues have to do with bad bacteria taking over (think E. Coli). Antibiotics kill off everything; they don't just target the bad. So essentially, with the thrush, mastitis, and medication treatment, my body was stripped of all its protection.

My body entered a lengthy season of sickness. Having two energetic, outgoing and demanding kids to care for added to the stress. The next three years were a roller coaster of all the joy of raising my kids coupled with the stress of managing my illness. I had to make a lot of changes to our routine in order to accommodate how I was feeling. For example, there were several months in the past year in which I chose not to make the five-minute walk from our house to the park because there is no bathroom on the way. Things were really bad.

Another list to give you an idea of what it is like to live with UC...parenting in the midst of a UC flare means: 1) sometimes driving to the park instead of walking, 2) having your kids get away with all sorts of shenanigans while you are stuck in the bathroom, 3) shipping your kids off to friends and family because you're too sick to take care of them, 4) explaining over and over why Mommy doesn't eat the same foods, 5) spending lots of extra time in the kitchen making gut-friendly meals, and 6) spending a lot of time on your knees in prayer, both for good health and for patience to make it through the day.

But the good news (yes, there is good news!) in all of this is that while my body is totally imperfect and insufficient, God is perfect and sufficient. In all the ways my body fails me, Christ sustains me. This was made abundantly, exceedingly, miraculously clear this past year when I reached my sickest point yet. After 12 days in the hospital, Jesus met me in a very tangible, loving, amazing, humbling way. You can read all about it here.

Managing chronic illness means a lot of really hard days. BUT (no pun intended), it also means I have a built-in need for something outside of myself. Just as my physical self needs medication to supplement and heal, my spiritual self is completely dependent on Christ to give me strength and perseverance.

Since my bout in the hospital, I've started seeing a naturopath. She's got me on all kinds of helpful vitamins and supplements to replenish and heal by body. I feel better than I have in a few years. My symptoms have totally improved and I am steroid-free.

And best of all, my kids have their mom back. With good health comes the ability to walk to the park, create new and exciting recipes with foods I can eat, and teach my kids about healthy living.

If you suffer from chronic illness, want to know more about the specific carbohydrate diet, or if you want to know more about the really good news of who Jesus is and his love for you, please drop me a line. I'd love to chat. ben_beckyjoyce (at) yahoo (dot) com

Guest Posting today...

This morning my family is heading on family vacation to Oregon. Head over to Wendy's blog Tales from the Motherhood to read my guest post on parenting with chronic illness.

If you like to read stories about unicorns, magic sprinkles, or well-behaved children, don't click the link. If, however, you like the occasional story about bad gas, indigestion, and/or the love of Jesus, well then, this is your lucky day.

Happy Birthday to Me & A Very Merry Unbirthday to You!

Today is the last day to comment, dear readers! Enter one more comment in order to be considered in the giveaway of two amazing grain-free cookbooks

PLUS, an awesome giveaway to Mel's etsy shop: invite design, 25 invites/envelopes, 25 stickers/favor tags and 25 cupcake toppers! Two winners! Hooray! A very merry unbirthday, indeed. :)


Winner will be announced tomorrow.


A big thank you to Wendy, Mel & Danielle for their guest posts and mostly for their friendship! Love you girls!

Black Forest Cupcakes: Guest Post from Against All Grain

Today you have the pleasure of hearing from my friend & neighbor, the incredibly talented Danielle from Against All Grain. I have the joy of getting to taste test several treats as Danielle is in various stages of recipe development. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it. In search of the perfect grain-free birthday dessert, I have to say, her black forest cupcakes are pretty hard to top.

Danielle Walker is the author and creator of the grain-free recipe blog, Against All Grain (againstallgrain.com). She is first and foremost a devoted wife and loving mom to her wonderful husband and rambunctious toddler, but finds joy in her spare time developing tasty recipes for those on restricted diets.  Using grain-free flours such as coconut and almond flour, she creates familiar comfort foods that leave people with food allergies feeling satisfied rather than deprived.  Her passion is to share with everyone that eating a diet of real, healthy foods does not mean living in a world of bland and uneventfulfood. All of the recipes on Against All Grain are grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and low to minimal dairy.

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black forest cupcakes with whipped cream frosting

Posted by Against All Grain on June 24, 2012 · 22 Comments 

You may remember the great cupcake vs muffin debate we had on Facebook a few weeks ago. I asked you which recipe you’d like to see first and it was a pretty even split, but muffins won by just a hair. I posted the recipe for my Cherry Chocolate Muffins first, and now it’s your moment cupcake lovers!

You’re probably asking yourself what the difference is between a muffin and cupcake. They are both cake like baked goods that come in a small single serving wrapper right? I’d say the biggest distinction between the two is frosting or no frosting. Muffins are also generally a little more dense than a cupcake and typically less sweet (although there are SO many exceptions to that rule!).

While I was developing this recipe, I came out with a few batches that were meant to be muffins but were just too sweet and a little too fluffy to feel like a fulfilling breakfast bread. So instead of forcing them into one category or another, I just made recipes for both!

The cupcakes use coconut oil while the muffins use cacao butter, and the cupcakes have a cherry compote filling and then are topped with a sweet whipped cream. These do fall in the center a little more than the muffins, so don’t be alarmed if they sink a bit after you’ve removed them from the oven. You’ll be filling the center and covering it up with frosting anyways!

Two little treats that seem alike, but have such different flavor profiles!

And lastly, here’s a funny little difference I read: “If you threw a cupcake against the wall, you would hear something of a ‘poof!’ If you threw a muffin, you would hear a ‘thud!’

Ingredients (yields 1 dozen) 4 large eggs, room temperature 1/4 cup honey 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted 1/4 cup coconut milk 1/4 cup coconut flour 1/2 cup blanched almond flour 1/4 cup raw cacao powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life for soy, dairy, and gluten free) 1/2 cup red cherries, pitted 2 cups whipped cream (either coconut or raw dairy cream) Cherry Compote Filling 3/4 cup red cherries, chopped 2 tablespoons honey 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon bourbon (optional but makes it really good!)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a food processor, process the eggs, melted coconut oil, honey, vanilla and coconut milk until fully combined.

Add the coconut flour, almond flour, cacao powder, baking soda, and salt and process again until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then pulse a few more times to make sure everything is mixed well.

Add the whole cherries and pulse once or twice until they are roughly chopped. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup to 3/4 full.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. These are dark so it’s hard to tell when they are done by sight, but a toothpick should come out clean and the cake should bounce back when you press your finger gently into the top.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make your cherry compote by combining all of the ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer for 15 minutes until the cherries are soft and much of the liquid has evaporated. It will still be pretty thin, but as it cools it will turn into a thicker syrup.

Using an apple corer or just a pairing knife, remove a quarter size piece from the top of the cupcake. Be careful not to cut too deep or you’ll cut through the bottom and the filling will seep out.

Fill each cupcake with a tablespoon of the cherry filling, then pipe or spread the whipped cream over top.

*I used raw dairy cream for the photos but we’ve had them with coconut whipped cream and love them just as much. Coconut whipped cream doesn’t hold up for very long after being whipped, so try to frost the cakes no more than 30 minutes prior to serving. 

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Two giveaways going on through July 9th! Enter to win: 1) two grain-free cookbooks for all your birthday (and everyday) baking needs; 2) a birthday party giveaway to Mel's shop including an invite design, 25 invites w/envelopes, 25 cupcake toppers and 25 favor tags or stickers. Two lucky winners! 

Leave a comment on this post in order to be considered. Answer the following question: cupcake or muffin?

Realistic Cake Pops: Guest Post from Tales from the Motherhood

Today you have the pleasure of hearing from one of my blogging friends, the always hilarious Wendy Hagen. With so many grain-free recipes being shared this week, I figured you all needed a break. I've tried to make cake pops before, and let me just say, I'm glad Wendy is keepin' it real. With no further ado, here's a little bit about Wendy...

When Wendy was nine-years-old she looked in the yellow pages, found a talent agency, and called and left a message letting them know that she was ready to be on television. Unbeknownst to her parents. That started her acting career which eventually led her to Hollywood as a teenager where she starred in The New Lassie and guest starred on The Wonder Years and Growing Pains. She left Hollywood and headed back to the Bay Area to finish out a normal senior year of high school. 

Wendy went on to UCLA where she was on the dance team, in leadership with Athletes in Action, and met her husband of 13 years -- Shiloh. Wendy no longer gets paid for entertaining, but she is constantly entertaining her eight-year-old Elijah, her very strong-willed five-year-old Lydia, and her temperamental three-year-old Jordis.

Wendy and Shiloh live in the San Francisco Bay Area and are active at their church Cornerstone Fellowship in Livermore and lead a college/young adult life group at their home every week. Wendy loves Jesus and is passionate about sharing her faith and encouraging women in their faith and in the motherhood. She also loves blogging, Persian food, hot chocolate, So You Think You Can Dance, Settlers of Catan, and family vacations.

In a moment of temporary insanity and a lot of late nights Wendy decided to write a book of humor and encouragement for fellow moms and moms-to-be called Totally Desperate Mom: Keepin’ it Real in the Motherhood.

Right now the Plum District has a deal going on Wendy's book! Be sure to head over and get yourself this funny, engaging, uplifting read (and help a local women's shelter in the meantime). Check it out.

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For Jordis's third birthday party I decided to make cupcakes and cake pops. Because I wanted to eat one or twenty. So I browsed recipes and got some tips from my Tweeps.

Here is the best of what I learned about cake poppin'.

But just know that to make picture-perfect cake pops like the ones you might see on a crazy baker web site or over at Crazy Crafty Christina's blog you will need a strong Type-A personality, special tools, the perfect dipping chocolate, and a fancy camera. I have none of those items, but I did borrow my sister-in-law's nice camera for the party.

So my recipe, if you will, is for . . .

Realistic Cake Pops

Good-Enough Cake Pops

Not-Necessarily-Perfectly-Round-or-Smooth Cake Pops

Most-Likely-To-Not-Be-Featured-on-Bakerella.com Cake Pops

Cake Pops for the Craftily Challenged

Here you go:

1. Make and bake a cake. Preferably not in an Easy-Bake Oven. Let your kids stir up the mix a bit cuz they will remember it fondly when they grow up.

2. Let it cool.

3. Take the cake out of the pan, bash it up, and put it in a large mixing bowl, not a fish bowl.

I did one batch of chocolate cake and vanilla frosting and one batch of yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Both of them were delicious and overly consumed by moi.

4. Add at least 1/2 of the tub of artery clogging, artificial everything frosting to the bashed up cake.

Special Tip #1 - Probably best to add a little more than 1/2 the tub of frosting. It makes for some good glue to hold the ball together and if you don't put enough in, they get a little cracky.

5. Mix the cake and frosting with a fork until you are bored. Then use your hands until it is thoroughly mixed and begging to be shaped into balls.

6. Roll that mixture into balls with your hands.

Let your kids help you with this, but don't expect the balls to be perfectly bally. But who cares? It's for a three-year-old's birthday party, not a magazine cover. Unless it's for a magazine cover - in that case just go buy the cake pops. Make the balls not too big, not too small. Maybe about the size of a walnut. Unless walnuts greatly vary in size (do they?). If that's the case, I don't know what to tell you.

7. Put the balls on a cookie/baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper and put in your refrigerator for at least an hour.

Some internet peeps said to freeze, others said that freezing them was lame. Don't leave the balls in there for more than 24 hours or they begin to dry out.

8. Get some melting chocolates and put them on the stove in a non-stick pot to melt.

Special Tip #2: Don't use a stainless steel pot like I did with my first batch of purple melting junk. Because well, it just doesn't work and I had to toss it.

9. Dip the tip of fancy sticks you bought from a craft store or ones you collected from the tootsie pops your kids just ate, into the melted chocolate and then stick it about half way into the ball.

10. Stick all the balls (now with sticks in them) back in the fridge so that chocolate, (which acts like glue, but won't get you high), will harden.

10. After a few minutes, take out one pop at a time and begin the arduous dipping process. And by dipping I mean DON'T DIP!

Use a spoon to drip the chocolate onto the ball. Get it all over that bad boy. I am sure the unrealistic cake pop recipes have a fancy way of doing this so the chocolate goes on perfectly smooth. But I am sure that is more time consuming and stressful so just get the surface of the ball covered and move on with your life.

11. After the ball is unevenly lathered with the melting chocolate then shake on your sprinkles, chocolate chips, shards of glass, or whatever else you think would make a great topping for your pops.

12. Stick the pops in a flat piece of styrofoam.

We always throw away styrofoam when it comes in packaging because our cats eat it and then puke it up. (Who says styrofoam is not recyclable? Tell that to my cats.) Therefore, I had to buy a piece of styrofoam at the craft store . . . perhaps the most painful part of my cake-pop journey.

I made a cake-pop bouquet with some of the cake pops (on an $8 styrofoam ball!) and covered others with treat bags and ribbon as party favors.

Special Tip #3 If you make your balls too big or they won't fit into the treat bags and you will have to eat them right there on the spot.

The birthday girl loved the cake pops = success!

The birthday girl's mom loved the cake pops = cake pop booty.

The cake pops were time consuming to make, but if you follow my special tips and don't expect perfection then they are not difficult to make. My goal is to never to make them again simply because they tasted incredible and I ate too many and I don't want to get fat and have health issues.

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The giveaway is STILL going strong, through July 9th! Enter to win: 1) two grain-free cookbooks for all your birthday (and everyday) baking needs; 2) a birthday party giveaway to Mel's shop including an invite design, 25 invites w/envelopes, 25 cupcake toppers and 25 favor tags or stickers. Two lucky winners! 

Leave a comment on this post in order to be considered. Answer me this: when it comes to crafty, where do you fall on a scale of "realistic" to Martha? (Me, I like to pretend I'm a Martha but when it comes down to it, I'm too lazy to always follow through. Probably halfway between the two.)