Sherbet Cupcakes

Hello, my name is Mikaela, and I still write and blog...occasionally...every so often...sometimes. Oh dear! How do all you mommy bloggers do it? For five months, I've been thinking about posting a delicious cupcake recipe, but today is the day, my friends! Sarah, my best friend, flew out here over Easter (yes! I said Easter!) for a visit. We got to introduce Liam to her for the first time (definitely the highlight), show her the DC cherry blossoms, spend Easter together, tour a DC art museum, and make cupcakes!

I'm delighted to add another cupcake recipe to my arsenal--especially this one. We knew we wanted to do a bi-flavor fruit cupcake, and it was I who suggested grapefruit, and Sarah who thought of blueberry. We altered a recipe to suit our needs and ended up with an incredible cupcake--my favorite so far, actually!

Here on One Bright Corner, I'm presenting the recipe for the grapefruit flavor, but you'll have to click over to Sarah's blog The Lord's Lass, to get the recipe for the blueberry flavor (her post will be live on Monday)! They are the exact same recipe base, just with the flavor ingredients changed. I'll also show you how to combine both batters into each cupcake to make a beautiful two-tone, two-flavor cupcake, and I've got an incredible icing recipe (It's so fluffy I could die!) that we came up with after altering another recipe.

Please note: Just the grapefruit recipe will make about a dozen cupcakes (and it's brilliant by itself if you don't want the bother of two flavors!), but if you combine it with the blueberry recipe, as it's meant to be, then you'll have 2 dozen cupcakes. The icing recipe is meant to frost two dozen cupcakes, so keep that in mind depending on what you need!

Grapefruit Cupcakes

1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 eggs
1/3 cup grapefruit juice (approximately half of one grapefruit)
2 - 3 tablespoons grapefruit zest
4 drops grapefruit essential oil, optional (but really brings out the grapefruit flavor! Make sure it's one safe for ingestion; I use Young Living)
2 - 4 drops red food coloring, optional
1/2 cup 2% milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 12 -cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the brown rice flour, coconut flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Whisk until well combined, and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and coconut oil together with an electric mixer on medium speed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until a thick, smooth yellow mixture forms.
4. Combine the grapefruit zest, grapefruit juice, and grapefruit essential oil and food coloring (if using) with the milk in a small bowl. (The milk will thicken and "curdle" somewhat--this is normal.) Add half of the milk mixture to the egg mixture, and beat on low speed until just combined. Add half of the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Repeat with the  remaining milk and flour mixtures. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. If you are making two-toned, two-flavored cupcakes, use a cupcake divider placed in the middle of the muffin
   
   cup, and fill one side with one batter and one side with the other batter. Slide the divider out and repeat with each muffin cup!
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cupcakes spring back when the tops are pressed or until a toothpick tester comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the muffin tin and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Fluffy Grapefruit Icing

Makes 3 Cups
2 large egg whites
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
1 teaspoon grapefruit zest plus 1/4 cup juice
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Combine egg whites, sugar, juice, and corn syrup in bowl of stand mixer and set bowl over medium saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water (do not let bottom of bowl touch water).
2. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture registers 160 degrees, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove bowl from heat.
3. Fit stand mixer with whisk and whip egg white mixture on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and continue to whip until mixture has cooled to room temperature and stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes longer, adding zest, butter, and powdered sugar during the last minute of whipping.

I hope you enjoy these scrumptious cupcakes (without frosting, we called them muffins and ate them for breakfast)! Do let me know if you decide to make them! Since the time I've made these (and the pictures were taken), Liam has progressed to crawling and now (as of five days ago) walking. He's a big one-year old and the most delightful, cheerful guy you've ever met! Perhaps a Liam update is in order next.

Cupcake Party: Chocolate Edition

Lauren's Double Peanut Butter Chocolate
Sarah's Chocolate Chunk Lava Fudge
Mikaela's Hazelnut Mocha

Cupcake Party: Savory Edition

Lauren's Spinach Feta
Mikaela's Cupcakes & Croutons 
Sarah's Carrot Ginger Coconut Muffins 

Cupcake Party: Flower Edition

Lauren Hearts Lavender Chocolate
Sarah Tastes The World Through Rose-Flavored Cupcakes

Was Jesus an Introvert or an Extrovert?

I remember the first time a friend enlightened me as to the definition of an introvert: "It means you get your energy and recharge from being by yourself."

I had never heard the concept explained so simply before, and the definition definitely described me. I was fascinated, and I soon noticed this topic cropping up everywhere. In the beginning I chalked it up to the phenomenon that occurs when you learn something new and inevitably the new word stalks you from radio shows and bumper stickers and sky-writing. But as a few years have passed since that first discovery, one would think the phenomenon would pass too, but instead I have noticed two ever-increasing trends:

{scientific statistics alert}

1. A whole lot of people whom I would have dubbed extroverts actually called themselves introverts. And...

2. A whole lot of people in general like to talk about this topic at length. In fact, if you have a self-described introvert who won't make conversation about anything else, simply bring up the topic of introversion, and you will be hard pressed to change the subject. 

Understanding personality types has helped me understand others' perspectives and shape my responses in some very effective ways, but I began to wonder: We're talking about it a lot, but does the Bible have anything to say about introverts and extroverts? Is one more godly than the other? Is all this focus on personality really good or is there a limit to the benefits of navel-gazing?

Fast-forward to another conversation with a different friend, and as I was beginning to ask these questions of myself, I asked her if she were an introvert or an extrovert. She declined to classify herself as either, saying simply that she was trying to avoid a self-focus, and couldn't help but see the wisdom in her response. 

So is there any redeeming value in learning about your personality tendencies? I turned to God's Word, and here is what I discovered:

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1. We are uniquely different, but united in glorifying God.

Personality groupings are helpful, but ultimately fall short.

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Whether you're an INFP or an AARP, it feels good to belong and fit in with a group of people who "get" you. I know the feeling! It's not wrong to seek commonalities with those around you, but you have to realize that any grouping is ultimately simplistic. Even experts on the subject will readily agree to the fact that these types are generalizations. 

The truth is that God has created us all unique {Psalm 139:16, 1 Peter 4:10-11}, with subtle differences in our personalities and perspectives, our strengths and weaknesses. These differences cannot be wholly grasped by a personality test, helpful though it may be.

And although we are all different, whenever the Bible speaks of gifts or strengths, it speaks of using them for the unified purpose of glorifying God. So if I box myself into the type of an introvert and tell myself that because of my introversion it is fine to not push my comfort zone, I am missing the whole point and indulging in the self-focus my friend mentioned. Selfishness was a nagging problem I had with this whole topic as it is my weakness and can be the weakness of the personality-obsessed as well. "Discover your personality, not so you can better serve God, but so you can keep yourself happy and satisfied."

2 Timothy 3:2 prophesies that "men will be lovers of themselves" in the last days. Feeding my desires for introverted comfort can definitely lead to becoming a lover of self just as feeding extroverted desires could lead to being a man-pleaser. Those are the extremes, I grant you. But here's the bottom line: we were created to glorify God {Isaiah 43:7}, and any understanding of personality type is only helpful as far as it aids in that purpose. Which brings me to the next thing I've learned...

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2. We are new creations when we are saved, and all things have become new.

Personality tendencies can be insightful, but should not be used as an excuse.

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Are personalities too sacred to be sanctified? Not according to 2 Corinthians 5:17: " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

K.B. Napier writes,"Man cannot alter his own personality, it is argued, because his personality and 'drives' are inborn and handed-down by evolution. Any defects, nasty as some of them are, must just be accepted as they appear in each individual. This idea runs through much of our social sciences and it is unfortunately expressed by the majority of Christians. And it is wrong. People become new creatures when they are saved....The change of personality by the Holy Spirit is not an option for special types of Christian.  It is required of us all, by God."

Thankfully, God's principles and commands in Scripture provide balance to our lives and personalities. Knowing that I want to be alone when I'm tired or not cram every day full of activity is a helpful insight to not burning myself out. But I have to understand that sometimes these desires turn selfish. God doesn't call me to take the road of ease or least stress, but He does call me to obey Him even when it is the last thing I want to do. 

So if a friend or family member needs help, and I find my blood pressure rising because I was just about to have some "me" time, I have two options: I can use my "introvert" status as an excuse, or I can realize that I am now at the end of myself and my strength, and turn to the power of the Holy Spirit like I should have been doing all along. 

With the right perspective, insight into my natural weaknesses and strengths can actually help me mature in Christ {Mt. 26:41, 1 Cor. 1:27}, but it does not give me a free pass to ignore certain commands of God because they go against my personality. And whether I am an introvert or an extrovert, above all as a Christian I am wholly a new creation in Christ! 

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3. Understanding how Jesus related to God and others can help us think Biblically about our personalities.

Neither being introverted nor extroverted is automatically more godly, but both can have this weakness in common: looking to man for fulfillment.

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So was Jesus an introvert or an extrovert?

Asking this question revealed a much deeper answer than I was expecting! Matthew 14:23 provides a great example of what was a habitual occurrence in Jesus' life: " And when {Jesus} had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there."

Jesus spent time with the multitudes, and just that word "multitudes" challenges the introverted me.

But there came a time in His day when He sent them away, a difficulty for the extroverts out there.

However, it was what He did in that alone time that is key: He didn't look within, and He didn't look to others; He looked to His Father in Heaven.

So there you have it.

Introverts, we like to look in.

Extroverts, they tend to look out.

Believers need to look up.

“Recharging Danbo Power,” © 2013 Takashi Hososhima, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Look Up

June brought in warm evenings like summer's heralding banner, and the rich woolly sky blanketed the sleepy house where some friends and I were cuddled up for a late night.  My phone suddenly buzzed at me with a message from my mama, but not the one I was expecting: "Go look outside!"

"Girls--listen to this!" I cried, and we all jumped up, heavy eyelids instantly opened in wonder.

We leapt outside in our bare feet, spiraling in circles with our arms outstretched and our eyes heavenward, trying to spot Jupiter and Venus converging into one visual spectacular.  Desperate to beat the expiration of a perhaps once-in-a lifetime sight, we ran down to the golf course, but trees shut us in on every side.

We charged back up to the main road and sprinted down the asphalt, past dark houses that scowled at our wakefulness at such an hour.  When I rounded the last bend in the road, coming to where it sprouted off from a busy street, the sky unrolled across the horizon above a treeless field, and there the great conjunction of the two planets shone in a star-of-Bethlehem-like brilliance.

The two planets danced so closely together that their brightness was mesmerizing to anyone who laid eyes on the sight.  And we were no exception.  The four of us made a rock our arm chair, and I sat in awe with my hands clasped around my legs.

There was no clock to fetter the flitting moments down.

There was no rhythm ticking an impending deadline besides the unison beating of our hearts.

So we watched in reverent silence, our backs masked by the darkness, but our faces lit by the light of the star.  With such a sight glittering in our eyes, we couldn't help but sing hymns of praise to the Morning Star, and there was something special about that worship by the roadside that I won't ever forget.

Time lapsed...cars streaked by...but the star, my friends, and I remained.

It struck me as we sat how odd we must have looked to the passersby.  But when a busy, harried soul drove by and saw four women with their eyes rapturously fixed on the sky, I wondered if he would follow our gaze and look up, even if just out of curiosity.

In that moment on that warm June evening a chill went down my back.  For through my wondering I found a rich nugget that I've carried with me these past six months.

Shouldn't my eyes perpetually be fixed with equally rapturous delight on Jesus the Morning Star?

And shouldn't I be so enthralled by and illuminated with His light that all who pass me can't help but follow my gaze and stare, not at me, but at Who I am looking to?

Yes and yes.

And if at the end of my days it is said that the best analogy for the thrust of my life was that beautiful, worshipful evening of looking up, I will be satisfied.  If it is said of my life that all who looked at me couldn't help but look to Jesus because of me, my mission will be complete. 

“We Choose to See Vol. 002,” © 2013 AMRenault, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/.

13.1 Miles in a Tutu

This story began, as most good stories do, with an idea.  It was over a year ago when Sarah started planting the seed of an idea that she and I should run a Disney half marathon together.  It was several more months before that seed sprouted, and we actually signed up to run the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in Disneyland.  The most I had ever run before was a 12k race, so the growing process quickly began!

The obstacles seemed enormous (You can read more about the beginning training process here.)  The first time I ran, let's just say I didn't feel so great.  Three months into my training, I experienced shooting pains in my knee that were so terrible I limped for weeks after a long run.  I was forced to take a several month break right when my training should have been ramping up, and prayed that I would even be able to run the Tinkerbell.

This story is an entire blog post in itself, but suffice it to say that God was mighty to save, and the week before the race I ran 14 miles feeling blessed to be able to run 14 miles rather than blessed to be done with them!  I wasn't experiencing any pain, and my knee was good as new!

May 7th, Sarah and I loaded our paraphernalia up--convincing ourselves that we were justified in over-packing because it was a road trip and we had all that car space, so why not fill it up?  We zipped through Oregon with the sun in our faces, a pit stop for daisy-chain-making, and the suspenseful words of Agatha Christie to fill the miles of I-5 roadside.  

When we finally made it to our first destination--Redding, CA--we were overjoyed to get to spend time with our friend Charae who was living there at the time.  We had so much fun going shopping at the mall, catching up, and talking with her grandparents! Of course, we also had to make time for the California-famous In-N-Out Burger!  Delish!

The next morning, Charae made us an amazing breakfast, and thus fortified, we set out for our next destination: Disneyland or bust!  It was with great apprehension that we headed Los Angeles-ward, and we stopped in Sacramento for an extended lunch in order to make sure we avoided LA rush hour.  After touring old town Sacramento, we got back on the road, and when the time came to enter Los Angeles, Sarah gripped the wheel, we said a prayer, and dove in!

Amazingly, we made it out alive with nary a horror story to share!  God blessed us with fairly smooth sailing. (Although there was that time that the lanes seemed to multiply from everywhere, and Sarah asked desperately: "How many lanes are there?!" Only 8 lanes going each direction...no biggie.)

We were two tired girls that night!

The next day, our mission was to pick up our race packets, which was easy as pie.  After that, we were doing some shopping in Downtown Disney when we came across a curious hubbub.  Across from a theater in Downtown Disney was spread a long blue carpet, with fences on either side and people already milling around.  When we asked a worker what all the fuss was about, she informed us that the world premier of the movie Tomorrowland was to be held there that evening and if we wanted to see famous people, we could wander back over at 4:30. 

Well, wander we did, and as you can see by the photographic evidence above, we saw George Clooney, and also Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, not to mention the scores of celebrities who elicited shrieks from the fans and blank shrugs from us.  (-;

That evening, early to bed was our goal, for the race started at 5:30 am!  We rolled out of bed, swallowed some water, and loaded up our race gear.  As soon as we walked outside our hotel into the cool, crisp, California morning, we were joined by hundreds of other women heading the same direction.  Everyone was decked out with various nods to the Tinkerbell theme: Sarah and I donned tutus, tiara headbands from Mama, and shirts that said, "I don't sweat, I sparkle!"

We waited in the dark dawn while fireworks exploded overhead and the National Anthem played.

We sprinted forward along with 16,000 other people when the starting gun went off.

We raced through the Sleeping Beauty Castle with huge grins and faces upturned to the rapturous morning sky.

We wove through Disneyland, dashing around the teacup ride, past the horse stables behind the scenes, and around Paradise Pier in California Adventureland.

Inspiring anthems in the background kept us paced, and the onlookers that packed the sidelines kept us inspired.

Past the block full of Red Hat ladies, into the city of Anaheim, with the sun now warm above us we ran.  And while each mile had its own challenges, each mile had its own delights: the Chinese coach who yelled at all of us to keep going, and the woman in the wheelchair who would not stop wheeling even though all her comrades had disappeared in the distance.

When I rounded the corner and saw the finish line, I sprinted for all I was worth, and the finishing was indeed worth every mile of training and every ounce of pain.  The official stats are that I came in at 2 hours, 10 minutes, 77th in my division.  It was the most amazing race I have ever participated in.

For the rest of the day, as you can imagine, we limped around like old grannies, but the camaraderie of the other thousands of women limping around was special in its own right! 

We started and ended the day with fireworks, and the evening fireworks over the Sleeping Beauty Castle were especially breathtaking.

But we still had two more days in the "Happiest Place on Earth" in which we...

...Collected adorable stuffed animals!  We started the trip with only Sarah's panda, and ended it Hello Kitty and the adorable menagerie of Tsum Tsums (the mini Disney characters) to fill any nooks left in the car!

...took pictures with Disney characters!

 ...rode the teacup ride at night, and both agreed it was the best way to ride it!

...rode California Screamin' twice, and screamed loudly, and Tower of Terror twice, and were delightfully terrified.

...took a lot of sunlit selfies.

...observed part of a proposal (at one of those portrait booths, the artist was painting the couple with the man down on one knee, ring in hand! At the reveal of the portrait, the guy would enact it, pulling out the ring and going down to one knee.). And we also got to watch a snippet of Tomorrowland.

...found Flynn Rider himself. (They just can't get his nose right, sadly.)

      

...and when we weren't busy with other things, we ate.  Clouds of Cotton Candy and the most gigantic turkey leg you have ever seen in your life gave us a very balanced diet!

The World of Color show was the fitting finale to both of our other two nights in Disneyland. The second time we saw it was our last night, and as the last fountain fell back into the water, and the last light turned out, we said good-bye to Disneyland and walked back to our hotel full of happy memories.

The next day, we drove by the Hollywood sign and up to Santa Barbara where we ate a picnic lunch and enjoyed the feeling of being beach bums for one blissful hour!

Then we made it up to Sarah's Grandma Nancy and Papa Jack's house, where we were welcomed even late at night by her energetic and young-at-heart Grandma.  She is definitely a kindred spirit!

The next day brought new wonderful adventures: It was Sarah's birthday, and since her grandparents were busy in the morning, we headed over the Golden Gate bridge and into San Francisco for a few hours.

There we discovered piano stairs.  Piano Stairs, people!  And they played notes as you stepped up them!  Of course, we were nerds and walked up in thirds, 'cause that's just what you do!

I scouted out a Victorian tea room that I had seen the last time I was in San Francisco, and was thrilled to find it was still in business!  Of course we had to visit the "Crown and Crumpet", and reveled in the pink girliness of it all!  (Notice also our matching Minnie shirts from Disneyland!)

Sarah with her Grandma Nancy at her birthday dinner!

Papa Jack, Sarah, and Grandma Nancy, with the beautiful bay behind them.

The following morning brought the bittersweet moment of the trip: the final day, and the hours seemed to be slipping through our fingers too quickly.  We packed up our suitcases, lovingly stowed our souvenirs, and wistfully said goodby to Grandma Nancy and Papa Jack.  Thank you for letting us stay with you!  

We attacked the 10 hour drive that loomed over us.  The route was familiar now, but the tale of To Kill a Mockingbird now occupied the hours, alternated with Korean soundtracks and balanced with good conversation.

Our "fast food" dinner!

As we crossed the border into Oregon we felt instantly back in the Northwest when we drove into a cloud and rain (that we hadn't seen in 10 days) descended on our homecoming.  As home drew closer, we itched to hug our families and regale them with all of our adventures.  But when the moment finally came to say good-bye, it was hard to believe the road trip to remember was now over.  I fell asleep that night to the memories of the road bumping under the tires, the sun warming my face, and the smile of an amazing friend, knowing I made memories for a lifetime.