The past few weeks have been cray-zay. cray cray, zay zay. NONSENSE. What I could handle (kind-of sort-of) was the extended work hours (training a whole bunch of newbies!), plus mentoring at the DNA discipleship class (why I made this treasure book). What threw me off the edge was when my tire blew out. On the H-1 Freeway. During morning rush-hour traffic. When I’m supposed to open up the shop.
Car trouble is never fun, and it only means a lot of financial punches. Sigh.
Yep… there it is, ugliness and all. And that light is not the burst of morning glory. That is the burst of angry, horn-honking, oncoming traffic.
Anyway, as much as possible, I tried to position my heart in a place of faith and trust and peace. Sometimes verbal repetition helps your heart believe something your mind does not. So more than re-telling this unfortunate situation to others, I tried to talk about the moments when God HAS provided miraculously for me.
Case in point: Just THREE days prior, I prayed about my car registration which is due this month. God, I have no money! Yes, that was my vent to the Omnipotent One. He told me to count my tips which I have been saving for no designated reason. I found that I had EXACTLY how much I needed – with FIVE CENTS left over! This is the faithfulness of God! So there is no doubt in my spirit that, if God proved He would take care of my car right before it broke down, then He will take care of this too.
I’m still in a place of trust, and I still fight for His peace to guard my mind. It’s definitely a wrestling in my mind. In fact, when my body is stressed, it responds by giving me allergy symptoms, and I must take benadryl for it. I am, in fact, allergic to stress. So I asked my boss if I could have the next few days off – to regroup, to calm down, to get my car fixed. I’m glad I have this time. I didn’t realize how much sleep I needed.
In the meanwhile, I decided to bake! When’s the last time I baked for fun, anyway? So I decided to make vanilla bean browned butter blondies. You totally read right. What? Browned butter? You just won me. Anything with browned butter just steals my affections. In fact I not only use browned butter, I used brown sugar and a brown egg! Is it because I’m brown? *snicker*… no, silly…. ;P
Here, I will post the BASIC recipe – because I just wanted some plain ol’ sweetness. In fact, I’m much more fond of the raw batter! Nonetheless, from here you can customize to your heart’s content: Chocolate chips on top? Done. Prefer Butterscotch or White Choco chips? Done. Extra maldon sea salt sprinkled on top? Done! Swirl some caramel and make it a turtle? Double done. I’m planning to make this at work and add some chai spice, toasted coconut, and toasted mac nuts.
I’m going all cray-cray.
(plain)
(CHOCOLATE CHIP VERSION!!)
VANILLA BEAN BROWNED BUTTER BLONDIES
6 Tbsp Butter
1 1/2 C Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste (or Beans from 1 Vanilla pod, or 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract)
1 C + 2 Tbsp Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1. To brown butter: place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly (it will begin to foam). Once browned bits start forming on the bottom of the pan, remove it off the heat. There is but a moment between BROWNED butter and BURNT butter! We like browned.
2. Mix together the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add the eggs and mix thoroughly.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.
4. Gradually add the dry mixture to the butter batter. (Ha! butter batter…)
5. Spread evenly onto a greased 8×8 pan. (Now is the time to add chocolate chips and other toppings)
6. Bake in a 350∘ oven for 25-30 minutes.
ENJOY. With ice cream.
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