Willow Bird Baking - Page 45 of 127 - lessons in life & kitchen confidence

Raspberry Sorbet Mimosa Float

Thanks, Le Grand Courtâge, for sponsoring the development of this Raspberry Sorbet Mimosa Float recipe!

I had a crappy morning. There weren’t any major disasters, but there was a lot of minor crappiness. I had to wake up early to take Byrd to the groomer before work. Mike didn’t get a chance to take her out before we had to leave, which meant she would have to potty in the dewy grass on our way out and would probably get water, mud, and puppy pee all over my cute skirt in the car.

When we got to the groomer, no one was there. Turns out the groomer was stuck in traffic. I paced for 10 minutes with a very nervous Byrd, worrying that I’d be late for work. The groomer had clearly had a similarly harried morning, so I wasn’t angry with her; we were in the same boat. I finally left Byrd around 7:40 and raced toward work, hoping I still had time to get a coffee on the way.

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September 11, 2014 by Julie Ruble | 5 Comments

other

Cheesecake-Stuffed Pumpkin Bread

Cheesecake-Stuffed Pumpkin Bread

I spent one summer in college working as a research tech in my developmental neuroscience lab with students from all over the country. One of the new friends I made was Crystal. Through our chatting while wrangling frogs and culturing neurons, we quickly discovered that we were both Christians. One day while we were elbow-deep cleaning out tadpole tanks, our conversation turned toward salvation and the idea that some people would not be saved. Crystal surprised me by being ambivalent. I’d never seen someone so devout equivocate on the matter. I for one had no trouble with it: I figured everyone would be, somehow, given a fair chance, and they’d either choose to follow Christ or it would be justifiable that they weren’t saved.

As we continued discussing, I could see that her heart and her love for her friends of different faiths was the source of her questioning. I took a moment to stop thinking about the particulars of the argument (in other words, this isn’t a post about the particulars of that argument) and to look inward: Why did it bother her so much more than it bothered me that some people wouldn’t be saved? Why was it such an easy answer for me? Shouldn’t I be more torn up about that?

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September 9, 2014 by Julie Ruble | 19 Comments

cakes

Drenched Lemon Cream Cake

Drenched Lemon Cream Cake

Y’all, let’s get real. There’s nothing wrong with taking nude photos. Nothing.

I’m a middle school teacher, so let me qualify that: there may be moral and practical implications with sending those photos to people, posting them online, or Snapchatting them to someone (good grief, DON’T DO IT). In any of those scenarios, you’re voluntarily giving the photos to someone else you may or may not be able to trust. In the case of Snapchat, you guys know nothing is ever really deleted for good on the internet, right? So trust me, some of those things are not wise.

But acting like Jennifer Lawrence and other violated celebrities somehow “should’ve known better” than to take nude photos in the first place is so odd to me. Why? What’s wrong with that?

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September 2, 2014 by Julie Ruble | 54 Comments

other

Smoked Whitefish Salad Vols-au-Vent (and 8 great party ideas)

Thanks, Foodie, for sponsoring this post.

When I was in college, I stepped into exactly one frat party for exactly 20 seconds. That’s how long it took me to see that barely any lights were on, everyone was sloppy-drinking, and the music was lame. I decided I wasn’t a party girl, made a u-turn out the door, and headed back to my room to read and eat Easy Mac.

It took me at least another decade before I realized that I do enjoy parties — just not frat parties. For some reason I was slow to find out about all the other kinds of nerdy, artsy, silly, and delicious parties you could have. To save you from this same grave error, here are 8 parties I highly recommend you throw:

Smoked Whitefish Salad Vols-au-Vent

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September 1, 2014 by Julie Ruble | 4 Comments

cakes

No-Bake Coconut Icebox Cake

No-Bake Coconut Icebox Cake

Since I started my teaching career at a low-income, inner city school, I’ve been on a journey to understand my own privilege. I’m a white, middle-class Christian in a place and time when that identity confers benefits on me that I didn’t need to work for. It’s not my fault, per se, but then again this isn’t about blame: it’s about educating myself, making the inequities transparent, and being purposeful about correcting them. It’s not my fault the system is flawed, but if I ignore it and continue to profit from it, I’m complicit. That doesn’t sit well with me.

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August 24, 2014 by Julie Ruble | 67 Comments