Blueberry Morning Cake

Last weekend I made this cake for the women’s retreat.  Several people asked about the recipe so I am including it here.

This is a great cake to make especially as blueberries come into season, but frozen blueberries also work quite well.  It is pretty easy to make and works equally for a brunch or lunch dish as well as for dessert.  To make this for a 9x12 inch pan, I use 1 ½ times the ingredients.  You could also bake this in a loaf pan or in a round cake pan and cut wedges.  It is a very versatile recipe.  I hope you all enjoy it.

Blueberry Morning Cake

Cake: 

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup white sugar
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups blueberries

Topping:

• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup white sugar
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup margarine

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, oil, and egg.  Mix well.  Stir in the blueberries.  Pour into prepared pan.

For the topping combine ⅓ cup flour, ½ cup sugar, and ¾ teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl.  Cut in the margarine until crumbly.  Sprinkle over cake.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool.  Enjoy.

This cake slices nicely if allowed to cool thoroughly first.

Grains of Life - Joy

I am going to tackle another topic on this blog that relates to grains.  This one is called the Grains of Life.  In the future you will be able to spot all of the Grains of Life posts under the Grains of Life label.  Please check back.  I look forward to your feedback as we sift through together.

Since I began planning this blog last Fall, I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about grains of various kinds:  food grains, the grain of fabric, the grain of wood, etc.  The word grain has a lot of definitions.  One of the definitions for grain is "an essential quality or characteristic."  I am going to use this definition in looking at the Grains of Life as they relate to the Christian life.

For several months I spent time preparing for a women's retreat on the topic of joy that was held last weekend.  Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit that Paul talks about in the book of Galatians.  As Christians our lives should reflect the fruit of the spirit.  In Christ we have every reason to be joyful.  By this I don't mean a false sense of joy where we just fake it to the rest of the world and everything appears peachy.  I mean genuine joy in life and in living it regardless of our immediate circumstances from day to day.

It's the kind of joy that we can live out even when we are experiencing difficulties.  It's what we have in Christ despite the difficulties of life whatever they may be.  There's joy in knowing that we do not walk this road alone.  Jesus is there every step with us, and he's given us people around us to share in the journey.

Anyone can experience joy when things are going along well or they're going just the way we want.  Having joy when things are not going well is another story.  Having joy when you didn't get your way or when you've lost a loved one or when you didn't get the promotion you wanted or when you don't happen to feel particularly happy for whatever reason...now that's saying something.  Christ in us gives us this joy.  Just knowing that nothing is going on in your life that your Creator doesn't know about is comforting.  He truly doesn't allow anything that he does not and can not and will not equip us to be able to handle in one way or another.

This kind of joy gives us confidence, not in ourselves but in our Savior and His plans.  Jeremiah gets it when he writes, "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him" (Jeremiah 17:7).  Our confidence comes from our trust in our God and His plans, not from ourselves or our ability outside of our Lord.

Joy is one of the one of the essential qualities or characteristics or grains, if you will, of the Christian life.  A joy-filled life is a testimony to our Lord's sustaining power no matter the circumstances.