Reading and baking

Hi there!

Hello from me, Lola, and a confused-looking Jimmy :)

Hello from me, Lola, and a confused-looking Jimmy.

I feel like it’s been tough for me to blog lately because I’ve been busy with a million different things. That’s pretty typical for me, though 😉

Jimmy always laughs at me and says he doesn’t understand how I get involved in so many different things at once. My mom tells me it’s because I don’t know how to say no to people. I think it’s just because I want to do everything. All the time.

Buuuut I get burnt out. Like right now… I’m fighting a cold. I think it’s just from a busy week, staying up late, and running around. My friend’s wedding is this weekend (hence the baking–yay!), and we’ve been at church every night this week (another fall revival!), which has made for some late nights since we live about 45 minutes from our church.

Anyways, back to what I want to blog about today! Reading and baking. Two of my most favorite things. Here’s what I’ve been reading and baking lately…

Baking

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Challot, also known as Challah knots. Crossing that off the baking bucket list!

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Pumpkins! A guy from our church gave me these (I forget what variety he said the greenish ones are… does anyone know?!) and I baked two of the orange pumpkins for an hour and made pumpkin soup and pumpkin seeds. I don’t have any pictures, buuut it was good :).

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Apple cake with maple frosting for a church fellowship. This picture pretty much makes it look like it’s all frosting, haha.

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Pepperoni rolls. Apparently, these aren’t too common in states other than PA, OH, and WV?! Has anyone heard of these before? They’re one of Jimmy’s favorite foods, so I baked a batch and we packed them in his lunches this week.

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Chocolate crinkle cookies for my friend’s wedding on Saturday. Can’t wait! I still need to bake more cookies… which I should be doing now instead of blogging, haha.

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Challah. Jimmy and I had my father-in-law over for dinner on Wednesday night (We ate outside! Yay for warm-ish fall weather!), and I served chili, green beans, and challah. And we tested some of the chocolate crinkles, you know, just to make sure they’re good for the wedding 😉

Reading

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Jimmy and I are still reading The Love Dare together and enjoying it. I finished American Wife and really liked it! Curtis Sittenfeld is amazing at character development.

I’m currently reading Diary of a Midwife.

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I love reading about midwifery! I’m almost halfway through this book, and it’s great. I also read Baby Catcher back in April, and I highly recommend it if you’re into reading about alternative birthing practices. Sometimes I think if I would have known what midwifery was before I graduated high school, I might have wanted to become a certified nurse-midwife. It’s just super interesting to me and I think it’s awesome.

Here are the books I currently have checked out from the library.

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I’ve heard great things about Anne Lamott’s writing, and I’m excited to read I’ll Scream Later (by Marlee Matlin) because I love learning about Deaf Culture. I also threw in a photography book, which looks like it’s going to be a fun read.

Okay. I need to do homework and bake cookies. Bye!

Have you baked any delicious recipes lately? 
Are you reading any good books?

43 comments

    1. Thanks, Kim!! Oh yeah, I know you loooove baking!! You’re amazing at it, too! I hope you get to finish a book some time soon :). If you do and like it, let me know and I’ll read whatever it is if you recommend it!

      Reply

  5. I REALLY need to bake some Challah bread!!! It’s one of my favorites, but I don’t know that I’ve ever made it from scratch. (The small, roll versions look absolutely AMAZING)! 🙂 And I’ve never heard of pepperoni rolls, but I don’t doubt that my husband would LOVE them! Ha, ha.

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    1. You’ve got to give it a try! I have a link to a great step-by-step recipe that is fairly simple, if you want it! The small rolls are very easy, too!

      Oh yeah, I bet Nate would love pepperoni rolls! If he likes pizza, he will adore them, haha!

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      1. I would LOVE the link for Challah bread!!!! I ate lunch at a friend’s house today, and she had made some… and it was SO good!!!!! 🙂 I definitely need to learn how to make it!

  6. Wow, you do sound busy! Good luck with all the cookie baking. 🙂 And pumpkin soup is amazing. I think I might have to make some soon! Another fall/winter soup that I really like is butternut squash and sweet potato.

    I’m currently reading How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens by Benedict Carey. It’s an interesting book about…well…learning, as you might have guessed! He talks about the brain and how it retains information, as well as different ways to study.

    I’ve heard of Anne Lamott and her name sounds familiar to me but I haven’t read any of her books.

    By the way, if you’re interested in midwifery, you would probably enjoy the TV series, Call the Midwife. It’s about a group of young midwives who work alongside nuns (the nuns are the nurses) in London during the 1950s.

    Reply

    1. Yea, I’m definitely a bit too busy for my liking, haha. Hopefully things settle down soon. The cookie baking went well, and my friend’s wedding was a blast! I love butternut squash soup, too! I have always made it with a “regular” potato, so I’ll have to try it with a sweet potato next time.

      I bet you are loving the book you’re reading right now because you are so into learning about how we learn and language and everything related to that! Isn’t it just the best when you find a book you love?!

      I have heard about Call the Midwife, but I haven’t seen it! I need to check it out ASAP! Poor Jimmy is going to be finagled into watching it now, LOL.

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  7. My world has been busy lately too, but I love it. There is always time for little things like baking, reading, or blogging though. MUST keep sane with some kind of pleasurable activity. I haven’t baked for a while though….must change this!

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    1. Being busy is definitely better than being bored! I just dislike being too busy because it makes my introverted self exhausted! I agree… keeping sane with the fun stuff is so, so important!! I hope you get a chance to bake soon! It’s the perfect season for it 🙂

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  8. Bird by Bird and Operating Instructions are two of my favourite books! You would probably like her books on faith, too. She’s a wonderful writer.

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    1. That’s so awesome to hear! I started Operating Instructions yesterday and I’m about halfway through it already.. I can clean the bathroom another day 😉 haha. She is a wonderful, engaging writer!

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  9. That challah looks delicious :). I also love to read, I was reading Chi Marathon before I left Chas for the weekend and I have the Duggar’s book on hold (seriously, I do!). I mostly like YA books, but the midwifery book sounds pretty fascinating too. I do hope you get some rest though and don’t get sick with the cold.

    We have pepperoni rolls here. There’s a food truck called Pep Rolls and they were at a Yelp event I attended. Of course I don’t eat pork so no Pepperoni for me, but it seemed like a big hit and was my first time learning what they were.

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Amy!! I have seen Chi Marathon in book stores, but I’ve never read it! How do you like it? I hope you enjoy ther Duggar’s book :). Midwifery is so interesting!! I’m feeling a bit better since I got a cold, thank goodness!

      How sweet that you have a pepperoni roll food truck by you! I’m sure the people of Western PA would be all over that!

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  10. Has Jimmy finished Game of Thrones yet?! Right now I’m reading John Grisham’s newest novel called Sycamore Row. It’s pretty good. The baking I’ve done has been in the form of chickpeas…putting them into everything…seriously =P

    Reply

    1. He’s almost done!! He’s like 15/16ths of the way done, haha. If he has your same reading tastes, I’ll recommend the John Grisham book to him!!

      Chickpeas are the best! They’re so versatile withing cooking and baking. Love it!

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  12. It;s obvious how much you are truly enjoying life right now and don’t lose that. Blogging will always be here. 🙂 Your food always looks delicious. You can bake my wedding cake if you would like. 😉

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  13. the Challah knots looks ah-may-zing, and the chocolate crinkle cookies, and the pepperoni rolls – you’ve been eating well! and midwifery is interesting to me too- have you heard of the pbs show the midwife?

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    1. Yep, definitely been eating well haha!! I just love baking so much! Our freezer and bellies are full all the time.

      I had kind of heard of Call the Midwife, but I haven’t watched it yet! Do you recommend it?!

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  14. You are such a talented baker! Everything looks so professional!

    And I love how you use the public library, haha. I know too many people that go straight to the bookstore/Amazon if they want to read a book 😛

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    1. Thank you, P! I just love it so much, haha!!

      The public library is my jam!! I just don’t have the money to be buying books at book stores and Amazon unless I have a gift card, really love it, or it’s a textbook!

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  15. I think you could definitely have a career in baking! Everything looks so mouth watering! You are definitely keeping Jimmy well fed it seems! Lucky guy 🙂 I’ll have to check out those books on child birth, perfect timing 🙂 And there’s always still time if you wanted to become one in the future! Lots of hospitals are becoming more accepting of mid-wives coming in with women to give birth in a hospital too (which I think is the best of both worlds). So many great options out there! Have a great week girlie!

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    1. Aww, shucks! Thank you, Patty. I loooove baking. Like too much, haha. It just makes me happy! Jimmy and I definitely have bellies full of bread/cookies/etc like 24/7. It’s not so bad 😉

      I definitely recommend those books as well as Bringing Up Bebe. I loved that book! You’ll have to let me know how you like them if you get a chance to check ’em out. It’s so good to hear that hospitals are more accepting of midwives. I think if I have kiddos in the future, I would definitely want to work with one!

      Hope you have an awesome week, too 🙂

      Reply

  16. Those Challah knots look absolutely delicious! Want to send one my way? 😉

    Christopher and I read/did the Love Dare a couple of years in a row and it was great! But when we did it, we noticed a lot of the challenges were things we already did for each other. Which is great, but it also meant that we weren’t really being challenged on those days. So we’re working on designing our very own Love Dare personalized to us. 🙂 I hope you guys are as blessed by The Love Dare as we were! 🙂 It’s so good just to be intentional. 🙂

    Reply

  19. It is NEVER EVER EVER to late follow a passion….
    Just had to put this here. If you keep thinking about Midwifery or Nursing.. stop saying “I would have” and maybe just leave it at “maybe this is something I will…” You know?

    I am changing careers now (and I am OLD) 36. Where there is a will, there is a way.

    Also SHEESH my heart leapt a lil when \i saw that book because I thought you were pregg ).

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  20. Reading and baking… my favorite things too! I’m reading Wuthering Heights right now and it’s definitely not my usual style, but I like it! You are so talented at baking. I’ve heard of pepperoni rolls! I guess they’re common in MI too 🙂

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    1. They both so relaxing! Love them! I have never read Wuthering Heights! I’ll have to check it out. And thank you! I’m glad to hear pepperoni rolls are common in MI!

      Reply

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