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We’re back with another Out of the Kitchen post – Here’s what we’ve been up to for the month of September!
Pumpkin baking season has officially started in my kitchen. I’m super excited about the recipes I have lined up for October – including chocolate pumpkin swirled cupcakes and a melted witch cake! We already stocked up on pumpkin and now we’re just going through the cans!
I ordered some more cookie cutters from my favorite website, affordablecookiecutters.com! For about 99 cents each, I got a whole bunch of halloween and christmas ones, which I’ll be adding to the 30 others I have :) The second photo, sneaky Ryan showing his modeling moves, haha I love when he pops in!
More and more pumpkin. Behind the scenes from 2 different recipes. The pumpkin dump cake (photo on the right) was revived from 2013 with new photos, you can see that recipe here. The other cupcake recipe will be coming next week!
I had new head shots taken! They turned out really great and are much better than the previous head shot I was using, which I took by myself in my kitchen. I brought some cupcakes to the shoot and it was really fun to incorporate them! You probably can’t tell, but it was like 100 degrees with crazy humidity, so hot!
We made a quick weekend trip back to Minnesota for a friend’s wedding. We were able to spend time with both of our families which was great!
Here I’m prepping pumpkin cupcakes so they were ready to shoot the next day. After I put the cupcakes in the oven, I ran to the grocery store and left Ryan is charge of deciding when they were done. I was a little worried I’d come back home and they’d still be in the oven.. burning, but they weren’t! The second photo – another behind the scenes from a shoot!
This is my set up usually when I’m doing ariel shots. I stand on top of a kitchen chair, that doesn’t have any support in the middle, so I have to stand on the outside! But you can see a pair of eyeballs peering at you, that recipe will be coming next week! The second photo – I busted out the sewing machine to shorten a few scarves. Thanks mom for teaching me how to sew so many years ago!
Now for the not so pretty part of the month..
I’ve been experiencing some ugly anxiety. The kind that wakes you up in the middle of the night, that makes you feel physically sick, and tries to steal your joy.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. – James 1:2-3
My joy is rooted in Jesus and no matter how strong my anxiety is, I have hope in Him. That doesn’t mean I’m fighting this like the perfect christian. My flesh wants it to go away but my soul knows I need to pray for strength and endurance, to fight for Jesus.
The growing prayer in my heart is that I wouldn’t rely solely on medicine or counseling to change me, but that the holy spirit would be the source of change in this area of my life.
So why am I sharing the depths of my soul? Because I don’t have it all together and it probably seems like I do.
It’s kind of difficult to say, “today was really hard, but here’s a recipe for chocolate caramel corn cupcakes that are so yummy and delicious.”
But I want to be more transparent, so that when others look through me and see my successes, failures, and how I live my life, they see Jesus.
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See our previous out of the kitchen posts.
I’m so excited for all the fun stuff you’ve prepped for October! That witch cake looks amazing!
I totally hear you though, it’s hard to make and write about cute and pretty things when that’s not how you’re feeling inside. I have faith that God will get you through this and you’ll be stronger through your trials, but I wish you all the best and lots of hugs as you face them.
Rebecca, thank you friend!
I love this post! It’s fun to see the person and life behind the camera and scenes. Thanks for being real :)
Thanks for reading Mandy!
You are super woman! I have no clue how you manage to do all this stuff! You are definitely my inspiration :) When I was making my daughter’s birthday cake all I thought about was “what would Beth do?” Haha! She would totally feel at home in your kitchen with all your creative ideas.Â
Hahaa! But you made a wonderful birthday cake for her, it’s perfectly spooky!!
Everything looks so delicious! I cannot wait to see it all go live :) I’m sorry to hear your have been experiencing anxiety. I struggle daily and understand!
Thank you friend!
Love love these posts! And who pumpkin month!! I had to get a step ladder from lowe’s so I didn’t fall while pregnant on those kitchen chairs. Try one!!
Yes! I need one on my christmas list!!
I have to stand on an unwieldy step stool to get my overhead shots—I’ve only fallen once, but it wasn’t pretty! Â It looks like you’ll have some incredible pumpkin posts coming up :)
Sorry that you’re dealing with anxiety—please know you’re not alone. Take good care of yourself. xo
Thank you Liz for your encouragement!
next time you are in minnesota we should meet up! i love these out of the kitchen posts…. because, yes, we do have a life other than the food even though it seems like that much of the time. i’m sorry to hear about the anxiety. i struggle with that somedays too… sending relaxation vibes!
Thank you Amanda!
I know it can be so difficult to open up on a blog, especially a food blog. How do you talk about the tough stuff in a recipe for cupcakes? I’m glad you were willing to share though. It can be so freeing to know you’re not alone. Jesus is faithful and the ultimate provider, and I know He’ll provide for you, both with His spirit and through friends, encouraging words, counseling, and medicine if that’s the route you decide to go.Â
It is freeing to know you’re not alone! Thank you Courtney!
This sentence…
It’s kind of difficult to say, “today was really hard, but here’s a recipe for chocolate caramel corn cupcakes that are so yummy and delicious.”
sounds a LOT like my life! Â
Thanks for sharing a little peek behind the scenes, and a little reality check too. Â Thanks for reminding me that the Holy Spirit is the ultimate resource! Â
I’m glad I’m not alone! Turn to Him for strength!
Beth, I just adore you. Â Not only do I enjoy these monthly posts but the last half of your post rings so true to my heart as well. Â Like the mom who told me at school the other day that I was so patient and I had to bite my tongue to not laugh in her face. Â We definitely don’t always know what’s going on with someone in all aspects of their life.
BTW – Do you read She Reads Truth? Â I just bought their study for Christmas. Â If you’re interested, we could do it virtually together! :)
Yes! People see Jesus through us even when we don’t feel like we’re being like Jesus!