Pineapple Flower Cupcakes

I have a confession to make.

After refusing to have yet another social media account (facebook, google+, myyearbook, myspace) I heard of pinterest.

I didn’t really know what is was or how to use it. But I did know that for some odd reason not known to man, I just had to sign up.

And boy, I do not regret it.

If you don’t have any idea what pinterest is, it has pictures of weddings, styles, food, art, cars, car parts, hair styles, etc. Anything that you would normally look for on google images. But the difference between google and this…you can “pin” the pictures to your wall and get inspiration for decoration your house, getting a new wardrobe, or just admiring the very attractive male models and actors. You can see what your friend likes and get ideas for a birthday gift…without really asking. “Connect with others by using your interests”.

Now that we have that squared away…I found this great recipe using pinterest and I just had to share it (and the pictures I used in yesterday’s post…they came from pinterest).

Pineapple Cupcakes

1. First you have to make your cupcakes and frost them. Make chocolate, vanilla, yellow, green, whatever. Frost them with white frosting and set aside for later.

2. (Now for the good part) Take your pineapple, cut the top and the bottom off, and proceed to cut the rind off. If you have no idea how to cut one, I have no idea how to explain it. Maybe you could find out using pinterest (just kidding).

3. Now, if there is any leftover rind pieces on the pineapple, be sure to cut them off (or dig them out). Eating them ruins your pineapple eating experience.

4. Then, using a knife or a handy slicer tool, cut the fruit into very thin, almost see-through, slices. Lay them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 225 degrees for 30 minutes. After 30 min. is over, flip the slices onto the other side and bake another 30 minutes. The idea here is to dry them out.

5. When they are all shruken and dried out, take the slices and place them in cupcake tor muffin tin. The slices need to curve when placed in the tin, to look like a flower. Let them sit overnight in the pan (or just the whole day).

6. Take them out, slowly with little force, you do not want to break them. Take your cupcakes you made earlier and place them on top of the cupcakes. Serve. Enjoy.

*Instead of placing them on cupcakes, you can put them all on one cake..or top them on your ice cream.

So what do you guys think about the flowers? How about pinterest? Leave your interesting (or boring) comments.

 

Burnt Out Brain Cells

Okay.

Bad news.

Today I have writer’s block.

I cannot think of anything interesting to talk about.

The creativity in me as taken a day off.

Bummer.

So instead of boring you or burning out some of my brain cells…I took an excerpt from www.dare2share.org, which is a ministry website that has devotions and other information for young adults and teens.

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9 Out of 10 People Say What?

Did you check out the AOL survey last week? If not, you missed a pretty interesting set of statistics:

What is the key to getting into heaven?

• Living a good life. 65.5%
• Having connections to someone at the top. 26.7%
• Helping old ladies cross the street. 2.7%
• Slipping St. Peter $20.00. 1.9%
• Having a strong letter of reference. 0.5%
• Making a deal with the devil. 1.2%
• Telling a really good lie. 0.5%

Total votes 121,836

Are you going to heaven?

• Yes. 89.8%
• No. 10.2%

Total votes 143,309

(Source: http://www.aol.com)

Most of the answers didn’t surprise me, but did you notice how many more people responded to the second question (are you going to heaven?) as opposed to the first? 21,473 more folks opted to answer that simple question as opposed to taking time to think about the first one.

Apparently, nearly 9 out of 10 people believe they are going to heaven, but many of them don’t know and/or don’t care why.

I believe Satan’s goal is to take as many people as possible into hell with him. To do so, he doesn’t need to get anyone to convert to Satanism; he only needs to slightly distort the truth. This survey is a case in point: in one fell swoop he has 90% of Americans feeling good about themselves while at the same time are destined for eternal separation from God.

If these figures aren’t a wake-up call to our responsibility to share the good news of Jesus, I don’t know what would be. The devil has this country convinced that the ‘do good gospel’ gets them into heaven, and we are the only ones who can help them remove the blinders and see the Light of the world.

My suggestion would be to do a little survey in your corner of the world. Perhaps use this one, or make up new questions. The point is: get people talking about their perspective on heaven/hell. My guess is that most people you talk to will end up responding similar to the survey: i.e. good works get me into heaven. Here are a few verses you can use as discussion points:

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)

There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them. (Acts 4:12)

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

Evidently, God’s survey would come out very different: one out of every one goes to hell without Christ!

Questions:

1. Why do so many people believe they are going to heaven?
2. How do these verses help you in your Christian life?
3. Would you be willing to do a survey in your school/neighborhood? Why or why not

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Okay. So what did you think?

Based on your opinion, I am thinking about doing an excerpt from other books, websites, and people converse with once a week.

Comment, take the poll, or email me your thoughts.

 

Free Smiles

My senior year is almost over.

Six more months…give or take.

I am overwhelmed with a sense of joy and nervousness.

Over the years I did learn some things. Things that I would love to share with you. I could wait until May or June when I graduate to tell you these things but I’m feeling a little sentimental and passionate today.

So sit back and indulge in what I think you need to be a great student or person.

1. Be academically successful. I learned the hard way that you get nowhere with bad or average grades. You become just another average student, in an average school, with average grades. I don’t like being average. I like being challenged. And I do admit I like the fact that I can rub my good grades in my brothers face while he hides his failing report card.

2. Being punctual is key. Running late for school or work is never a good idea. Sure, sometimes you run behind but some adults never learned this when they were younger. They don’t realize the inconvenience for others. Practicing this will help you with #1.

3. Read. Now I understand that some hate reading. You don’t understand it. You can’t put yourself in the story. It’s boring. But reading will give you knowledge that can help with future events…or make a good conversation.

4. Lend a hand or volunteer. It looks good on your resume and you can meet a lot of interesting people. You become more humble and your view of the world won’t be one-sided anymore.

5. Smile! Anyone who has ever met me can tell you that I smile. When I smile, I feel good and whoever I am looking at usually starts smiling too. If you are a pessimist and you think you have no reason to smile, do it anyway. A fake smile is better than no smile at all.

6. Persistance. Have you ever failed at something and just gave up because you thought you wouldn’t be able to do it right? When you are persistent, you keep at it. Attempt at what you keep failing. If you back off, you are only hurting yourself. Even if you are never able to do something, you can say “I tried my best” and actually mean it.

7. Optimistic. Thinking positive will help keep a smile on your face and help you be persistent. You can’t be a downer all your life. You bring yourself and others down with you. You can make a lot of negatives into positives.

8. Don’t compare. “Oh he is such a better football player than me” or “I wish I were smart like her” are two common thoughts that everybody thinks. Even the most optimistic person in the world has thought of something like this once. The key here is to find what you are good at and believe that is good enough. Comparing leads to jealousy. Remember to be yourself.

9. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Similar to #6, making a mistake yourself leads to a better learning experience. I know it’s a little cliché but it’s true…and that brings me to the next tip.

10. Forget about what others think. One reason you might be afraid of making mistakes it because of worry. Afraid that people will reject you and laugh at you. Their opinions do not count. If they say that you’re a geek…take a look around. Chances are they are failing at something and inside they are just jealous that you are smarter. And people will more likely admire you because you go your own way and have a “I don’t care what you think” attitude.

11. Find a passion that you enjoy. Whether it be knitting or playing soccer. Having a passion will drive you to do something productive. And when you have a passion, you can teach someone that passion or even make a career out of it.

12. Don’t gossip. I know its hard. I do it sometimes without even realizing I’m doing it. But it leads to others getting hurt and even you. Gossiping leads to rumors and we all know how the rumor mill works.

13. Take criticism gently. Many cannot do this. I live off it. If you criticize my work, I strive to make it better, to not make the same mistake. Sure, some criticism is bad and you should ignore it. But you need to learn how to separate the good from the bad. It’ll help you strive to any goal.

14. Challenge yourself. This one is pretty much the base of it all. You challenge yourself and you could potentially achieve some of the things on this list.

 

Alrighty. Enough with the long list of things to help you succeed. You get my point. And if this information was old news, it might not be to others so share it with others if you want.

Do you have something to add to the list? Or something that should be taken off?