It's Still All About Jesus

 See that height difference there? That's a whopping 12 inch difference.

I'd like to blame the 12 (okay, 11) inches in height, the double my stride length, and the male vs. female running for my slow poke pace, the cause of a slower time, and the reason for being the weakest link.

But it's really just because I overestimated myself and underestimated my brother.

Hey, just because I'm a Personal Trainer and know how, why, what, where, and how much to train doesn't mean I'll actually do it. Okay??

This all started because last year one of my brothers signed up to run with me and then bailed, causing my other brother to run with me.

Yes, it was illegal. Yes, they both should have been disqualified for running. Yes, we did it anyway. Yes, I was 6 months pregnant.

PSA #1: Don't run a half marathon when you're 6 months pregnant.
PSA #2: Don't run a half marathon when you haven't trained.

But if you do either of those, it's best to do it with your brothers. Who always have and who always will stick by your side, pick you up, push you, and love you - all while giving you a hard time about it.

See how we're all in step, too??

So this year, we made a weekend out of it, celebrated the Reformation, and filled our post-race bellies with carbs and beer like any good German Lutheran would.

On the Menu:

• Crockpot Beer Brats
• I will be make these again, even when it's not Reformation. They were easy and delicious! I cooked them with a bottle of Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest beer. And don't even think about skimping on the onions and garlic cloves.
• Saurkraut
• Haha. Just kidding. Definitely bought canned.
• Pretzels and Beer Cheese Dip
• I fully intended to make my own pretzels. Then, I thought better and bought soft pretzels from Hy-Vee's bakery and pretzel thins.
• Bonus! This dip can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge until ready to bake.
• Roasted Veggies
• My pan was too small, so I ended up using mushrooms, zucchini from my SIL's overflowing zucchini garden, yellow squash, and red onion. I also didn't really have the recipe's seasonings, so I just poured on olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and parsley flakes. 
• Potato Pancakes
• I bought a frozen bag of hashbrowns instead of shredding my own potatoes.
• Apple Kuchen
• I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and only 2 apples. And by "I," I actually mean "my mom." Because she let me go rest and take a long hot shower while she made this and my SIL made the beer cheese dip. (THANK YOU!)
• Beer.

Did I mention we stuffed ourselves?

We followed up dinner with more beer and a rousing game of Reformation Jeopardy (thanks to the Lutheran Reformation site) where we used baby rattles as buzzers and the winning prize was 5 chocolate gold coins to buy your indulgences.

Oh, wait. Was that not Luther's point?

It's still all about Jesus. We are saved by grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone (no indulgences needed...or wanted!).

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.  

 This is most certainly true.

  -Martin Luther, explanation to the 3rd Article in the Apostle's Creed 

Baby Food

On a scale of 1 to BAD, how awful of a mom am I for stealing some of the food I made for my son for my lunch today?

Sweet Potato with Baby's black beans and chicken.

Now before you go all weird on me thinking I'm all weird, hear me out.

I'm working to impose a new rule:

• If I wouldn't give it to Baby, I won't eat it either.
• If I wouldn't eat it myself, I won't give it to Baby.

Fine, that's two rules.

But to my first rule, "If I wouldn't give it to Baby, I won't eat it either" means I'm working on not eating crap like deep-fried-Oreo-Twinkie-corn-dog bites. Obviously this rule only goes so far, especially when it comes to coffee, wine, and ice cream cake. (In case you are wondering though, Baby and I are both huge fans of gluten (since neither of us have a gluten-intolerance) and chicken not marketed as "hormone-free" (since all chicken is hormone-free).)

And to my second rule, "If I wouldn't eat it myself, I won't give it to Baby," it means that when I smelled one of those nasty pre-packaged baby foods on our vacation, I gagged myself and tossed it before Baby had to gag. 

So I'm one of the new mommas who makes her own baby food. And since almost my whole graduating class at Concordia had babies within 2 months of each other, I'd like to share:

• what I make
• how I make it
• cost per serving
• and Baby's favorite combos

And to all my Concordia momma friends - I can't wait to be sitting by you in the Walz Arena in 22 years when all our kids graduate from CUNE. 

Anyway, for those of you not interested in this, make yourself an ice cream cake. You absolutely won't regret it. 

Foods I've Made:

First off, just want to say I know it can be a button pusher when discussing cereals vs. veggies and purees vs. baby led weaning. So I'm just hear to say: this is what we did. 

And what we did was a have a very messy baby and very messy floors...which unfortunately coincided with my Swiffer wet jot mop breaking. I'm open to new mop suggestions because scrubbing the floor with a bucket of Pine-Sol is getting old quick. Though the shine and smell is amazing!

Okay, but really, here's the outline of what we introduced when:

• 4.5 months - Introduce suuuuper milky rice cereal, about 1x per day or 1x every 2 days.
• Really, this was just about teaching him to use a spoon. Don't be fooled. It's a steep learning curve. I'm reminded:

• 5 months - Introduce bland veggies, about 1x per day or 1x every 2 days.
• We started with avocado and sweet potatoes.
• 6 months - Introduce a variety of veggies, fruits, grains, puffs, yogurt, peanut butter, etc. 1x per day.
• 7 months - Same, but 2x per day.
• 8 months - Same, but now apparently he's a big boy eating 3x per day.

Below I've included:

• the foods I've made, categorized by how I make them
• some favorite combos
• how I puree
• how I freeze
• and cost per serving

Steamed: I use our rice cooker which has a steam basket. Steaming veggies maintains the nutrients whereas boiling loses some of them. Then, I puree and freeze (see below).

• Broccoli
• Zucchini
• Sweet Potato
• Cauliflower 
• Carrots
• Spinach
• Squash (acorn, butternut, spaghetti, winter) - Although baking them was easier. Seriously, don't steam them.

Baked: I halve these bad boys (and almost lose 12 fingers in the process...don't ask me how to cut these in half), place them face down in a big pan with a little bit of water, and bake at 400 for about an hour or until a toothpick easily came in and out. Then, I scoop out the insides, puree, and freeze.

• Squash
• Pumpkin

Boil: After boiling, I puree, and freeze.

• Chicken - I didn't know you can boil chicken? But I did. I used chicken broth and boiled the chicken until the internal temp was 165. Pureeing the chicken was no joke. I added more liquid, and it basically turned into finely shredded chicken. Not Baby's favorite, but Baby Boy needs protein.
• Apples - I just peel and slice the apples, add a bit of water, and boil until soft.

No Prep (basically): I peel the ripe fruit, puree, and freeze. I rinse and drain the beans, puree, and freeze.

• Mango
• Pear
• Peach
• Kiwi
• Plum
• Black beans
• Great northern beans
• Garbanzo beans
• Beets - Yeah. He wasn't a fan.

No Prep (for real): Pretty sure you can figure these out...

• Cottage cheese
• Peanut Butter
• Full Fat plain Greek yogurt
• Avocado
• Banana

Favorite Combos:

• Full fat plain Greek yogurt with peanut butter and pureed apples...I actually like to eat this for breakfast myself
• Any fruit with the chicken...The chicken is a little dry, so the fruit sweetens it up and helps it slide down his throat.
• Black beans and sweet potato...Again, obviously I like this for myself.
• Any fruit with Garbanzo beans...Similar to the chicken, the beans are a little dry and flavorless so the fruit helps that.
• Spinach with an orange veggie...It's just pretty!

Pureeing

I puree Baby's food with this immersion blender. It's KitchenAid because KitchenAid does everything better, and it's red because everything is better red. To be honest, I'm not sure if you have an immersion blender that isn't red, that it will work properly.

Haha. I'm sitting laughing here thinking about the first time I used my immersion blender.

One would think the name would give it away - IMMERSION blender. That means you have to IMMERSE it. 

Yeah, totally tried to use it like a handheld mixer. Twirling around my immersion blender...trying to get the sides...wondering why the heck anyone would use one of these...Hahaha...

For all I know, I'm still using it wrong. But! Whatever I'm doing, it works:

Oh yeah, when I first started making baby food, I added some breastmilk to it to make it creamier. I read mixed reviews if you should add the breastmilk/formula before or after freezing it. I wasn't overly concerned and added before. Now, I don't add breastmilk unless if when I thaw it is too chunky. If it's too runny (like zucchini usually is), I add rice or oatmeal cereal.

Freezing

Then, I freeze them in individual little 2.5oz pods. The specific ones I bought are no longer available, but there's only 42 thousand other options that are basically identical. When he was little, he would just eat 1 pod per meal. Since about 7 months, he eats 2 pods per meal.

After they froze, I pop out the pods, stick them in a Tupperware, label them by food and date made, and I've got breakfast, lunch, and dinner ready to go for the little guy!

Cost per Serving

And lastly, here are the price per servings from one of my grocery trips/baking days. On this day, I spent a total of $21.50 on food, which yielded 71 servings, which averaged $0.30 per serving.

*Note that I classify a serving as 1-2.5oz pod.

**Also note that I'm a bargain shopper, so Baby eats the foods that are on sale!

Apples - $0.70/serving

1 apple = 2 servings

Mango - $0.29/serving

1 mango = 3 servings

Pears - $0.17/serving

1 pear = 2 servings

Peaches - $0.47/serving

1 peach = 2 servings

Sweet Potato - $0.31/serving

1 potato = 3-4 servings

Cauliflower - $0.19/serving

1 head = 10 servings

Black Beans - $0.25/serving

1 can = 4 servings

Garbanzo Beans - $0.22/serving

1 can = 4 servings

Beets - $0.25/serving

1 can = 4 servings

Chicken - $0.32/serving

1 breast = 4 servings

If you made it this far, bless you. 

That Aldi Ice Cream Cake

I'm a bargain shopper. An off-brand lover. A bulk buyer when the sales are smoking. A shopper that makes the store pay me to take their stuff.

Actually, that's just Kohl's. And they do that for everyone.

A few brands I put my foot down, bite the bullet, and buy the real thing. Here's a few:

• Peanut Butter. "Choosy Moms choose Jiff," the commercial said. Yeah, and good Moms buy Peter Pan. Because it's the best. Especially Honey Roasted. Except when Jiff came out with a Salted Caramel which was even better. But, now they stopped. So, it's Peter Pan again. (Yes, I have a peanut butter problem.)
• Coffee. Because as much as I love church, no one should live off church coffee.
• Apples. Honeycrisp. Buy them. Eat them. Love them. Never go back.

Everyone has their "thing." Maybe you spend money on movies but couldn't imagine wasting money on a zoo membership. Maybe you spend money on fancy Scooter's drinks but would never waste money on Hallmark cards.

We strive to be good stewards of our money, to stay on budget, and make Dave Ramsey proud by telling our money where to go instead of it telling us where it went. We also have our "things" like real Oreos and homemade ice cream.

And then, my life (and waistline) changed with this bad boy.

That, my friends, is a homemade Ice Cream Cake made with Aldi brand Oreos, brownie mix, ice cream, and whipped cream.

I was skeptical that a) it would turn out b) taste good and c) would turn out.

Paper plates are a must when you sis-in-law is 37 weeks pregnant and graciously hosting a family of OU fans to watch the game, okay??

And when your SIL is having a baby girl for the first time in Kaldahl history of ever since moving to America, you should probably throw her a Baby Sprinkle. And serve these donuts.

Anywah, now, I'm just worried it won't last more than .2 seconds

And that I'll never make another dessert the rest of my life and never fit back into my pants because...did you see the picture of the ice cream cake?

Just wait till you try it.

And although I hesitate to give you the (super difficult) recipe I used because I'd rather you just come over to visit us to enjoy one slice for you and two slices for me, I can hardly contain the goodness to myself.

Here's what you need:

• Aldi brownie mix
• Aldi Oreos
• Aldi Cookies 'n' Cream ice cream
• Chocolate syrup
• Aldi whipped cream
• Spring form pan
• A big ole appetite

Here's what you do:

• Mix up and bake them brownies. I poured half into a well-greased spring form pan and half in a cake pan.
• Cool them brownies. Pop out the brownie in the cake pan (mine crumbled out, it's fine.) and freeze the one in the spring form pan for a bit. You should know by now directions for me are a loose outline, right?
• Pull out the ice cream from the freezer to soften slightly. Spread half the ice cream over the brownies in the spring form pan. Oh, and while the ice cream is all soft and begging you to spoon feed yourself, do that too.
• Drizzle chocolate syrup over that ice cream. And in your mouth, if you like.
• (Heavily) sprinkle crunched up Oreos. 
• Drizzle more syrup. Because why not?
• Top with another layer of them brownies (brownie crumbles, if you're me).
• Spread the last half of ice cream over them brownies. Or, if you ate that last half of the tub, grab a quarter, and run back to Aldi to buy another tub.
• Pop open your whipped cream can, and give yourself a shot. You know, for the energy to spray whipped cream on the top of the ice cream cake.
• Finish off by drizzling more chocolate syrup and sprinkling more Oreos on top.

Stick it in the freezer and take a nap while the magic happens. When you're ready to eat, pull out the ice cream cake about 20 minutes before that. Pop off the spring of the pan, grab a knife, cut up slices, and dish it out to your biggest fans.

If they're not your family yet, they will be after.

Just add the blasted Vanilla!

Several things in life make me feel highly uncomfortable.

1. Sitting in the front lawn.

2. When passing someone on the walking trail, making eye contact before socially acceptable to give the nod/hi/wave.

• In case you were wondering - Give the "hi" when pushing baby in stroller. Give the hand lift wave when you are running and meet a fellow runner. Give the nod when the other person barely notices your existence.

3. Baking a goodie that doesn't call for vanilla.

4. Leftover ingredients that don't have a set purpose.

My list is actually quite longer than just these four items (e.g. arriving more than 2 minutes early to...anything, Office Depot clerks playing peek-a-boo with your baby while ringing you up, after a pregnancy announcement, the first words out of your mouth are, "Were you trying?" I could go on, but this could go downhill quickly).

Well, I'm trying to push myself. Out of the box. Comfort zone. Pushing boundaries. Whatever they call it. 

Here's a recap.

1. We sat on the front lawn.

If sitting on the front lawn, are pants even necessary?

And boy, oh boy, I didn't like it. But babies give you courage to try new experiences. (Because you always have an easy out if you just can't handle it. Sorry, gotta run - baby had a blow out, baby needs a nap, baby needs to nurse.)

But, we met our neighbor across the street. Our 96 year old neighbor who has lived in the neighborhood since it sprung up 50 years. Who built her house with her husband who has since passed away. Who had a mild heart attack several months ago. Who could use seeing a cute baby every now and then. Okay, I added in that last part. But at least could use a loaf of Oatless Banana Bread.

2. Passersby on the trail.

I got nothing. That one still bothers me.

3. Recipes sans vanilla.

My husband says I like to eat bananas when they taste like trees. Which makes for a small window when I enjoy bananas. As such, I'm always baking something with bananas. I ran across this Cinnamon Crunch Banana Bread recipe. It doesn't call for vanilla. And while I normally would add it anyway, I decided to leave it out, thinking they knew what they're doing. And while they do, I don't. Since I forgot to add the oats it called for. 

So make this bread, forgot the vanilla, but do add the oats. But if you do forget to add the oats, it's still dang good.

4. Purposeless leftover ingredients.

It takes us years to go through a package of bacon. So I'm like, "Okay. Buy a package of bacon? Here's what our menu plan looks like for this week: Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps, Bacon Cheeseburgers, Club Sandwiches, Cobb Salad...help a girl out!

And then, my husband.

My amazing husband.

Came up with this concoction that ROCKED MY WORLD.

Maple Bacon Breakfast Sandwiches.

It goes like this:

Egg.

Everything is better when it's mini. Especially a mini skillet.

Cheese.

Everything is dairy much better with cheese.

Maple French Toast Bagel.

These are also delicious toasted, spread with peanut butter, and dipped in syrup.

Bacon.

With a side of bacon.

What I've learned through all this:

• Meet your neighbors.
• Eat more bacon.
• Keep your eyes down on the trail until it's time to make eye contact.
• Add the blasted vanilla, you're gonna mess up the recipe anyway.

Travel Tips with Baby in Tow

The past few weeks have been slightly eventful. Here's a recap:

1. I quit my job.

I made it 3 months before I flew the coop. 

2. I started my own business.

Previously, I had been a wellness consultant for corporate clients through an HR company. Now, I am the company.

3. We hosted 8 college friends for a dear friend's wedding.

Blog coming soon of how to host a house-full and enjoy it.

4. We traveled to Missouri to visit my family, and we traveled to Milwaukee for "vacation" to visit Joel's brothers and two sets of good friends.

Baby actually hates vacation. A whole lot.

5. We learned how to travel with Baby.

Being the experienced first time mom that I am, I started writing out my "Travel Tips with Baby" before I had even written my packing list for our first trip. It started like this:

1. Pack your EVERYTHING when it comes to bedtime. Bring your sleepy sounds. Bring your night light. Bring your sleep sack. Bring your crib sheets. Bring your Bible story book. Do bedtime exactly the way you would on vacation as you would at home. As my childhood best friend and mother of two says, "Because when your baby is sleeping 12 hours at night, you don't mess with it.

I didn't get any further on my list. Even though I packed mine and Baby's everything, Baby decided vacation meant partying all night, crap napping during the day, and losing his marbles every. where. we. went.

Here is my revised and best advice I have for traveling with Baby in tow.

1. Have no expectations.

2. Snacks. Lots of snacks.

These protein balls are a favorite. Why? Because they're called Energy Bites. So obviously they're healthy. The energy outweighs the mini chocolate chips and M&M's. In case you were wondering.

I have decided to rename all my favorite foods with the preceding word energy.

Energy Mac and Cheese.

Energy Cheesecake.

Energy Chick-Fil-A.

If I ever need to start a second business, I now have the idea.

But really, these little bites are awesome. And simple. Even Baby can make them!

Every single ingredient packed into these little bites are inorganic, gluten-full, dairy-full, unnaturally sweetened, and hormone-full chicken. Oh, wait. Maybe not that last one.

These little bites call for protein powder. And since I'm not a big proponent of protein powder (just get it from real food, people), I found these little individual bags of protein powder.

So for your next trip with Baby, make these Energy Bites and have zero expectations. And maybe pack some wine.

After Dessert

"More Clair," my 2-year-old nephew kindly asked his Dada.

Chocolate Elcair is a secret family recipe. Like Bush's Baked Beans secret family recipe. Like Chick-Fil-A's lemonade secret family recipe.

So secret that you can hardly guess the three ingredients of graham crackers, vanilla pudding and chocolate icing.

Woops.

Actually, the real secret is fitting the graham crackers together like a jigsaw puzzle.

By now you know patience is not my virtue.

So cutting up these tiny little graham crackers caused a little piece of my soul to die.

But when it comes to secret family recipes and traditions, you put on your big girl panties. Err..apron.

Or if you're Peter, put on your big boy apron and chef hat.

Anyway. "More Clair," my nephew asked.

Then, he turned around and saw the Uncle Sam cupcakes for 4th of July.

"AFTER DESSERT!" He pointed.

His eyes are bigger than his stomach, I tell ya.

And my dessert planning is bigger than our sweet tooth, I tell ya.

"After dessert" was our Kaldahl theme for our 4th of July celebration and vacation.

• Chocolate Eclair
• cinnamon rolls (which count as breakfast for some wonderful reason)
• homemade vanilla ice cream
• muffins (which are somehow different than cupcakes for some wonderful reason)
• Uncle Sam cupcakes
• Avalanche Bars
• Strawberry Pretzel Salad (as long as you put the word salad behind it, it doesn't count as dessert. i.e. Snickers Salad)
• And then there's the Cheesecake and Chocolate Cake my sweet mother-in-law made
• And the 4th of July Blueberry and Strawberry Pie my sweet 6-month-pregnant sister-in-law made (Can we blame her for our dessert indulgences??)

So yes, we ate dessert after we ate dessert.

And as such, it's time to get back into the groove, so I bring you the

ERR Workout.

Technically, ERR stands for Exercises, Reps, and Rounds.

But for me it's more like "Did I eat dessert after dessert? Err..."

"Did I eat two desserts every day for two weeks straight? Err..."

"Have I been counting my 'nursing diet' as exercise for the last month? Err..."

Here's how it works:

For the 1st round, you have 7 Exercises to complete 7 Reps for 7 Rounds. ERR. Get it? So you will perform 7 Jumping Jacks, 7 Box Jumps, 7 Star Jacks, 7 Toe Taps, 7 Plank Jacks, 7 Quick Step-Ups, and 7 Crossover Jacks. 7 Times. So basically, 49 of each by the end.

Then for the 2nd round, move to 6. Then 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. (Enjoy the 2 sips of water, my friends.)

For a frame of reference, I complete this in 31 minutes and burned 200 calories. My heart rate at its highest was 189, and average heart rate was 138.

You could certainly break it up and do the odd rounds today and even rounds tomorrow.




Or, just eat Chocolate Elcair instead. You know, after your dessert.

Double the Butter, Double the Whoops

There are several absolute truths in life.

1. If I can screw up a recipe, I will.
2. All good church potlucks have jello-salad-marshmallow-what-am-I-chewing-on fluff.
3.When either of my brothers visits my house, my parents' house, the random neighbor's house... the decor magically moves to the most obscure? hilarious? philosophical? places.

My favorite annual redecoration happens during Easter season. My mom has ceramic bunnies. One is doing a handstand. One is laying on his tummy, legs kicking, head in his hands as he lovingly gazes up. Let me just stop. Visit my parents' house at Easter to witness it yourself. And to eat ribbon salad. Because ribbon salad IS better than potluck jello salad.

But you can always count on church potlucks to have the best home cooking. And that when I contribute a dish, I mess up the recipe.

By doubling the butter called for.

"Well, let's hope it turns out."

Yes. That's what my husband said too.

(It did. It's butter. Where were you born? A dairy-free barn?!)

You should know by now I don't measure. (That's 1/2 teaspoon salt, in case you didn't know.)

You should also know I hate doing dishes. And I will take whatever means necessary do dirty one fewer dish. Even mixing Sweet Corn Spoonbread Casserole in the baking dish.

Can we take a minute to discuss "spoonbread?" Bread so soft...creamy...indulgent...buttery...you can literally spoon it out.

Yeah. You had me at butter. See the recipe below.
*Please note that I doubled the butter called for. And did not measure the sour cream. It still got gobbled up at our church potluck.


Anyway, back to the blocks.

My brother and his wife babysat Peter so the hubs and I could go out to celebrate our anniversary.

We came home to this message.

I came.
I saw.
I ate.

And while this does accurately describe his evening, it had me thinking how often we fall into the trap of just running through the motions. Or rather, just running. Running into church late because Baby spat up all over...everything. Running out of church early because it's nap time.

Coming. Seeing. Eating. Leaving.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. What I love most about food is that it brings people together. It makes us slow down to eat a meal together around the kitchen table, on the patio over a beer, on the living room floor with paper plates and pizza, in the fellowship hall with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ fighting over the last spoonful of bread and jello salad for a church potluck.

We are united and forgiven at the foot of the cross.

And, you know. Over buttery cornbread. That we devour for hours in good company.

Sweet Corn Spoon Bread

Ingredients:

1 (8.5-ounce) package Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

1 (14.75-ounce) can cream style corn

1 (15-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted*

1 cup sour cream**

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

*I used 2 sticks. Whoops.

**I didn't measure. Double whoops.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 and grease 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl (or in the casserole dish), combine the ingredients and mix well. Pour mixture into casserole dish. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until set.

DEVOUR. (At the church potluck.)

Naked Lemons: Starring in Cheesecake!

My favorite time to bake is right before I clean the house so I can make a complete disaster of the  kitchen.

I'm so good at making messes that one time I was grounded from eating in the living room...when I was in high school. My mom had one too many pillows turn red from spaghetti sauce, salsa, SpaghettiOs...

Yes, Peter. That's exactly what my mom thought too.

My other favorite time to bake is when we are having company. Have you read The Five Love Languages ? I'm a huge fan. Except Mr. Gary forgot to add baking as a love language.

Growing up, my Grandma Heins had a huuuuuuuge garden. Huge as in Donald Trump "huge." We frequently received more zucchinis than we could make zucchini bread. Truth be told, there were times we were frustrated. HOW can we possibly eat any more tomato, tomato, tomato sandwiches?! We don't need (want) more potatoes.

And then my cousin came to the realization that gifting food was my grandma's love language. It made her happy to make our fridges bountiful.

And one of the ways to love those we love, is to allow them to love us.

One of the traits I received from my Grandma Heins is the love to bake for those I love. (Along with never following a recipe...)

And when your Grandma Loeber is celebrating her 81st birthday - there is no better reason to bake!

Disclaimer: Your legs will likely turn this chunky if you make the following recipe.

I can always count on my friend Sally for some thigh-chunking-recipes.

But if you need to cut in cold butter, you'll burn all the calories.

Or at the very least you'll need a forearm massage.

I started with this Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake. I have just a teensy bit of Type A in me. So I started with this beautiful swirl of blueberries. Evenly spaced. Blueberries in the windows of the cheesecake. You could have measured that distance with a .1% error.

And then I had way too many blueberries left. So I started to add more, and my beautiful picture became a hodge podge of blueberries.

I actually consider digging out the blueberries to keep my pretty picture. Lie. I actually did dig out some blueberries. And then it looked even worse, so I just smooshed more in that cheesecake.

Despite it coming out like cheesecake mush, it was delicious.

Did I mention my favorite time to bake new recipes is for company? Then, if it doesn't turn out at least you have stomachs to eat it up.

Really though, my biggest critique of this recipe was shaming the lemons.

I feel so ashamed having naked lemons. Poor guys. They just look so pitiful.

My favorite memory of this recipe was getting to share it with my grandma for her birthday.

And that's what I love about food and recipes: It brings people together. It creates memories and traditions.

And it's a way to love others.

What are you baking for those you love today?