• Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Collaborate
  • Blog
  • Parties
    • Children’s Parties Ideas
    • Holiday Parties
    • Adult Party Ideas
  • Holiday Ideas
    • Christmas
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Spring
    • Thanksgiving
    • Valentine’s Day
  • Seasons
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Beverages
    • Desserts
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Soups
  • Project Gallery
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY
    • Good Ideas
    • Tutorials
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

  • Book
  • Speaking
  • Meet Vanessa
    • Featured

February 2, 2011

Life, Lemons and a Pie

(this is a post from the past from my former blog Gourmet Meals for Less.  Thought it was worth sharing again…cause we all have lemon filled days!)


So what do you do when you feel like life handed you a bowl of these….
Lemons
Do you have those weeks?  This week I felt like I was handed a big ole’ bag of them.  And I had a few choices to make. I could let it ruin my days and steal my joy.  But my favorite book in the world
Bible
tells me this…

Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure (lemons) and affliction (lemons) and hardship (lemons) produce patient and unswerving endurance.Romans 5:3

and this…

…For this day is holy… to our Lord. And be not grieved (lemons) and depressed (lemons), for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold. Nehemiah 8:10

See, the joy in my life is not defined by my level of happiness, or contentment, or my circumstances.  Nor, is it defined by the things or people around me.  It is not defined by who I am but WHOSE I am (I borrowed that from a friend..smile)!  Joy is not a feeling!  Joy is a part of me “being in Christ”. I can be unhappy with my circumstances and still be filled with Joy! 
It is so good to remember that during lemon filled days, weeks and maybe in your case months and years.  God wants you to take those “lemons” and …no not make lemonade (you thought I was going to say that didn’t you?? grin) but He wants you to lay them at the cross and leave the “lemons” with Him!  But I think he’d understand if you want to take a few back to make oh say a


Lemon Blackberry Pie
Lemon blackberry pie
which is what I did.  And you know what spending a little time with my Savior and a little time doing something I love, baking for my family, made those “lemons” seem not quite so sour.  In fact, they tasted pretty darn good when mixed with a little sugar, blackberries and some…joy.

{Print this Recipe}

Lemon Blackberry Pie–adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
Ingredients:
1 package refrigerated pie shell
3 eggs
2 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup zested lemon peel
3/4 cup fresh lemon juicE
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup fresh blackberries

Directions:



Pre-heat oven to 400°.  Follow package directions for pie shell, which should include allowing package to set on counter for approximately 20 minutes.  Place pie shell in pie plate, crimping edges. Prick bottom of pie shell several times with fork and dust lightly with flour.  Line pastry with double thickness of tinfoil.  Bake for 8 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes, until pastry is golden.  Cool on wire rack and reduce oven to 350°.


In a large bowl combine eggs, egg whites, sugar and lemon juice.  Beat with electric mixer on medium to high speed until think and lemon colored.  Stir in the melted butter and the zested lemon peel.  Place blackberries on bottom of baked pie shell.  Pour lemon mixture over blackberries.  Bake approximately 30 minutes or until lemon mixture is set.  Cool on wire rack.


Enjoy! 


P.S. If you are struggling to find Joy in your life I want to recommend a great book by John Piper: When I Don’t Desire God:How to Fight for Joy 

8 Comments Filed Under: Desserts, Devotionals, Good Thoughts, Recipes, Simply Sundays Tagged With: pie

Subscribe

Get the latest goodness straight to your inbox!

Previous Post: « Launch Party Giveaway Day Three. Who Doesn’t Love A Great Magazine?!
Next Post: A Good Idea…for Valentine’s Day! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Blessed Mommy of 2 says

    February 2, 2011 at 6:04 PM

    What a lovely message in this post! I needed to be reminded of those wonderful verses today. :o)

    Reply
  2. michelle says

    February 2, 2011 at 6:51 PM

    What a wonderful post, thank you! The pie looks so good too! 🙂

    Reply
  3. sheri says

    February 2, 2011 at 7:08 PM

    oh sweet girls. so needed this. we have a little issue going on in our house and i’m spending a lot of time on my knees.

    Maybe..there’s a way to put a prayer linky on the right or something like that that we could throw our name in for prayer requests so we could all pray the list – no need for details – just a name to lift up or blog name?

    Regardless, i’m so enjoying this blog so far ladies. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Cathy~Mille Fleur says

    February 2, 2011 at 8:02 PM

    Wonderful and inspiring! So happy I stopped by today!

    Reply
  5. Tanya (a Taste of T) says

    February 2, 2011 at 8:10 PM

    Ooh that pie looks amazing!

    <3, New Follower

    Reply
  6. Pam - diy Design Fanatic says

    February 2, 2011 at 9:56 PM

    I was just thinking about this very thing! Thanks for the inspiring post!

    Reply
  7. Jo says

    February 2, 2011 at 8:04 PM

    He wants us to lay them at the cross and leave the “lemons” with Him!Amen, I’m leavin’ it with ’em, but I’m going to try this pie recipe and use blueberries(I have bags of blueberries in the freezer),I pray it turns out ok, I’ll let you know!
    Love the blog!…and the recipe.
    Nice chatin’ at the fence.
    TTYL
    ~JO
    LazyonLoblolly

    Reply
  8. Shelia says

    February 3, 2011 at 4:07 AM

    Just a wonderful post! I needed this!
    be a sweetie,
    Shelia 😉

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search This Blog

Take the Quiz

Stay updated!

Get all the latest goodness straight to your inbox!

Get the book!

Invite Vanessa to speak at your event!

Must Reads

Recent Posts

  • A New French Country Dining Table February 3, 2021
  • Open Now December 17, 2020
  • Tradition and a Christmas Home Tour December 9, 2020
  • Tabletop Hot Cocoa Station November 29, 2020
  • A New Front Door November 10, 2020

Get all the latest straight to your inbox

Footer

Instagram

I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 y I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 years now and every year I ohhhh and ahhhh over the blossoms like it's the first time I've ever seen them. I gush and I take photos (that look exactly like the ones I took the year before and the year before that) and I make my family come outside and look at them with me which you know they just LOVE to do. 😉 I think that is one of the main reasons why I love spring so much. On the one hand, it's predictable and yet, on the other hand, it still feels like such a surprise after the long months of barren branches.

And yesterday, as I was staring at the gorgeous blossoms for the umpteenth time, I couldn't help but think that I hope this is how I feel when our lives return to some semblance of normalcy.

I hope that the predictable feels special and that the typical feels anything but. I hope that I ohhh and ahhh over the simple things I've realized I've taken for granted. And, most of all, I hope that feeling doesn't go away for a very, very long time! 💗
Are you living with great expectation friends? Bec Are you living with great expectation friends? Because He is risen!

Happy Easter from my home to yours!
Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for sure but some things don’t change. Have you been baking and getting ready for tomorrow? What’s one thing on your menu that you have to have every year?
If this is Good Friday, why doesn’t it feel so “good”? It all seems backward doesn’t it?

What could be good about the unspeakable pain he suffered? What could be good about the shame and betrayal?

Easter Sunday is so joyful, bright and cheery. Shouldn’t that be the day we call “good”? It just feels so much better!

But, I don’t know how to rejoice over His resurrection, unless I have felt the pain of His death. I have realized that in life the sweetest victories are the ones which were realized after a pain-filled journey.

And, so it is with Good Friday. I know there will be victory over death, but I can’t skip ahead in the story.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what he would experience. And he knew why he would go through it. He did it for me. He did it for you.

Do you know that? Have you felt it down in the very core of your soul? 
Sometimes it makes me squirm a bit. Why would anyone do that for me?

Well, because, I can’t do it for myself!

There is nothing I can do to earn that kind of love and mercy.

That is why it is called GRACE.

His grace is freely given. We don’t have to pay for it. He paid the price for us already.

Do you remember that movie from years ago called “Ransom”? A couple’s young son was kidnapped and the parents went to hell and back trying to find him and pay the “ransom” demanded by the kidnappers.

Well, Jesus is our “ransom”. (1 Timothy 2:6) His life was the payment.

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because that wasn’t the end of the story….
.
…It was just the beginning!
Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house that’s become the landing zone for ALL THE THINGS! 🙋🏻‍♀️🤪 I’ve never been more thankful for our rarely used dining room table as it’s become command central for school books and laptops and games.

Where are things collecting in your house right now?
“Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every si “Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every single one of these emotions has made their way through our home in recent days and, my guess is, they have in your home too.

I SO needed this reminder today from the new book ‘Adore’ by @sarahagertywrites.

Adoration isn’t just sitting at His feet gazing longingly with stars in my eyes. It’s bringing my fears and my sorrows and gray roots in my hair that desperately needs to be colored and my messy house and all of the things that threaten to send me over the edge right now and laying them down before Him, soaking up His word and His presence so that when I stand back up, I am changed for having spent the time adoring the ONE who is... Healer, comforter, peace-giver, deliverer, redeemer.

What do you need to bring to Him today? I’ll share mine in the comments and I’d love to hear from you too!
I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole lockdown thing began, I’ve come to appreciate this time of day even more.

It feels the most...normal. Daytime is strange and foreign right now. My husband has taken over our home office, I’m suddenly taking over the responsibility of managing my kids’ distance learning and let me just say that teaching 7th grade algebra to my daughter is hugely ironic since I struggled with math all the way through school. I’m trying to do my own work but it feels utterly futile with the constant interruptions which take precedence right now. In the daytime, I’m constantly reminded of how upside down life feels.

But, in the evening, I cook dinner like I’ve always done and we gather around the table like we’ve always done and we laugh and tell stories and then clean up and play games or go on a walk or watch a show. And that feels SO gloriously normal.

So now I love evenings even more than I ever did before and I’m so grateful for this little chunk of time where the rhythms we established years ago are helping to sustain us now when so much of life feels outside of our control.

What feels ‘normal’ to you right now? Whatever it is, keep doing it. 🌿
When I was in college I would frequently call home When I was in college I would frequently call home and pour my heart out to my mom, sharing with her all that was happening in my life in that completely unfiltered way that you can talk with the person who potty trained you. These phone calls usually took place at night and my mom would patiently listen as I vented frustrations about professors, roommates, boyfriends and the food in the cafeteria. And, inevitably, they would end with my mom saying, “Everything seems worse when you’re tired. Try not to overthink things or make any major decisions tonight, especially when you are feeling emotional.” Dear friends, may I pass along this advice to you today?

If you don’t absolutely HAVE to make a decision right now, I want to encourage you to wait until life gets back to normal. If you are finding yourself over-analyzing relationships and family dynamics, I want to encourage you to remember that everything seems more dramatic when looked at under a microscope. And, let’s face it, being homebound with our loved ones non-stop makes us all feel like lab rats in an experiment.

If you are tempted to quit a job, start a business, start homeschooling permanently, stop homeschooling permanently, move to a new city, buy a farm, quit pursuing your dream, join a commune or make any other major life decision just…wait. Because, if it is in fact the right decision, it will be made even clearer once our lives return to their ‘regularly scheduled programming’. Instead, in this strange season, let’s all just take a deep, collective breath and let it out slowly, releasing the anxiety that threatens to overtake us. Let’s help each other maintain some perspective and not slip into a posture of over-thinking every little thing in our lives. Let’s remember that the enemy of our souls would love nothing more than to use this time when things feel dark to manipulate us into thinking that aspects of our lives are worse than they actually are.

My prayer for you in these days is that you will have the clarity to know what is true and that you will be filled with peace even while we live in this season of so many unknowns.
Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking thes Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking these days! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m trying to avoid gaining the #corona15 but my daughter and I LOVE baking together and it does help to pass the time plus it counts as a science lesson right?

If you’re able to find flour in the stores (for the love people please stop overbuying!) and you’re doing more baking at your house too you need to add this apricot bread to your list of new recipes to try!

Normally I’d point you to my blog for the directions but I’m going to do you a solid and leave the full recipe in the comments.

What have you baked so far during this time of social distancing? I’d love some new ideas!
There are a LOT of people out walking in our neigh There are a LOT of people out walking in our neighborhood right now (but still social distancing!) and she decided that she wanted to bring them some joy and put a smile on their face when they pass by our house. Also, the square with ‘say no to coronavirus’ is priceless. 😂 I just love her so much!
Follow
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2021 At The Picket Fence