by sherricrandall | May 17, 2026 | Recipes
Lemon – Blueberry Bread
Ingredients
1/3 c. butter, melted
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons, lemon juice
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all- purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 Tablespoons grated lemon zest
Glaze –
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 c. sugar
Directions
In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, lemon juice and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Sir in the dry mix and slowly add milk, beating well with hand mixer. Fold in the blueberries, nuts and lemon zest.
Prepare a loaf pan by greasing it and adding a light dusting of flour. Pour bread mixture into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the bread for about 20 minutes then remove from pan and let it continue to cool on a wire rack. Make the glaze and drizzle over warm bread.
Enjoy!
by sherricrandall | Apr 15, 2026 | General
There is a photograph that I treasure, it sits in my family room and I love glancing at it often. This photo is one of my favorites, not because everyone looks their best, it actually captured a moment in time where we were struggling. I love it because everyone in it was there, despite our circumstances.
That is the whole point.
Somewhere along the way, many of us began to believe that we had to earn our place in the frame. That we needed to wait until we had lost the weight, cleared up our skin, grown our hair back, or finally just felt like we were enough before we deserved to be seen. So we stepped behind the camera. We said, “No, you go ahead.” We made ourselves the memory keeper while quietly erasing ourselves from the memory.
Friends, I want to challenge that kind of thinking with you today.
I find myself in that place of self-consciousness in a new way recently. Chemotherapy is taking my hair, and with it, honestly, a little piece of the version of myself I was used to seeing in the mirror. I know what it feels like to hesitate before stepping into the photo. I know the whisper that says, not now, not yet. Maybe wait until I look more like myself again.
But here is what I have decided to do instead. This is what I have come to believe with my whole heart… this is myself. This is the version who I am right here and right now. In this season, with this face, the lack of hair, in this beautiful hard and holy moment, I am here. And the people I love deserve to have proof that I was here with them.
YOU and your people deserve that too.
Whether it’s the number on the scale that’s been haunting you, the postpartum body you haven’t made peace with, the gray roots or the tired eyes or the scar you don’t want to explain, none of that disqualifies you from being present. None of that makes you less worthy of being remembered.
Proverbs 31 speaks of a woman whose children rise up and call her blessed. Not because she looked a certain way, but because of how she showed up. We are told she showed up faithfully and consistently, fully in the middle of a full life. I believe God sees us the same way. He looks at our heart and I believe our loved ones do too. Your heart, your presence, and your love is what the people around you really see when they look at a photo of you.
Years from now, your child will not remember that your arms looked a certain way in that photo from their birthday party. They will remember that you were there. You will have proof that you were and that will become a cherished memory. Your grandchildren won’t critique the lines on your face at Christmas dinner. They will hold that picture close because it means that you were a part of it.
The negative self talk can be loud. I know that, but it is lying to you.
Here is what I am telling myself and what I want to tell you too… You are not too much or too little. You are not a before photo waiting to become the after (fill in the blank). You are a woman right now. A women who is living, loving and leaving a legacy with every moment you choose to step into instead of away from.
So the next time someone holds up a camera, take a deep breath. Straighten your shoulders and get in the picture. You were made for such a time as this. Not a future, polished version of you, THIS YOU, today!
by sherricrandall | Apr 14, 2026 | General, Uncategorized
Spring is here and that makes my heart happy. I love the beauty and simplicity of this season. The budding of flowers, the chirping of birds, the quiet renewing of life all around us. And yet, how often do we walk right past it? Something to think about…
I believe there is something almost instructive about the way spring arrives. It doesn’t announce itself with grand gestures. It shows up slowly, subtly, in small moments you might miss if you are moving too fast. A crocus pushing up through the frost. The faint smell of earth after a spring rain. The way light lingers just a little longer each evening. It simply starts to show up.
For me, the simplicity of this season reminds me that simplicity is not about doing less. It is about being fully present for what is already here. So much of our daily lives are spent in a kind of mental clutter. Scrolling through what we do not have, planning for what has not happened yet, replaying what has already passed. Spring has a way of gently pulling us out of that if we allow it. It hands us something real, something in the now, and it asks us to notice.
Think about the last time you actually stopped to look at a tree in bloom. Not glanced at it from your kitchen window or your car window, but stopped, looked up, and took it all in, There is a kind of joy available in that moment that no productivity hack or self improvement plan can manufacture. It is free, you just have to slow down long enough to receive it.
When we embrace these simple moments, we begin to notice how much of what we truly need is already woven into our ordinary life. God is really good at doing that. A warm cup of coffee in our favorite mug, the evening taking longer to wind down after the shorter winter days. Kids on bikes and waving to our neighbors out on walks again after a long winter break. These are not small things. They are the texture of a life well-lived, and spring has a way of making them visible again.
I have challenged myself this spring to take notice of what is around me and I want to share with you some simple ways you can notice too. Honestly it has been a game changer for my soul, for my ability to sense gratitude. Here is what I have been doing…
First, you don’t need a retreat or a complete lifestyle overhaul to begin. Start here, this week.
Take a 10 minute morning walk without your phone. Leave it on the counter. Just walk and look. Notice what is coming up from the ground, what is opening on the branches, what sounds are filling the air that maybe weren’t there a few weeks ago. I think you will be surprised how much has been quietly happening without your awareness.
I have added to my gratitude journal a small rhythm around nature. Before bed, I name one thing I noticed outside that day. It doesn’t have to be poetic or profound. Last night I mentioned the little red finch making a nest on my back porch. The act of naming it trains our attention toward abundance rather than absence.
Spend a few minutes outside in silence. This one is hard for me, I am not the silent type. I am not praying out loud or planning or processing the days meetings. I am listening to the sounds around me. Renewal tends to happen not in the noise but in the quiet spaces between everything.
I have been re reading this verse in Isaiah – Isaiah 43:19 “ See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” That verse has always felt like spring to me. Not because it speaks of spring but because it speaks of perception. Do you not perceive? The invitation is not just to believe something new is possible, it is to open our eyes and actually look for it.
There is a reason why people have celebrated spring for centuries across every culture. It is not just the weather, it is the feeling that something new is becoming available. The ground that was once frozen, is ready again. That not only pertains to the soil but to our individual lives as well.
I think if spring time was creating a marketing campaign for itself it would say something like this… You don’t have to wait for a dramatic turning point, a big announcement or the perfect conditions – I am proof that new life tends to grow in the quiet, ordinary spaces. In the small act of stepping outside. In the choice to look up and notice, in the decision to stay curious about what new things are coming your way.
So friends will you join me this spring and walk a little slower, keep your windows open, and let yourself be surprised by what is already blooming around you? I think we all will be renewed by what we find.
by sherricrandall | Apr 13, 2026 | Recipes
Rainbow Salad
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, diced
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 1 ¼ cups chopped red cabbage
- 1 cup quartered grape tomatoes
- 1 cup mozzarella pearls
- ½ cup thinly sliced fresh basil
- 2 scallions, sliced
Directions : Whisk vinegar, oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add carrots, bell pepper, kale, cabbage, tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and scallions. Toss to coat.
** I add either grilled chicken or shrimp to this to make a complete meal. Packed with protein and all the benefits of a colorful array of veggies.
Enjoy!
by sherricrandall | Mar 23, 2026 | Recipes
Thumb Print Cookies
Ingredients
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
2/3 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
Jam of your choice
Directions
Preheat oven to 340 degrees
Cream together butter and powdered sugar. Add the egg yolk and vanilla. Gradually add the flower and salt and mix lightly with a hand mixer until well incorporated.
Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Place cookie dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the back of a spoon then make a small imprint with your thumb or a small measuring spoon.
Fill each imprint with jam, allowing room for it to expand and not overflow. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Enjoy!
