Bakeathon 2018 Recipes

Yesterday was the fourth annual Christmas Bakethon hosted at my MIL’s. She and I started this tradition the first Christmas I lived in California and every year we’ve made it a bigger and bigger deal.

In honor of my husband’s Grandpa Roy, we chose only Chevron recipes out of his 1970s field manual (plus a few of our own favorites). After this year’s Bakeathon with a total of 641 flipping cookies later. This is what we’ve got.

1. Pecan Bars
2. Peanut Butter Oatmeal Raisin
3. Magic Bar Cookies
4. Persimmon Cookies
5. Sugar Crisps
6. Crunch Drops
7. Nut Butter Balls
8. Peanut Butter Cookies
9. Date Pinwheel Cookies
10. Brown Butter Cookies
11. Chocolate Crinkle
12. Scotch Shortbread
13. Peanut Butter Kisses
14. Snowball Cookies
15. Muffin Tops because the Seinfeld jokes will never end and the MIL has a muffin top only pans.

Anyways, I’ve gotten a few requests for the recipes so I wanted to share them here.

Crunch Drops – 2c. sifted flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/2tsp. salt, 1c shortening, 1c. brown sugar, 1c. granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 1tsp. vanilla, 2c. oatmeal, 2c. rise crispy cereal, 1c. shredded coconut.

Sift flour, salt, and soda together. Cream shortening until fluffy. – Add sugar gradually, add eggs one at a time, beat well. – Stir in flour and vanilla. Add in other ingredients and mix well. – Bake 12 – 15 minutes, oven 350 degrees. (My father-in-law thinks adding raisins would be good)

Nut Butter Balls – 1c. butter or margarine, 1/2c. granulated sugar or confectioner’s sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1tsp. almond extract (can sub. 2tsp. vanilla), 2c. sifted flour, 1-2c. chopped nuts.

Mix butter with sugar until very light and fluffy. Add salt, extract, flour, nuts, mix well. Refrigerate until easy to handle shape dough into 1-inch balls or 1×2 crescents. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees. While cookies are warm, roll in granulated or confectioner sugar, fine cookie crumbs or cinnamon sugar.

Date Pin-Wheel Cookies – 2c. brown sugar, 1c. shortening, 2 eggs, 4 c. flour, 1tsp.baking soda, 1tsp. nutmeg, 1tsp. cinnamon, 7oz. dates, 1/2c. water, 1c. sugar.

Cream brown sugar and shortening together, add the 2 eggs. – Sift together flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon. – boil water, sugar, and dates until it’s pudding consistency. Roll into 2-inch rolls to resemble jelly roll. Put in freezer. SLice frozen and bake at 375-degrees for 15 minutes.

Pecan Bars – 1 yellow cake mix, 1/2c. butter, melted, 1 egg, 1c. chopped pecans.

Measure out 2/3cup of cake mix and save for filling. Combine remainder of cake mix, butter, and egg; mix until crumbly. Press into greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 50 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Spread filling* over this while it is hot. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until it is set. *filling 2/3c. reserved mix, 1/2c. brown sugar, 1-1/2c. dark corn syrup, 1tsp. vanilla, 3 eggs. Combine and beat for 1-2 minutes.

Persimmon Cookies – 1/2c. margarine, 1/2c. granulated sugar, 1/2c. brown sugar, 1 egg, pulp from one very ripe persimmon, 1c. flour, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2tsp. salt, 1/2tsp. cinnamon, 1/4tsp. nutmeg, 1-1/2c. oatmeal, 1/2c. nuts.

Cream margarine and sugars together. Add egg and persimmon pulp. Sift flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together and then add gradually to other mixture. Beat until well blended and then add oatmeal and nuts. Drop by teaspoonsful on oiled cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for approximately 12 minutes.

Sugar Crisps – 1 cake yeast, 1/4c. lukewarm water, 3 1/2c. sifted flour, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2c. butter, 1/2c. shortening, 2 beaten eggs, 1/2c. sour cream, 3tsp. vanilla, 1 1/2 cups sugar.

Sofen yeast in water. sift flour with salt; cut in butter and shortening. Blend in eggs, sour cream, 1 tsp. of vanilla, softened yeast. Mix well. Cover; chill at least 2 hours. Mix sugar and remaining vanilla. Sprinkle board with about 1/2 cup of mixture. Roll out half of the dough to a 16 x 8-inch rectangle, sprinkle with 1tsp. vanilla. Fold one end of dough over the center. Fold opposite and over to make three layers. Turn 1/4 way round and repeat rolling and folding twice, sprinkling board with additional vanilla sugar as needed. Roll out about 1.4 inches thick. Cut into 4×1 strips; twist each strip 2 or 3 times. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Repeat entire process with remaining dough. Bake in moderate oven 375 for 15-20 minutes.

Magic Cookie Bars – 1/2c. butter or margarine, melted, 1-1/2c. graham cracker crumbs, 1c. chopped nuts, 1c. chocolate pieces, 1-1/3c. flaked coconut, 1 can sweetened condensed milk.

Pour melted butter or margarine onto the bottom of a 13x9x2 inch pan. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over melted butter. Sprinkle nuts evenly over crumbs. Scatter chocolate pieces over nuts. Sprinkle coconut evenly over chocolate chips. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over coconut. Bake at 350 for 25-minutes or until lightly browned on top. Cool for 15 before cutting into squares.

If you bake any of these, show me your bakes! Take a picutre and tag (@sjrandol) me on Instagram.

Come be my friend on Instagram, I’m on Facebook but I think I play better on IG, lol. I also just launched a podcast centered around getting to know our homeless youth in hopes to better understand how to stop it by getting to know the young people who survived it. Listen to the very first episode, here.

Someone Like You – The One With Dj

It’s Friday, which means another episode of Someone Like You is ready for download. This week is The One With Dj and we meet a young man who has been to hell and back, back again and got back on the wagon.

I’m glad you’re here, especially those who have stuck with me these last three months and have fared my nervous laughter and questionable audio. I appreciate you all SO much. And for those of you who might be new, my name is Shannon and I’m the voice who narrates this show. Someone Like You is about putting a face to the homeless and answering these three questions: Who are the homeless? How did they become homeless? How do we end homelessness?

For the last few months we have been able to meet a new voice who shares their story of survival ever other Friday, and today is a little bittersweet because my guest today is the last interview I have to share for the year. But don’t worry! I’ll be working on getting more interviews next year so I will be back for season 2. Follow me on Instagram @sjrandol to know the second season two airs.

Dj grew up in Highland Park, spent some time in Hollywood and now lives in a sweet apartment next to Staples Center.

He’s working at Trader Joe’s and Bed, Bath & Beyond, AND has prime physical custody of his 18-month old son. He spends his free time getting his little guy familiar with sports and prepping him for pre-school/daycare.

There are nearly 6,000 homeless youth searching for a safe place to sleep each night in the city of Los Angeles and 4.2 million young people will experience a form of homelessness within the next year.

Meet Dj.

The One With Ms. Lon – Someone Like You

It’s Friday, which means another episode of Someone Like You is ready for download. This week is The One With Ms. Lon and we meet Covenant House California’s Alumni Coordinator and RA, Lon Usher.

She’s originally from Kentucky, ran away from home when she was 16 years old and has been working with Covenant House California for thirty years. We discuss what she’s learned throughout her years working with homeless youth, the stories that have affected her the most and what she believes will help end youth homelessness.

If you’re new here, this podcast is about putting a face (or voice) to youth homelessness in the hopes it’ll be harder to ignore and together we can be the solution.

Every other Friday a new episode will air with a new voice sharing their story of surviving life on the streets AND how they got back on their feet. This show is all about answering these three questions: who are the homeless, how did they become homeless, and how do we begin to end homelessness? (except this one because we’re speaking to the fabulous Ms. Lon!)

There is nearly 6,000 homeless youth searching for a safe place to sleep each night in Los Angeles, and nearly 4.2 million young people will experience a form of homelessness within the next year and I’m willing to bet these kids are a lot like you and me. The solution starts with us and I truly believe we’re better together.

PS: If you haven’t subscribed, rated or reviewed the podcast please do so now! Thanks, friends! I’ll see you back on the radio in two weeks for another voice to meet.

The One With Luke (Not Skywalker) – Someone Like You

Hello friends! By the time you’re reading this, I will be just waking up from the annual Sleep Out fundraiser I participate in each year that benefits homeless youth programs at Covenant House California. If you’d like to support my Sleep Out campaign for homeless youth, you can donate here. There’s still time! ❤

This week on Someone Like You we meet Luke. A great dude who was born and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana, with a small stint in Missouri. He was a part of the Jump Rope Club and was a running back on his high school’s football team.

Luke was a pleasure to talk to, I can’t even begin to describe how much fun I had joking back and forth with him. There was so much laughter, he’s a good dude. That being said, he’s walked a lot of life and I want you to hear his story. After building a relationship with someone in the music industry he hopped on a plane to L.A. to chase his dreams.

It went south moments after he landed in the entertainment capital of the world.

The interview format is a little more casual this episode, trying to figure out what format is more pleasurable for those listening. So let me know how you like this episode layout versus the previous four episodes.

Welcome to the fifth episode of Someone Like You. I’m glad you’re here.

PS: If you haven’t subscribed, rated or reviewed the podcast please do so now! Thanks, friends! I’ll see you back on the radio in two weeks for another voice to meet.

I play better on Instagram than Facebook but regardless, be my friend online. RamblinRandol is my quest for true belonging.

Girl, Routine Can Make Me Neurotic If I’m Not Careful

I’m not kidding girl, routine can make me neurotic if I’m not careful and I’ll tell you why in a minute. But first, can I get a high five for realizing this about myself? It’s like a huge exhale. Who knew it was so important to be curious, especially when it comes to yourself.

Over the last few weeks, I have been participating in Rachel Hollis’ #Last90Days challenge which is all about taking ownership in your own life and because the last 90 days of the year can be the most challenging, with holidays and extra family functions, it’s a great reminder that you get to choose what happens inside your own life.

The success in owning your last 90 days is completing Hollis’ 5 To Thrive each day.

Get up an hour earlier than you normally do and use the time for yourself.
Workout for at least thirty minutes.
Drink half of your body weight in ounces of water each day.
Give up one food category you know you shouldn’t be eating.
Write down ten things you’re grateful for every single day.

Simple or overwhelming, depends on the person. Know what I’m saying? This is where I begin to explain the title of this blog and first, I must note Hollis makes a point to stress these five are to motivate you not strangle you i.e. you’re not going to be on your A-game every day, so when you do slip up, don’t waste anytime crying over spilt milk.

A few months ago I wouldn’t have been able to HEAR the reminder because I don’t accept anything less than perfection when attacking a challenge or professional goal.

Case and point. For two years I had a strict exercise routine which included a morning mile and a half run every morning, legs every Tuesday, ClassPass once a week, swimming (during the summer) in the afternoons (my ‘fun’ exercise for the summer but not a replacement for cardio), arms and abs every other day and sometimes I’d double up.

I didn’t believe in rest days or legs that didn’t hurt for three days after Tuesday. If I skipped a run or just didn’t feel like doing the sit-ups, I’d feel like a failure and spin into an awful negative self-talk about how awful I was for not being able to complete one simple task, how could I be so lazy?

The over-exercising led to other issues. I ate whatever I wanted because I was exercising so much it didn’t matter. So when the wheels to my train eventually flew off, it took an additional year to figure out where I went so wrong.

BALANCE. I lacked balance. I’m an intense person, mediocre isn’t in my vocabulary. So I go balls to the wall with everything and have a hard time accepting I’m human, who can’t do all. the. things.

Let me say it again for those who might be sitting in the back row. If I’m human, you sure as shit are, too. BALANCE. BALANCE. BALANCE. BALANCE! There’s no reason to choke yourself, writing this because I need the reminder for myself!

And that is what I’ve brought to my Last 90 Days challenge. My Five To Thrive is tailored to what I need, not what I should be doing.

For example, I don’t get up an hour earlier than normal because my normal is already an hour early so I can run my pups. Instead of giving up a food group I’ve given up my fourth meal because it’s a bad habit I’ve been ready to give up. My thirty-minute exercise doesn’t have to be balls to the wall (like, can’t walk for three days) in order to ‘count.’ If I take the dogs for a walk for thirty minutes–that’s good, it’s about getting out and moving.

The best gift I’ve given myself these last 90 days is grace. I’ve missed a few gratitude journals and I give myself rest days from exercise. The world is still turning, and I’m not beating myself up about it.

“We tend to forget that baby steps still move us forward.”

I play better on Instagram than Facebook but regardless, be my friend online. RamblinRandol is my quest for true belonging. I also just launched a podcast centered around understanding the homeless youth epidemic, subscribe and join me on this brand new journey!

The One With Eustolia – Someone Like You Podcast Ep. 4

Like I promised last week, we are back to regular programming and this week we meet another Covenant House California Alumni, Eustolia. She is now twenty-five years old and living in her very own apartment while attending Pasadena City College for her AA in welding.

For those who may have forgotten: Someone Like You is about putting a face to the homeless and answering these three questions: Who are the homeless? How did they become homeless and how do we begin to end homelessness?

There are 4.2 million young people in our country who will experience a form of homelessness within the next year and I believe we can make a difference by learning who these young people were and their story.

We all have a beginning that influences the rest of our story. Be sure to listen to this week’s episode and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple, and Spotify.

Here is a little sample of what you’ll hear on this week’s episode to get you started:

Eustolia, can you share what was your worst night on the street what you remember the most? It was back when I was still a minor and using drugs. I would stay in the hallways of apartment buildings and I still remember the pain in my back, I feel the cold, and then having to go to school the next day. I couldn’t go home you know? All the fights with my Dad and other stuff just made me feel like I needed to suck it up.

Her father never provided a stable or safe living environment her whole childhood. They were constantly bouncing from house to house because rent could never be paid and she was placed around in different foster care homes before she got put into the juvenile detention system.

There’s a pattern here. A lack of parental and adult guidance. She never had a stable living arrangement and her father constantly let her down in a big way, I’m not talking like he missed one of her soccer games I’m talking like her safety was never his concern. When you have a parent who can’t provide for you and you as the child can see the decisions they’re making aren’t smart then it’s incredibly difficult to understand the world around you.

Not to mention, she attended a poor school where funding was low and the teachers were more like babysitters than educators, who didn’t care about the success of their students, regardless because they were under the assumption they’d end up dead or in jail. That’s a tough realization to notice as a kid. She needed an adult who believed in her.

Listen to episode four The One With Eustolia, to hear more of her story and where/what she’s doing today.

I play better on Instagram than Facebook but regardless, be my friend online. RamblinRandol is my quest for true belonging.

The Best Carrot Cake Recipe I’ve Ever Frickin Eaten and Made

This is the best carrot cake recipe I’ve ever frickin eaten and made, hand to the dessert Gods. I had someone who hates ‘vegetable cake’ beg to take some home, a woman who isn’t a fan of super sweet desserts rave about its taste, and someone who was strictly doing keto practice the 80/20 rule and had a taste after everyone at the table told her it would be worth it.

That’s how good this recipe is, seriously.

We were having a birthday party at the office for a coworker and I opted to make her favorite cake to celebrate. If the previous paragraph didn’t convince you, it was a huge hit and I highly recommend it.

Here are some tips based off my first time baking it:

Make sure the cake is level in the pie tins. Slam it straight down on the counter a few times to make sure it’s even, otherwise, you’ll end up with a cake that looks drunk.
I didn’t use all of the glaze to soak each layer, it was way too hard to get out of the tins when I tried to soak all of it into the cake. I’d guess I used about half the second time around, and while it was still very wet, it was manageable.
A rubber spatula and butter knife work just as well to ice the cake, don’t worry about not having all the fancy equipment. My double broiler was a pot of boiling water and a glass bowl on top, you can do it!

This is what mine looked like via my iPhone, haha.

PS: yes, I used my big Tupperware container as a cake carrier.

Here is the recipe that I think was published in Southern Living but made famous by Chrissy Teign and I found here.

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrot
1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (3 ½-oz.) can flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Buttermilk Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup butter or margarine
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting:
¾ cup butter or margarine softened
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (3-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F and line 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with wax paper; lightly grease and flour wax paper. Set pans aside.
Stir together first 4 ingredients.
Beat eggs and next 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Fold in carrot and next 3 ingredients. Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Make the glaze: Bring all ingredients to a boil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Boil, stirring often, 4 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.
Make the frosting: Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.
Remove cakes from the oven and drizzle buttermilk glaze evenly over layers; cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.

Hope you enjoy! If you make it, let me know how it comes out and share a picture in the comments.

The One With Why – Someone Like You Podcast

The time has come,’ the Walrus said,

      To talk of many things:

Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —

      Of cabbages — and kings —

And why the sea is boiling hot —

      And whether pigs have wings.

Why am I so passionate about homeless youth? Well, it’s layered. This week’s episode tells my first experience that unlocked a much more personal reason.

When I was twenty I hit a rough patch. I dumped my boyfriend (now Husband <3) because he loved me too much, yes you read that right and didn’t want to stay at my apartment because my roommate and her boyfriend lived there. So without mine, it felt like I was intruding on their home, so I stayed out.

Ate out, drank out, went out. For the first time in my entire life, I was irresponsible with money and it got me in trouble. My roommate wanted to move in with her boyfriend and I needed to find another place to live, but I didn’t have enough to put down another first month’s rent and security deposit.

This is where it gets tricky, and what I buried for years until participating in my first Sleep Out. Listen to today’s episode to hear the full story and I promise, next episode will follow the regular programming.

Thanks, friends!

Ps: if you’d like to donate to my 2018 Sleep Out campaign via Covenant House California, you can support me here: https://www.sleepout.org/participant/17254 – every donation instantly doubles because of Marconi Foundation for Kids

Someone Like You podcast is dedicated to answering these three questions: who are the homeless? How did they become homeless? What can we do to end homelessness? So join me as I try to find the solution, one interview at a time.

I play better on Instagram than Facebook but regardless, be my friend online. RamblinRandol is my quest for true belonging.

Will You Support My Sleep Out Campaign via Covenant House California?

I need your help. Will, you support my Sleep Out campaign via Covenant House California and donate today? Donate here. On November 15th, I have accepted Covenant House’s challenge to spend a night sleeping on the street so homeless youth don’t have to.

The Sleep Out is not about pretending to be homeless. It’s an act of solidarity with the 4.2 million young people who experience homelessness each year. It’s a decision that we can’t stay indoors while so many kids remain outside.

One night can make a difference.

If you’re curious as to what the Sleep Out is all about, watch this video from last year’s Sleep Out (where I helped raise $30,000 for Covenant House California!).

They say ‘third times a charm’ and I’m hoping my third years means breaking the bank in donations to benefit Covenant House California and its homeless youth programs, and I need your help to break my fundraising goal.

57% of homeless kids spend one day of every month without food.

Some may remember my first Sleep Out experience, I shared a video and blog the morning after and shared how much impact this one night had on me. You can read it and watch the video here.

It opened my eyes in a big way. Covenant House offers these young people so much more than a safe place to sleep – they welcome each young person with absolute respect and unconditional love, and their continuum of care provides essential services to help young people transition from homelessness to independence.

46% of homeless kids on the street are fleeing violence at home.

Can you imagine being in high school and making the decision that being on the streets is safer than in your own home, and then following through with it?

Every donation matters, it doesn’t matter if you give $25, $50, or a whopping $100. It makes a difference. Plus, your donation instantly doubles because the foundation I work for is providing a match. So your $50 becomes $100 in the matter of one click.

Please help me help these kids in need by making a donation in support of my efforts!

The One With Mark Anthony – Someone Like You podcast

It’s Friday and the SECOND episode of Someone Like You has dropped! This week we meet Mark. He’s a twenty-two-year-old Pasadena college student who wants to one day run his own business that incorporates his art.

In his words, he was chronically homeless all throughout school and when he entered his Senior year of high school his Mom kicked him out from their living arrangement at the time, so he had to figure out where to go after the final bell rang.

Growing up he didn’t have a father figure or a role model because his father went to jail and got deported. Mark’s uncle (which he now realizes could’ve been a role model) died after a horrific motorcycle accident around the same time he lost his father. He was only seven years old.

The house he claims as his ‘childhood home’ had his grandmother, big sister, aunt and her son, his mom, and uncle all living under one roof. The reason quotations are around childhood home is because Mark rarely ever stayed there while he was growing up.

His story is complicated, as many of the youth who have experienced homelessness are. Take a listen and meet Mark, and if something strikes you tell us about it in the comment section below.

There are nearly 35,000 kids searching for a safe place to sleep each night in the U.S. alone, and if you’re living in California like me, Los Angeles has about 6,000 youth out on the street each night and the Bay area has about 3,500 kids.

I play better on Instagram than Facebook but regardless, be my friend online. RamblinRandol is my quest for true belonging.