Rum Cake and Crescent Cookies and Chaos

It's been a few months since I sent one of these and now it's almost 2024?!!

The crescent cookies of legend

Hello, everyone! I hope you had a lovely Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas. (Apparently it’s been a while since I sent an edition of this little blog.) The Wilt household has seen a lot of chaos recently—much of it joyful, some of it not so joyful—but I have nonetheless forged ahead with my baking aspirations.

I made this rum cake a couple months ago, and it was lovely to share with a friend who came over for dinner. For some reason, though, I decided beforehand that a successful rum cake would solve most of my problems and possibly give me inner peace. It did not. (It’s always important to manage expectations.)

A different bake was an instant hit: Jurgen Krauss’ vanilla crescent cookies. They’re delightfully crumbly and buttery, and they’re so easy to make. Evan’s review: “They taste like Christmas.” And toddler Lewis, who is usually a picky eater, loved them. He ate one after another until he was too full for more. They’re just the right size for his little hands, and he had fun talking about the moon shape. (He calls the actual moon the “cookie star” when he sees it in the sky now.) 

What I’ve Been Working On

It was nice of our nation’s lawmakers to save the historic moment for me, but ousting the House speaker on my second day back from maternity leave—when I had hoped to catch up on the news and get settled in my work schedule—was a bit much. That month was a whirlwind. Among other stories, I wrote this after Rep. Kevin McCarthy lost the gavel and this when Rep. Mike Johnson won the speakership. And during the week of Thanksgiving, I explored how to make being a member of Congress a more friendly job for parents. (Maybe it was being covered in spit-up and juggling work with constant daycare illnesses that led me to that topic, but who’s to say.)

I joined the Allbritton Journalism Institute, a new nonprofit, this month, and I am so excited about the reporting I’m doing with the incredible team there. My first AJI story with two colleagues, Claire and John, was published recently. Keep an eye out for more when AJI’s publication, NOTUS, fully launches soon. You can sign up to get our stories in your inbox here.

My first fiction piece is also in this month’s edition of Analog Science Fiction & Fact. It’s a moody little space debris story and I am afraid to tell you all how to read it (I think it might be at Barnes and Noble??? Or you can buy it online??? Or your library might have a subscription????) because it feels so much more earnest and goofy than news writing! 

What I’m Reading

I loved Chelsea Patterson Sobolik’s recent book, Called to Cultivate. Reading it felt like sitting down for coffee, advice, and encouragement with a friend. I know I’ll be coming back to it through the years—and I love how it applies to women in every calling and stage of life. I also read Tim Keller’s book about work, Every Good Endeavor, which pushed me to think about my career and how God provides for us through the work of others in totally new ways.

I discovered one of my favorite science fiction books of all time, too: Eifelheim by the late Michael Flynn. I’ve always been a sucker for the “Catholic priest is confronted with space aliens” genre, but this book—set in a medieval town in the Black Forest—stands apart for its deep understanding of Christian theology and the rigorous historical research that must have gone into it. It’s also just beautiful writing at times: “If I must die, at least I have lived,” one stranded (and later baptized) alien tells our priest. “If my companions have perished, at least I have known them. If the world is cruel, at least I have tasted kindness. I had to cross to the far side of the sky to taste it but, as you say, the world is full of miracles.”

Somewhat relatedly, Garrett Graff’s new book chronicling the American government’s search for extraterrestrial life and investigations into UFOs was such a delight. I sometimes struggle with nonfiction (historians in particular have a hard time organizing their thoughts), but Garrett is a magazine journalist and knows how to tell a good story. I found myself laughing throughout the book—it captures moments of absurdity, both from the bureaucracy and the Truth is Out There contingent, so well without ever being mean-spirited—and I learned a ton.

And in the children’s literature department, I’m obsessed with Bear Snores On. It’s the coziest book for the winter, and the writing and illustrations are truly flawless. 

A Good Sermon

I loved this sermon from Redemption Hill Church’s Bill Riedel about failure and God’s faithfulness. Pastor Bill does a great job taking circumstances from long ago that are mostly foreign to us modern folk and showing how God’s character in those moments offers hope for our own lives.

Around the House

Zoe Joy has grown two sharp little teeth! We think she’s working on more. She remains the smiliest, happiest little lady in the land. She loves chatting—“Blah blah blah,”—she tells us. She’s incredibly observant and has been working hard to become part of the action. She’s always doing crunches and has been trying to crawl. She loved visiting family for Christmas and being covered with kisses.

Lewis loved Christmas, too, of course—it has been so fun celebrating holidays with him this year because he understands what’s happening enough to be excited about it! He’s talking in full sentences now: “Don’t eat it, Mama,” he reminds me when I put on chapstick. “Good burp, Dad!” he exclaims with enthusiasm when Evan burps. “I’m so handsome!” he says when he gets into a new outfit. (If I dress nicely for something, he tells me, “Mama so handsome.” Or—the most coveted compliment—“You look like Elsa.”) He is going through a major Frozen phase and has started singing the songs to us. His favorite is this one, because he is a man of taste. He continues to love exploring outside, learning about animals (sharks are the current favorite), and reading books.

Evan’s birthday was this month, and we managed to have our first honest-to-goodness date night since January. (We went out to a restaurant and caught most of Godzilla Minus One before we got too sleepy and had to go home.) We’ve enjoyed the weeks of relative peace and family time between semesters of law school, and we’re trying to mentally prepare for classes to start again soon. 

One big prayer request: We’d love a longer break between sicknesses. (Maybe even a full week???) Cold and flu season has been hitting us hard, and it seems like it will never end. Blargh! But even amid the illnesses, there is joy and camaraderie. We had a little dance party in our messy house yesterday because we were starting to feel better. Doing silly dance moves for a giggling toddler made my heart grow three sizes. And being stuck at home with coronavirus—the latest in our parade of maladies—is as good a reason as any to learn how to bake something new. (Bread??? Am I ready for bread now??? Intimidating! Exhilarating!)

Until next time,

Haley