Today has been a good Monday. On the scale of various Monday's in this
house (1 being the worst 10 being the best) I give it a 6-good.
I am generally pining for a stiff drink by noon on Mondays but today I've
been getting by just fine on my standard 5 cups or so of coffee.
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| post nap, re-using my Starbucks cup from a coffee my friend brought me earlier- making the experience last as long as possible, plus I think my current coffee soaked up some of the previous coffee flavor since I didn't rinse it out... gross |
I think yesterday took the place of
Monday. Mike is still on his end-of-the-semester work binge trying to
complete an absurd amount of work in a tiny amount of time. Therefore
Sunday, which is usually the pinical of our week, a day full of daddy-daughter
time and mommy time-off, was just another typical poop-filled day (very
litterally).
I did however get the remainder of my
Christmas shopping done during a brief stint where Mike took over with
one kid and I took the other one to the Mall with me- pushing a double stroller felt amazing.
You know you're old when getting
Christmas shopping done feels this good, when you're young you just sit
and think about all of the shopping other people are doing for you...
those were the days. For real.
Another positive of yesterday was this buttermilk coffee cake that I made, I was really hoping that I could find the recipe online so that I wouldn't have to type it out, but I was not so lucky, so my little fingers will slave away for your benefit- you better make it.
It was super moist and delicious- I would recommend making it for a larger group of people (or being really gluttonous) because it was best served that day- although I thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers for breakfast, lunch and second lunch today.
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With out further ado, Betty Crocker's Buttermilk Coffee Cake:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (I never use nutmeg- it makes me uncomfortable)
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cups buttermilk or sour milk*
1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds (I never use nuts either, they make me even more uncomfortable)
1) Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of a 13x9 inch pan.
In a large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; set aside 1/2 cup(this is important to do, I never cut butter in, I always melt in and mix because I am lazy- but it counts in this recipe)
Stir in baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg into remaining crumb mixture.
2) In a medium bowl combine eggs and buttermilk. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Stir together reserved crumb mixture and nut; sprinkle over batter.
3) Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm.
*NOTE to make sour milk, for each 1 cup of sour milk needed, place 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar in glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1 cup total liquid; stir. Let milk mixture stand for 5 minutes.
For a buttermilk coffee cake ring (I did not do this, but maybe you prefer rings):
Prepare as above except grease and flour a 10-inch fluted tube pan and toast the nuts.** Spoon half of the batter into prepared pan. Combine reserved sup crumb mixture and the toasted nut; sprinkle over batter. Top with remaining batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack, remove from pan, serve warm.
** NOTE to toast nut: spread pieces in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes or until the pieces are golden brown, stirring once or twice.
That was a lot of typing, I hope you feel guilty if you don't make this- kidding, but really it would be worth it to try.
Enjoy!
