Coffee Cake

Every year I give up sweets for Lent and every year I break the fast on Easter morning with my mom's coffee cake. Which, in fact, is a recipe from her mom. This year was no exception, but when I was asked to bring a birthday cake for a morning celebration at work I decided it was my turn to make the single best coffee cake you'll ever taste. That's an official title. I declare it to be so.

There is something I love about following recipes hand-written from my mom and grandma. My grandma passed away years ago, but there is something I find so comforting in leafing through the giant cardboard box of recipes penned in her own hand. Every time I see the word "oleo" in her penmanship (which is remarkably similar to my mom's and, at times, my own) I miss her just a little bit more.

Grandma Day's Coffee Cake
This makes a double recipe. To half it, cut the ingredient quantities in half and bake in an 8x8 or 9x9 pan and vary baking time accordingly, checking after about 30 minutes.

for the cake:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
3 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

for the topping:
2 cups pecans, chopped
4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups brown sugar
2-4 teaspoons cinnamon, depending on how cinnamon-y you like it

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and generously butter a 10.5x15.5 pan. (I have not made this in a 9x13, though I am sure it would be fine.)

Cream butter, sugar and eggs in a mixer and add milk. Incorporate flour, baking powder and salt, mixing until well combined. Set aside.

For topping, mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until well combined.

Pour half of the cake batter into the pan, spreading with a rubber spatula as necessary (it will be thick). Sprinkle about half the topping in an even layer. Pour remaining batter on top and be careful to spread out as well as possible. This is hard to do because of the topping. It will seem as if there is not enough, but it will spread as it bakes, so just cover it as well as possible.  Cover with the remaining topping mixture and bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Good Day

Today has been a pretty great day. To know me is to understand how truly rare such a positive description is. Not because we typically have bad days (those are rare, actually), but just because I am not an overly positive person. Happiness is not the norm in my range of emotions, but that's a story for another day.

There was nothing spectacular that happened today, nothing to celebrate. It was just a really nice blend of being productive, an absence of meltdowns, and enjoying each others' company.

We slept in, went out for breakfast, worked in the yard and cleaned out the car, visited the grandparents, bought Anderson's bunk bed (practically for a song!), had frozen yogurt, got 2 boys to sleep by 6, ordered Thai food and began to watch Downton Abbey (finally!). A day well spent. The best days are always those left unplanned aren't they?

There are no photos because, well, I am enjoying my evening too much to upload them. Maybe tomorrow.

Lettuce

Anderson, you may just be the only kid on the planet who goes into hysterics because you "neeeeed" to eat lettuce. I have the video to prove it. Though I cannot show it to you here as my technological capabilities are not so advanced as to be able to upload it.



The incident went something like this: We went to the "farm park", aka Golden View, to feed the animals and play on the playground. I packed a bag of produce that was most definitely past its prime. We started to feed the bunnies and you decided you wanted to eat the lettuce. You decided you neeeeded said lettuce and began to throw a fit. Never to be one to deny my boy his veggies I tore away the outer leaves and let you pick at the core. Gross. But you were content. Chewing on your lettuce core you were happy.

Until there were no more leaves acceptable for human consumption. At which point you began to scream. Loudly. "Leeeettuuuuuce!!!!!!!!!! Lettuce, lettuce, lettuce! I want lettuce right NOW!" Oh my word. I offered goldfish, candy, water, anything I had and you refused. I would have given you chocolate covered chocolate bars if they would have made you happy. But you just kept screaming for lettuce. And kept trying to steal the bag of rotten vegetables. Wouldn't you know the animals weren't very hungry that day and there was not a trash can in sight?

I decided it was time to get out. As nice families watched, I followed my screaming child to the car. "Leeeettuuuuuuce!!!!!" I'm not sure if they were embarrassed for me because you were screaming or if they were secretly jealous that my kid was so obsessed with his leafy greens. Either way, we high tailed it out of there with the promise of some nice fresh lettuce when we got home.

On the way home we stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's for something and you asked demanded that I get some lettuce while you and Baby Beck waited in the car. By the time I came back out to the car you were asleep. But not so asleep you couldn't do this:

That's right. You ate the lettuce in your sleep. You absolutely did not want to wake up, but you just couldn't resist that cold crisp Romaine.

I don't think I will ever understand how the mind of a 3 year old works.

Hop-scotch

We are learning to play hop-scotch over here. Good times.

Spring Break

Spring break brought thunderstorms and rain, lots of family and friend time and a few sleepless nights with a sick 3 year old in our bed.

We played choo choos every morning. I am always "Lady".

I shamelessly planted the boys in front of the tv with their breakfast so I could enjoy mine alone.

We did a lot of snuggling in bed

 We ate home grown spinach.

And made potato cheese soup.

The Easter Bunny brought Anderson a bug catcher and magnifying glass. We have had a little spider living in there for a week now and Anderson has magnified just about everything in the house. 

Anderson and Baby Beck got into the wipes and "cleaned" everything from the coffee table to the french doors to the mirrors. Clearly they needed more supervision while I was making dinner.

I made salted caramel chocolate chip cookie bars that did not cook all the way through and ended up as a pizookie. Happy accident.

 

We spent a lot of time with Alphie

and drawing with sidewalk chalk in the front yard.

We went to the park

 and rode bikes

 and enjoyed the sunshine when it decided to come out.

 I had a much needed girly day with Jihan

and ate entirely too much.

 We even managed to squeeze in a date night.

Vacations never seem long enough, but all in all in was a good one. Counting the days til summer. (46?)

Vacuum

I can totally justify the outrageous cost of my brand new, super-amazing, not to mention beautiful vacuum cleaner with how much fun Baby Beck has every time I use it. Which, luckily for him, is at least once a day.

Daddy

Anderson, you're a Daddy's boy. It's been hard, without a doubt, to always come in second, to be the one pushed away, to be the "mean one". When you wake up in the middle of the night you tell me, "No, Mommy! I want my daddy!". In the morning when I want to play trains with you again you tell me you want Daddy to play with you. Nobody can do anything as well as Daddy. You love him more than anything on this Earth. It is something special, the two of you. I don't try to compete. I just sit back and soak up the love the two of you have for one another. And occassionally I bribe you with treats. I'm sure that one day it will be my turn.

5 more minutes

We've been working on making transitions a little less painless around here- leaving somewhere, turning off the tv, getting off the iPad, etc. Nobody likes being in the middle of a good time only to be told it is time to stop or to leave. I can only imagine that being 3 makes those transitions about a thousand times more traumatic. I have started giving Anfderson fair warning with pretty great success. I tell him when we have five more minutes, threee, two, one, etc. and I end with a final "count to ten" (he usually helps with that, making it an easy process). OK, so I may over and/or under exaggerate the times a bit to suit my needs (he's 3, what does he know about the duration of a minute?), but it seems to work almost every time. Meltdown overted. Most of the time, anyway.

Bow tie

I made Baby Beck a bow tie for Easter. So cute. One day he'll thank me for dressing him like such a distinguished young man.

I started at about 9 pm the night before Easter and was finished by about 9:07. I tried to follow this tutorial, but realized I did not have the glue gun at the house so I kind of had to make it up as I went along, following the measurements given. Not nearly as clean on the back as hers, but for a one-time wear, it didn't matter all that much.

Easter

Easter was perfect. Family, friends, nice weather, and loads of candy.

Most of the pictures (well, all the good ones at least) were taken by Natalie.