Monday, March 28, 2011

Brown Sugar-Pecan Coffee Cake

I have the recipe for a fantastic coffee cake! I have made it three times in the month of March. Everyone who has eaten it has loved it! Enjoy...


Brown Sugar-Pecan Coffee Cake
from Southern Living Christmas Cookbook

Ingredients:
-2 cups all-purpose flour
(in an attempt to be healthier, I did 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup all-purpose)
-2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
(for the same reason as above, I just did between 1 and 1 1/2 cups of the b.suga)
-3/4 cups butter, cubed
(works best if you really chop the butter up)
-1 cup sour cream
-1 large egg, lightly beaten
-1 tsp. baking soda
-3 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
-1 cup chopped pecans
(I also used a tablespoon or so of butter at the end)

Procedure:
-Stir together flour and brown sugar in a large bowl.
-Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender or 2 forks until crumbly.
-Press 2 3/4 cups crumb mixture evenly on the bottom of a lightly greased 13x9'' pan
-Stir together sour cream, egg, and baking soda and add to remaining crumb mixture.
-Stir until dry ingredients are just moistened.
-Pour sour cream mixture over crumb crust in pan.
-Stir together granulated sugar and cinnamon
-Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon mixture and pecans on top.
(I sprinkled the pecans first and then the sugar/cinnamon mixture)
-Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean.
(After 25 minutes, I pulled it out and noticed that not all of the cinnamon/sugar combo had melted on the top. I melted 1 tsp. butter in the microwave and then poured it over the cake. Then put it back in for the last 5 minutes. Delish.)

As I said before, huge success. Such a success, I don't have "before" pictures because it always got eaten before I could take a picture of the whole cake.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Read Across America Day

Wednesday, March 2nd, was the anniversary of Dr. Seuss' birthday! My school always goes all out to celebrate. I had my students come dressed as their favorite character from a book, as well as bring in their fav book and a stuffed animal "reading buddy." The whole day was focused on reading and celebrating Dr. Seuss' legacy as a fantastic author. I also dressed up... as Lilly, one of the characters in many of Kevin Henkes' books. Specifically, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. She's basically a troublemaker. A creative one. Here are some pictures!

Me with other the teachers in the 1st-2nd grade level team
Lilly, Cindy Lou Who, 2 Stanleys from Crazy Hair Day

Cinderella. Her mom spent an hour on her hair that morning!

Tom Sawyer. A.Dor.Able.
(I made him remove his straw hat while working)

Green Eggs and Ham! (or as close as we could get to ham...turkey bacon)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

After!!

Very happy with the change!

It's goneeeeeeeee

Looking a bit more polished than before

I was finally able to donate my hair to Locks of Love!