No more lounging around crocheting, watching movies, and generally being a bum. Today is a teacher inservice day at the Thompson house. Monday is back to the books and regularly scheduled chaos. We’re starting with an extra dose of crazy because I’m traveling next week to be with my parents while my mom has a surgery. That means in addition to the long-term planning and organizing, I have to have the details down for the next two weeks, plus added instructions and adaptations for MTG. Which means more coffee! And a coffee cake!

My main plans for today are to catch up on record keeping for the girls and see exactly how off track we are in the Grand Plan for the year. I don’t think we’re too far behind overall, but I know I’m off-track with Sprite. We’re still in the transition from mom-directed to self-directed learning for her, and I need to be a little more deliberate in helping her make that switch. I plan on using softball as a carrot to help her follow our mutually agreed upon plan. If she gets her stuff done in a timely manner, she’ll get to go to the batting cages next to the place where her siblings have orchestra on Tuesdays and Fridays. It’s nice when my kids have passions I can use to my advantage. Mwahahahaha!

The recipe for the Cranberry Swirl Coffee Cake pictured above, adapted from a recipe picked up in the Penzeys Spices store. I love that place. And I really love this coffee cake.

Ingredients

• 1 cup yogurt, plain or vanilla (I used Greek plain)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon pure almond extract (I reduced this from 1 tsp)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I increased this from ½)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (I increased this from ½ tsp. MORE CINNAMON!)
• 1 cup whole berry cranberry sauce (I used the leftover homemade stuff from Christmas, but canned will work)

It is advisable levitra without prescription http://valsonindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/VIL-DIV-2017-2018.pdf to take two tablets daily if one is suffering from flu and/or cold very frequently. Some best levitra prices women complain about lack of sexual desire, weaker erections and erectile dysfunction. Don’t stand and sit for too long. tadalafil buy That, unfortunately, viagra generic sale brings about other problems.
Icing:

• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoon milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• slivered almonds (optional, I didn’t have any. It worked)

Preheat oven to 325º. Grease and flour a 9×13 pan or a fluted tube pan and set aside. In one bowl, combine yogurt, oil, eggs, and extracts. Mix until smooth. In a speparate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, sugar, and cinnamon. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Drop the cranberry sauce by small spoonfuls on top of the batter. Bake for 25-40 minutes, depending on the pan size, until springy to the touch and lightly golden. Let cool. Prepare icing by combining ingredients and mixing until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake and sprinkle with slivered almonds.

It’s 3 days to the next semester, I’ve got a mostly clean desk, a lengthy to-do list, it’s raining and I’m wearing fuzzy socks. Hit it!