Lazy Day & Coffee Cake

John went out fishing today so I had the day to myself. I was reading a good book..."Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins. It's the second book of 3 ,of the Hunger Games. I enjoy reading YA books in between other books I'm reading for a couple of reasons. One...because they're kind of fun and usually a quick read; and the other reason is then I can recommend titles to teens who are trying to figure out what to read. The first book "The Hunger Games" was a teen favorite, so was #3 "Mockingjay"...so I decided to see what they were about. I made the mistake of reading "Mockingjay" first...and spent a good part of the book trying to figure out what the heck was going on and who the people were...haha. It is a little different than what I normally read...sort of SiFi...but also exciting and a love story too. (terrible description...but...for now that's all I've got) Anyway Book #3 intrigued me enough to make me go back and read 1 & 2. I finished the "Hunger Games" last week and lucked out and got "Catching Fire" on Thursday. (That's one good thing about finding out about books after they have become popular...you don't have to wait for the next one to be written!) anyway...I was reading away all morning...finished it and I will have to go back and see Book 3 again...to have it all make sense! SOOOOO.....after I finished the book and walked the dog...I decided to bake something.I recently got some new mixing bowls from Pampered Chef. They are great! My old Tupperware bowls kept getting used for holding FISH!...when I complainednicely asked John to use something else for the fish...he told me if I wanted to order some new mixing bowls...that would be fine...since my current ones were perfect for holding his fish.
I was going to try to find some more Tupperware...but when I had a PC party...I kind of fell in love with the mixing bowl set. Each stainless steel bowl has measurements inside, a thumb grip and a non-slip bottom...and a lid! Nice!
I was making Streusel Coffee Cake (from Nov.2011) Southern Living magazine.The streusel topping is made from
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup chopped pecans and 1/4 cup softened butter. Mix the first three together and then add the butter and mix together until crumbly. Set aside.
Mix 8 oz cream cheese and 1/2 cup butter( at room temperature) together.
Beat until creamy. Gradually add sugar.

Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.

Sift together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Add flour mixture alternating with 1/2 cup milk to the butter mixture.
Begin and end with the flour mixture, Beat just until blended after each addition.
Stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp almond extract.(yum...I love the almond smell!)
Pour batter into 13 x 9 inch pan. You can grease and flour the pan..or just use PAM.
Top with streusel mixture and put in (preheated) 350 oven.
Make yourself a cup of coffee.
And have a piece of warm coffee cake!