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!

Winter stories and other things

Last Saturday was the 2nd annual Coconut Run for the library. John was out of town, so I walked by myself. The hardest thing about going by myself is getting UP and getting there on time! hahah without John moving me along! Mostly I do these races to get the shirts! haha and get my exercise for the day.




Winter sunset
This week my regular storytime was canceled because the Friends of the Library were getting set up for a book sale (can't complain too much...they give our children's programs lots of $$$)...and of course 15 kids showed up. I hate when I don't get to do my program! Then I was told Feb 4th(5th?) I can't have my program because a school group is coming...now this sort of ticks me off...why do they have to schedule it for the same time/same day as my ONE program...Dianne does Toddler Time and LapTime 3 times a week...did they cancel her programs...of course not....GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR And then of course I got sent down to do Reference during lunch. Sometimes I love my job and sometimes......I wonder.
But I did get to go read to Amy's class on my day off. It was fun and they were happy to see me. It's been unusually chilly here so my winter and snow books were perfect.I love this story Grandmother Winter (* ok I totally screwed up there but can't figure out how to undo it...so who cares!)The illustrations are beautiful...the artist (Beth Krommes) uses scratchboard.This is her first picture book..
I love the details. Look at the birds!
If you've ever made a snowman...you have to like this one. Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
Cynthia Rylant describes all the different types of snow in this book...with lovely verse like this
"Some snow falls only lightly,
just enough
to make you notice
the delicate limbs of trees,
the light falling
from the lamppost,
a sparrow's small feet."

And the last book wasn't about the mittens you wear...but rather a kitten named Mittens...but the illustrations from this book written in the 1930's were too cute not to include.
And other favorites are included in this post from last year
http://annebk.blogspot.com/2010/01/winter-books-for-kids.html

Winter Books for kids

Since I have the day off tomorrow I decided I am going to go visit my friend Amy's class again and read a few stories to them...I am their unofficial "Rolling Reader" They didn't sign up for a reader and I didn't sign up to BE a reader...since I don't have a set schedule...so this arrangement has worked out pretty well for both of us. I usually manage to get to their class about once a month. This month...since it's January...I get to have some fun with some winter favorites! This first one I have already read to my Storytime group...and I will read it tomorrow if I have extra time....because even though the class is beyond the level of this book...the kids still enjoy it! I Love this book.. Snow Day! by Patricia Lakin. It reminds me of when we lived in Pittsburgh and we would wait to hear those magic words on the radio/weather report... "Snow Day today" ahhhh what fun! In Florida it's a Hurricane day...and if the hurricane really is coming...no one's going to be outside playing...but if the storm takes a turn...you might get lucky! anyway...it's great fun to read about SAM, PAM,WILL AND JILL and their fun in the snow.
Since we are getting close to Groundhog's Day...I get to read this book by Pamela Curtis Swallow....Groundhog Gets a Say. It's a cute story about a groundhog who thinks February should be "Groundhog Appreciation Month". Groundhog tells his friends all the reasons that groundhogs are important and impressive...so this story is a fun way to learn lots of facts about how groundhogs live, what they can do, like climb trees, swim, run as fast as the average 4th grader, dig burrows with their TEETH etc.
We had a 3 week cold spell here and we are having some more cooler weather...so I have to include two books about staying warm.haha
The Mitten Tree by Candace Christiansen is a lovely story about friendship and sharing. It starts off with a lonely old lady who notices all the children, except one, playing in the snow..and she realizes it's because he has no mittens. Worrying about him, she decides to knit him a pair of mittens and leave them by the tree for him to find. And so it goes...until she runs out of yarn....but then she gets a surprise herself. It's a nice story.
And then one of my very favorites... The Five Dog Night by Eileen Christelow....about two friends...Old Betty and Ezra.Betty has good intentions, she worries about her friend at the top of the hill...but Ezra is stubborn and thinks she's a "busybody" The author says this book was inspired by a true story of an elderly man in Vermont...who relied on his dogs to keep him warm in the winter. The colder the night...the more dogs in the bed....the pictures are cute and the characters are too! I read this every year to all my groups. :) I guess I better wrap this up....and put my books away so they are ready to go for tomorrow!