Really Now – How Can This Be?

Today is both No Housework Day and Coffee Cake Day. While baking isn’t housework, it does create a mess and cleaning the kitchen is work. Unless you hide the dirty dishes for a day. Yeah, not in my house.

Speaking of doing the dishes, I’ve been on a journey this Lenten Season with the popular prayer app, Hallow. Each Friday Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt challenge listeners to a different kind of Fasting Friday, centered in that week’s theme. The first challenge was fun. It was a fast from noise. Turn off the TV, silence social media, whatever noise occupies your day silence it if only for 10 minutes. It’s amazing the things you can find to fill your day in silence, and the peace that silence brings.

The following week the theme was love. The point of the challenge was to sacrifice ourselves, to deny ourselves in little ways so that we might better love others. What a beautiful sentiment! This challenge was far more difficult, only because I had to create a different task then those suggested.

Mark Wahlberg said “Maybe instead of sitting down after dinner to relax, you do the dishes for your spouse. Maybe instead of your usual morning routine, you offer to make breakfast. Maybe instead of that next purchase on Amazon, you donate the money you would’ve spent to the poor. Maybe instead of scrolling for another couple of minutes on your phone, you send a kind text to someone who needs it.”

Here was my problem – after dinner the dishes are always done. It’s something Hubby and I do together, because we love one another. As far as the morning routine, Hubby would rather sleep a little longer than to get up early enough for breakfast on week days. On the weekend I make breakfast most mornings because I love my guys. So making breakfast as an expression of love was out. Besides, showing love is joyful, not a sacrifice.

We donate to the poor, not only with money each week but with canned goods for the Parish Pantry. I send messages of hope and uplifting thoughts wherever the need exists, even to complete strangers. So for me to sacrifice my own comfort for someone else required something a little different. Something more. I prayed more, opened my heart more, and spent time in silence as God guided me. While the challenge has ended and we’ve moved on to another Friday Fast, I’ve adapted times of silence and expressons of love for others as a daily part of my life. Which is really what this journey is all about in the first place.

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Well, that was a nice wandering off topic. Back to the post at hand. Unless I’m on vacation, No Housework isn’t an option. Oh, but making an amazing Coffee Cake for my family is. Enjoy and be blessed.

Nutty Cinnamon Brown Sugar Coffee Cake
Coffee Cake
1/3 cup Butter
3 Eggs
1 cup Milk
1 box Yellow Cake Mix
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped Pecans
1/4 cup chopped Walnuts

Heat oven to 350-degrees. Spray the bottom of a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan, set aside.

Melt butter, let cool. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, combine milk with eggs until foamy. Add cake mix and melted butter. Blend for 30 seconds on low to moisten. Increase speed to medium-high and blend for 2 minutes. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan, set aside.

In a bowl combine brown sugar, cinnamon and both kinds of chopped nuts. Sprinkle half of the nut mixture over the cake, swirl into the batter.

Scatter the remaining nut mixture over top of the coffee cake batter. Place coffee cake in the heated oven to bake for about 24 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 30 minutes before glazing.

Maple Glaze Finish
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Maple Extract
4 tablespoons Milk or as needed

In a bowl mix together the powdered sugar and maple extract. Add milk one tablespoon at a time until a smooth glaze forms.

Drizzle the glaze over the cooled coffee cake. Spread out with the back of a spoon to glaze the coffee cake. Serve and enjoy.

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You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.