Holiday Grand Plan - Week 12 - Attic? Or Catch Up?

It is Week 12 of the Holiday Grand Plan and we are heading into the last trimester of this little adventure!  This week's deep cleaning section is the attic, which we don't use for anything but extra insulation and storing the furnace, so I have a week to catch up on all the stuff I have missed.  Perfect timing!

It's a good thing, too, because after all my bragging last week about how I don't have to do much for Thanksgiving at Mom's, it looks like Batman may arrive this week and I'll be in charge of EVERYTHING!   I'm not that worried because I do Christmas every year and sort of have the routine down.  There will only be nine of us, and my MiL and her cousin and my aunt will all pitch in.  No one is high maintenance, so there won't be any fancy centerpieces or place cards.  Just plenty of good food and gratitude.

I made a breakthrough on gift ideas for The Pit Boss.  I now have an idea for his birthday AND Christmas, which is just about a jackpot for me.  If I could figure out our dads, it would be easy breezy from here til December.  Seriously.  Why are men so challenging to shop for?  Oh, I remember!  Because when they want something they just go buy it.  Yeah, that.

Gracie is going to make our freezer meal this week.  She has asked if she can cook dinner one night a week, and her selection this week is Crock Pot Chicken Bolognese Sauce.  I'll have her double it and freeze half for a busy December night.

I think this week my treat to freeze will be another coffee cake for breakfasts when my boy is home next week. 

Marbled Coffee Cake

• 1 square unsweetened chocolate
• 1 Tbsp shortening

• 1/2 C butter, softened
• 1/2 C shortening
• 2 C sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 C buttermilk (or 1 C milk + 1 tsp vinegar)
• 3 C flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350.   Grease and flour a 10" tube pan.
2. Microwave chocolate square and 1 Tbsp shortening until melted; set aside.  
3. Cream butter and 1/2 C shortening.  Gradually add sugar, beating well on medium speed.  Add eggs one at a time, beating after each.  dissolve baking soda in buttermilk.  
4. Combine flour and salt; add to creamed mixture alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour.  Do not overbeat.   
5. Stir in almond and vanilla extract.
6. Remove 2 C of the batter and mix with the chocolate/shortening from step 2. 
7. Spoon 1/3 of remaining batter into pan.  Top with 1/2 of chocolate batter.  Repeat layers, ending with the plain. 
8. Gently swirl with a butter knife to create a marbled effect.
9. Bake at 350 for 65-70 minutes or until done.
10. Cool in pan 10-15 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Do you have an attic to clean?  If not, what will you use this week to catch up on? 



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