Floppy Elephant

This morning I attempted a new yoga pose called Elephant’s Trunk pose. The “idea” is to hook a knee over the same side shoulder as the knee and then, wait for it, lift up your hips and to,!wait for it, flex your foot and suspend your leg, all at the same time. I honestly looked more like a floppy elephant. Somehow, by the grace of God, I managed to hook my leg on my shoulder but things went downhill pretty quickly from there. Trust me when I say, Dear Readers, it was not pretty. My reward? French press coffee (Russell made) and a New York-Style coffee cake (I made pre-floppy elephant.) I earned my lovely treats because not only did I brave the pose and manage to come out still able to climb the basement stairs to my kitchen, I had to stop partway through my workout to remove the cake! Not only that! I actually returned to my workout, on purpose, knowing full well the elephant “pose” had to repeated on the other side! I was laughing both at and to myself by now all while managing my Pranayama breathing. Again, on purpose! See? I earned my treats!

Getting back to the New York-Style coffee cake. Even if you have not attempted the floppy elephant pose, remember the Crumb Topping I am always promoting and encouraging you to make extra of so you have it on hand? (Visit my Recipes page for the recipe.) Well, I just added a little brown sugar and extra cinnamon to that yummy mix and dumped a layer over a simple thick cake batter mixture and baked it about 35-40 minutes at 350° in a glass 8x8 square baking dish. I sprinkled the top with powdered sugar before serving. The cake base may even be made with, GASP, a boxed cake mix if you like. It will be our secret. Just search the internet for New York Style coffee cake and find a cake base you like. Since you have the crumb mixture on hand, the cake will be in the oven before you can say, ‘floppy elephant.’