Let's monkey around: With a recipe that is!!!

We go through phases at work, where we get fixated on certain irrelevant things. We went through a little penguin phase. That was when the development team at my office create these cute little icons for us to use and we all went crazy over them. How can you not love a penguin?

We're making progress and finally moving on past our penguin phase and you could say that it's now the Year of the Monkey. I was looking around for a "bread" recipe the other day, I want to try to send my mom in Texas breakfast for Mother's Day, and thought that would be my best bet.

While I was browsing the Food Network site, I came across a Monkey Bread recipe. Distracted, I forgot about Mom and got totally fixated on the "monkey" aspect of this recipe. I have had Monkey Bread at a brunch at the Zodiac Room at Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas before and its delicious. I have the NM cookbook and the recipe is very complicated, therefore, I haven't tried to make it.

The Food Network recipe was really easy. It called for instant biscuits- now I can do that. While I was following the traditional bundt cake layout as the recipe suggested, I realized that I had quite a few biscuits left over and then I saw my cupcake pan still setting out- You know where I'm going with this, right?

MONKEY BREAD CUPCAKES!

Here's my adaptation on the Food Network Recipe:

Ingredients- Canned buttermilk biscuits, Sugar, Cinnamon, Butter, Brown Sugar, Pecans or Walnuts, Cooking Spray.

Process- In a large bowl, put about 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Take one 8 count can of biscuits and cut into sixths. Roll the biscuit wedges in the cinnamon sugar mix and place about 5 wedges per greased cupcake slot. For a standard 12 cup pan, I made about 10 per log of biscuits. Melt 1 stick of butter with 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Toss in 1/2 cup of chopped nuts. Pour the mixture on top of the cupcakes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

I left the coffee machine on today

"You'll be the stinky coffee person." That's what one of my friends told me when I mentioned that I wanted to start drinking coffee. How can you hear something like that and not have second thoughts about becoming a coffee drinker?

I didn't linger on the thought for too long. I am a coffee drinker- albeit, I'm holding steady at one cup a day. AND, I might say that I'm becoming quite the barista. My MooMoo even said that I was the best coffee maker in the family. If that's not a glowing endorsement I don't know what is. We talking about an accolade from a lady who drinks fully leaded coffee before naps and bedtime.

Here's what I've been doing lately:

• I go to Sprouts and first and always take a sample from the coffee bar. You know a little teaser to get the coffee juices going.
• I decide if I'm going for dark, medium or flavored blends.
• I'll then take my little coffee bag and mix a few of the different beans together to make my own customized coffee flavors. A little tip: I always work in about 1/4 cup of espresso into the blend. Nothing like a little wake me up.

Give it a go and let me know how it works out. Just don't be like me and get half way to the office and forget if you turned the coffee maker off. I hope it has one of those fancy little automatic turn off buttons...