One of my favorite smells? Baked goods in the oven.

I don't have a picture of this recipe, so I'm including a picture of the woman who taught me that if you can do it ahead - do it.

Like dipping your food in chocolate. Why wait?

Okay, so here's the coffee cake recipe that we cut out of The Kansas City Star. Delicious for breakfast, but its true brilliance is that you make it the night before. No mess in the morning; just pop it in the oven and let the good smells roll.

Overnight Coffee Cake

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup butter, softened (10 2/3 Tbsp.)

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans (more if you actually want to taste them)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside. Stir together topping ingredients and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately, mix in buttermilk and dry ingredients, stopping occasionally to scrape. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle topping evenly over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.