Romancing the Cinnamon Roll

I love cinnamon rolls but have yet to perfect the art at home, they always seem to turn out tough or dry or flavorless, it is obviously the recipe and not the cook…well okay maybe there is an art to it I have yet to master.  That being said, these rolls actually turned out rather nice (foolproof?) and it is another use for the versatile Master Figgins.  This makes twelve big, gooey rolls.

Sweet Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls:

1 cup sweet sourdough starter
3/4 cup milk
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp bread machine yeast

Put everything in your bread machine/mixer/bowl and prepare as you would any sweet, slightly sticky roll dough using your method of choice, adjust flour and liquids as needed to obtain appropriate consistency.  After last rising, roll into a large rectangle.  Spread with softened butter (~2 tbsp), sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar (I used half white and half brown), and 1-2 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste).  Roll up, seal ends, cut into 12 rolls and place in a greased 9x13 pan, allow to rise until double and bake just until golden and bubbly.  Cool slightly and frost while still warm, allowing frosting to melt over rolls.

Frosting:

Mix 1/4 cup softened butter with 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/8 tsp salt.  Add a little powdered sugar and mix until stiff, add a splash of milk and mix until smooth.  Add more sugar (~3 cups total) and tiny amounts of milk (~2 tbsp total) as necessary, mixing until smooth, until you have a smooth frosting, almost of cake frosting consistency.

Christmas in a box

Next to getting married, buying a house, and having kids, buying a family christmas tree is next on the list for major life changes…perhaps I exaggerate (just a tad), but we have taken the plunge.  We've had a cute little four foot tree I picked up a few years ago on sale after christmas and it sufficed for our tiny apartment and with our childless family/indifferent baby we didn't need or want more.  Now I have a house and a coming three year old, it is time to start some family traditions of our own.  Real or fake is a very divisive issue, especially up at the north pole which we recently vacated; up there you could cut your own right in the backyard and likely find an elf or two to help you carry it home.  Here, trees of any sort are mythical and the poor creatures sold at the local tree lot are so pathetic even Charlie Brown would think twice about taking one home, especially when he'd have to sell a kidney to afford one.

I have always been a fan of fake (much easier!, no mess, use it year after year, no prickly dead tree to dispose of, etc.).  I suppose I miss that 'real pine smell,' but then I've never owned a new car either so I don't envy the mythical 'new car' scent people talk about.  I'd rather bake some bread or make cookies to get the house 'homey' in the olfactory sense.  I could always snort some pinesol if I get desperate or use one of those pine tree car fresheners as an ornament I suppose?  To me, the mess and fuss isn't worth a fresh piney scent.  So I got on the phone with santa and our tree came pronto…well it was delivered but it was ordered online and came UPS.  It is a dangerous thing ordering one of these beasts unseen, except for the postage stamp image on the website, but it should be okay, if it isn't we can always cover it with unsightly junk and hide the hideous foliage…wait, isn't that what this is all about in the first place?  Now the questions is, have I enough ornaments?  Probably not, our little four footer couldn't hold them all but this monster is another story.  I might have to buy some of those too!  So this is how christmas became commercialized, it is like that 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie' book beloved of small ones; if you do X then you must do Y, if Y then Z…and on and on.  Gracious, I have just lost my soul and all for want of a christmas tree…maybe we should avoid dyeing easter eggs too, just in case…maybe I should get the grinch to come and remind me of the true meaning of the holiday, but have you any idea of the price of Roast Beast right now?  Oh dear, oh dear…the holiday stress has begun!

Snow on snow…with cookies and carols and more snow…!

This time of year is perilous, I start singing Christmas carols, but can usually restrain myself somewhat until Thanksgiving, then it all falls apart.  This year I am not so fortunate.  A storm swept in, buried us in snow, and now our highs are in the single digits.  I am used to living in a freezer six months of the year but this is a bit depressing, it is November!  It started Sunday night, the storm and the carols…that verse in 'In the Bleak Midwinter' with 'snow on snow, snow on snow…'  I can't help myself…but then I need something to do while I shovel!  Viva La Christmas!  But then snowstorms also put me in a baking mood which can be dangerous to one's waistline if one did not have shoveling to counteract it…bring on the cookies too!

Misguided Idealists

It was pitch dark outside, a car pulled into the driveway, and then the doorbell rang.  Without stood four looming creatures, draped in black with leering faces and bloody lips.  It wasn't Halloween.  For a moment I thought they were filming one of those bad horror movies or perhaps we had fallen into one. Then they asked for canned goods for the local food shelf.

I applaud those willing to be a little silly for charity.  I support our local food shelf.  I do not appreciate strange beings looming unanticipated out of the darkness and horrifying my toddler in the name of good will.  In fact, it makes me rather disinclined to be charitable.  But yes, I did support our local food bank, I cannot fault them for the lack of forethought on the part of their ambassadors (and it would speed these fell beings on their way).

The sad part is, these 'kids' were simply out on a lark, doing something to help others, and probably had no idea that their attire or unanticipated night for donning it was in any way disagreeable.  I appreciate their community spirit but not their means of going about it.  I am a little archaic in that I don't watch horror movies or even go near the 'halloween' section at the local variety store, it is all a little too creepy for me, but to these 'kids,' it is all perfectly acceptable and even 'cool,' can I still use that word?  No wonder people accuse me of being amish!

If you must go forth in all your horrid glory, do it on the approved night when such appearances are anticipated and damage to unwitting underlings can be mitigated.  Otherwise try wearing something less evil looking if you must invade storytime, it may even make us grumpy mama bears more generous.  Besides, it is hardly logical, which is perhaps even more disturbing.  I have never heard of demonic creatures going door to door in the name of charity, nor do the undead collect blood, brains, or assorted gore to assist the less fortunate among them.

That sounds like an interesting doctoral study for a sociology grad student: effect of costume choice on the generosity of local residents during collection of donated canned goods.  At least they were not clad as clowns!

Parmesan Garlic Mac and Cheese

As a general rule, I am not a huge fan of homemade mac and cheese (yes, the blue box has corrupted me, as it has my entire generation); I find it too thick, gooey, and it sits in the stomach for nearly a week.  With a few alterations, I actually made something that was both tasty and digestible.

1 16oz box noodles, cooked (shells, elbows, rotini, etc.)

8 oz of your favorite frozen veggie (I used corn, very creative), throw it in with the noodles halfway  
through cooking to save time/dishes

1 can cream of mushroom (or whatever) soup, mixed with 3/4 can milk

2 cups shredded cheese (I mixed cojack, mozzarella, velveeta shreds, Parmesan, and a mexican 4 cheese blend in a big bag and used that)

Heat the soup and cheese until melted and stir in the noodles and veggies, place in a 9x13 pan.

Mix 1 cup bread crumbs, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1-2 tsp garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste then mix in 3-4 tbsp melted butter until crumbly and spread evenly over noodle mixture.  Bake until bubbly and the crumbs are browned.