Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
The idea of waking up to a batch of homemade gooey cinnamon rolls baking in the oven is extremely novel isn't it? It's straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting! The reality is that it takes time for dough to rise and cinnamon rolls to bake. Since I'm the chief baker in my house, this fantasy isn't going to happen unless I take the bull by the horns and make my own cream cheese cinnamon rolls. Amidst a busy weekend I carved out a nice chunk of time for this doughy adventure. I let the dough rise, spread cream cheese on it, folded the dough and slathered it with filling then rolled it up and made legit cinnamon rolls. I then put those rolls in the fridge overnight with plans to bake them the moment the sun came up. Let me tell you; it was a true test of patience.
Early the next morning I could hear a few small little Cooper yawns coming through the baby monitor. It's time! It was as if I was pregnant and my water broke and I was getting to ready to rush to the hospital. In reality I ran into the kitchen, turned on the oven and took the cinnamon rolls out of the fridge to sit on the counter and rise. Within a half hour I had the cinnamon rolls in the oven. I made my coffee and waited for Casey to wake up to the delicious smell of cinnamon rolls baking away. I waited and waited and then it dawned on me. This wasn't his fantasy. It was mine. After I glazed the cinnamon rolls, I brought him a bite in bed and within minutes he was up and eating cinnamon rolls with us in the kitchen. If I can get him out of bed on a weekend morning before 8am with one bite of a cinnamon roll, it's a true testament to how good they are. Now let's ignore the fact that I ate three of them that morning. OK?
Oh! We can cross off something else from my 31 comes before 32 list! #9. Make cinnamon rolls from scratch= DONE!
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Potato Rosemary Pizza
Dear Low Carb/College Student Tracy,
I write this letter from the future! I am the Carb Loving Tracy of 2011! That's right. You will not spend the REST OF YOUR LIFE being low carb. Does that upset you? I doubt it. By the time you're this age, you won't care. So... Tracy. You are in college AND you are low carb. How does that even work?? What do you do when your roommate orders pizza? I just can't imagine how you manage! You should get an award for the those 4 years of being low carb. Sadly, you don't. Life is rough. You will learn this.
When you're 31, you'll make a fantastic pizza from scratch. And get this....this pizza will have POTATO on it. That's right. Hot Carb on Carb action! The crust is crispy & all profesh tasting and the potatoes are creamy & utterly delicious. Did I mention there's rosemary involved? Oh there's also some onion in there too! Booya! (a word of the future) They get nice and charred. It's heaven!!!
I know what you're thinking. How did you cave? What stopped you from being low carb? Well...hmmm...it's simple. You will move into a teeny 1 bedroom apartment with Casey when you graduate from college. Your parents will freak out but it's just because moving in with a boyfriend is a BIG deal. You'll understand this a few years later. They weren't stupid; they knew what they were talking about. You'll spend your nights cooking for the two of you and he'll convert you into a pasta loving addict. Don't worry, you'll weigh less in the future than you do now. See? Carbs aren't so bad! However...Casey? He becomes your husband and he puts on a few pounds but it's only because you feed him really well. He's still a handsome guy, even with gray hair!
Tracy, please know this-- Carbs are good. Just remember to eat more salads to balance it out. Now....could you please go and get yourself a sandwich on a fat sourdough roll? Stop torturing yourself.
Carbingly,
Tracy the Carb Lover
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Orange Poppy Scones
Have you already figured out what to make for Easter? I still haven't a clue! What I DO know is that I'll be taking a few of these flaky Orange Poppy Scones out of the freezer early tomorrow morning & popping them into the oven so we can start our Easter day off RIGHT! These buttery scones are infiltrated with the most addictive poppy seed crunch and are delicately perfumed by fresh, bright orange zest. Doesn't that just scream EASTER??!! Yeah, that's what I thought. I'm glad I saved a few for the special occasion. Way to go, me.
Now...tell me what you're making for Easter. I need ideas. Like...QUICK.
Homemade Cheese Ravioli
Working on your resolutions for 2011?
In addition to DRINK MORE WATER, you should add MAKE PASTA FROM SCRATCH to your list. It's definitely a life changer. You will never take fresh homemade pasta for granted again. If you find yourself really digging the experience, you might take it a step further and make a batch of these scrumptious cheese ravioli. Wanna go crazy? Double the recipe and make it for your family on Christmas Eve. Having survived the crazy, I'd make sure you have about 4 hours of time allotted to do so. It's a lot work, but totally WORTH it. Don't let my mom tell you any different!
But let's start off simple. Pasta dough.
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Flaky Buttery Biscuits
Let's play the WHAT IF game. What if I went back in time and slipped this recipe into my mother's yellow recipe binder when I was a kid? How would that change the course of my life? Would that mean I wouldn't be writing this today? Would I have 9 children and live on a commune in the desert? Would the flux capacitor actually exist? That would mean the delorean would still be a popular car, right!? Would I weigh over 500 lbs? Would I have my own biscuit shop in Vermont? One may never know.... The good news is that today I'm making up for my biscuit-less childhood. Reason #2482 why my son is the luckiest boy--these biscuits! He will never have to ponder this great big WHAT IF? What if my mom wasn't a crazy biscuit lover? She just is.
What I like about biscuits is that they can be eaten at every meal-- all day long. A huge dollop of apricot jam and a sliver of butter and your breakfast is covered. Split one in half, add some bacon, a slice of aged sharp cheddar, some tomato & arugula and you've got yourself a fantastic lunch. Plop one in a big bowl of white bean chili and LOOK! Dinner is served! Or you could be just like your pal, Tracy and eat a whole batch within a course of a Sunday...
Malted Waffles
Malt...how I love thee...Let me count the ways...
-I love you in a chocolate malt at a baseball game. You are the perfect ending to all the roasted peanuts & hot dogs I inhale. I love you so much that I endure eating you with a wooden spoon. Hey! It's not that easy!
-I love you in a strawberry milkshake at a diner. I always convince the waitress to add more of you in my cup, because you are THAT good.
-I love you in the Robins Eggs I eat at Easter. I love you so much that I've endured bloody cracked lips from wearing off the candy shell to get to you!
-I love you in these Matled Waffles. You add a yeasty depth that mimic the Weekend Waffles & the Buckwheat Belgium Waffles I've made in the past. The best part is that I didn't have to wait for any yeast to rise. You were perfect right off the bat! You make the waffles crispy on the outside and subtly chewy on the inside. You were a star! Now, what should I do with you next?!!
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Brown Butter Biscuits
Guess what I started this Sunday morning with? Brown Butter Biscuits!
Reasons why you should make them:
- They're SUPER easy! You don't have to cut the butter into the flour!
- You LOVE biscuits.
- You love the nutty taste of brown butter!
- You need something to spread raspberry jam on!
- You find therapy in biscuit cutting. (I know I do)
Reasons why you shouldn't make them:
- Butter repulses you.
- You are on a diet.
- You've never really liked biscuits.
- You're no fun.
Monkey Bread Minis
I wish alarm clocks had built-in smell alarms. Why haven't we figured this out yet?! Imagine the possibilities!! You wouldn't have a problem getting up for a 6am flight if the smell of these cinnamony Monkey Bread Minis assaulted you. Now to think of it...the 13 year old Tracy would have set my brother's alarm clock to rotten farts at 4am.
OK we NEED to make this happen.
If you are familiar with monkey bread, then you should know that this recipe doesn't produce a doughy/yeasty pull apart roll. It's like a hybrid of a cinnamon roll (taste wise) and an old fashion donut (texturally). Yes. DONUT. The best part is that there's no yeast stress involved. Yup, yeast stresses me out when I'm not properly caffeinated. There I said it. I think little hands would love dipping dough into butter & cinnamon sugar. When I get over my fears of Cooper's messy sticky cinnamon fingers on our micro suede couch, I'll totally do it. For sure!
You'll enjoy putting every last piece into your mouth hole. I know I did.
