The traditional Christmas cinnamon roll

 

December 16th, 2012

If you have shied away from baking homemade cinnamon rolls or have never had a good experience in making them, please try again and please use this recipe! From the now-out-of-print Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking, this version of the traditional cinnamon roll is just about the most delicious pastry you will ever taste! (Look for the book in used bookstores and online; it is the best ever go-to baking book!) It freezes well and makes a wonderful gift for friends when presented in a round tin foil pan topped with a bow. This recipe makes 3 dozen regular size rolls and is easily doubled or tripled. It is also versatile and can be turned into orange rolls and pecan-caramel sticky buns.

Basic Dough

6 to 7 cups of flour

½ cp sugar

2 tsp. salt

2 TBS active dry yeast

1 cup water

1 cup milk

½ cup butter 1 egg

In large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast; blend well. In small sauce pan, heat milk, water, and butter until very warm but not hot. (about 120 to 130 degrees) Allow to sit  until butter melts. Add warm liquid mixture and egg to dry ingredient and mix well. Add more flour a bit at a time until you have a soft dough that pulls away from the side of the bowl. Knead with dough hook or by hand on floured surface until elastic, about 8 minutes. Place in greased or buttered bowl, turning once and cover loosely with plastic wrap and a light dish towel. Let rise in warm place until light and doubled n size, about 45 to 60 minutes. Punch down and divide in half; shape and finish off according to one of the following options.

Tip: If you want to make this the night before to have warm rolls with breakfast, after first rise time, punch down dough, cover and refrigerate dough overnight. Continue in the morning.

Basic Cinnamon Rolls

Half recipe of basic dough

¼ cup softened butter

½ cup sugar or firmly packed brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 TBS butter

½ tsp vanilla or almond extract

1 to 2 TBS milk or cream

Generously grease 13 X 9 pan. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about 18 X 12 inches. Spread with ¼ cup butter. Combine cinnamon and sugar blending well, and sprinkle over rectangle.  Starting with the 18 inch side, rolls up tightly, pressing edges to seal. Cut 18 slices and place them in pan. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes, until light golden. Immediately remove from pan and place on wire racks. In small bowl mix rest of ingredients and drizzle over warm rolls. These can also be frozen individually and micro waved one at a time for a few seconds. Makes 18 rolls.

Caramel Sticky Buns

Half recipe of basic dough

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup softened butter

2 TBS light corn syrup

½ cup chopped pecans

2 TBS. softened margarine

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Generously grease 13 X 9 pan. In small bowl combine brown sugar, ½ cup butter and corn syrup, blend well. Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto greased pan, spread evenly, and sprinkle with nuts. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 18 X 12 rectangle. Spread with 2 TBS. butter. In small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle over dough. Roll up tightly from 18 inch side, pressing edges to seal. Cut into 18 slices and place them in bowl. Cover and allow to rise for about 40 minutes. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Cool in pan only one minute, invert onto tray.

Orange Rolls

Half recipe of basic dough

2 TBS softened butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 TBS. grated orange zest

For icing:

½ cup powdered sugar

1 TBS softened butter

2 TBS orange juice

Generously grease 13 X 9 pan. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about 18 X 12 inches. Spread with 2 TBS butter, sprinkle with sugar and orange zest. Starting with the 18 inch side, rolls up tightly, pressing edges to seal. Cut 18 slices and place them in pan. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes, until light golden. Immediately remove from pan and place on wire racks. In small bowl mix rest of ingredients and drizzle over warm rolls. Makes 18 rolls

Who is in the driving seat?

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The male killdeer is seen perched on top of the female killdeer in order to appear as one large bird.

The behaviour is seldom witnessed and even more rarely photographed.

 

 

Taiwan Blue Magpie

 

Blue Jay

 

Howler Monkeys

Dwarf kingfisher

Australian Fur Seal

An Orangutan Mommas eyes locked on her precious newborn. ♥

In denial of mortality or a wise heart?

For some time now I've been wondering about Psalm 90's "numbering of days".  The goal is quite clear: to get a wise heart. But, I've never sat down with calculator and Psalm.

For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)

A thousand years are like yesterday.

If we live 70 years, our days will be 25,500. If we live 80, our days will be 29,200.  Steve Jobs' days were just under 21,000.

Think about it like this. If 1,000 years to God is like 1 day to us, then a person who dies at age 80 only lives 8% of one God-day. That’s like a life span of less than two hours in one twenty-four hour day.

The night watch comparison makes it even shorter. 

One watch is three hours. So if 1,000 years is like 3 hours to God, then an 80-year life span is less than 15 minutes of one God-day.

Would you agree that to live in denial of our mortality is not a very clever thing to do?  This bit of understatement is cleared up by God's Word in Psalm 90:  "To live in denial of our personal mortality is to have a foolish heart".


Will I fear God more than I fear death and will I sit at Jesus' feet and learn how to calculate the days of my life?

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.  (Psalm 90:12)

“A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.”

In the seventies, Gloria Steinem famously quipped, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.” Then she and the rest of her feminist buddies set about to convince us of this idea. Sadly, we swallowed the bait. And now a whole generation of girls is being raised to believe that men are inconsequential, and that women can make it just fine without them. Just think about it for a moment. On the surface, the slogan seems to encourage a girl to develop a healthy self-respect and avoid getting enmeshed in dependent relationships. But there’s an underlying message here. The slogan insinuates that men are inferior, and that they are expendable. It fosters an unhealthy, independent, a-woman-needs-a-man-like-a-fish-needs-a-bicycle, type of attitude. Today’s young woman is taught to value personal power and independence. She doesn’t need men. Indeed, in order to truly win, she must do so without them. Men are the bad guys. They’re the ones who stand in the way of a woman reaching her full potential. They’re the optional and disposable piece in a woman’s life. Independence is the highly prized and sought after trait that will guarantee her success. So she approaches relationships with the resolve to retain her autonomy at all costs. The underlying message is that women need to be independent because men are untrustworthy, and will almost certainly let them down. Is she better off without ties to a godly father, uncle, cousin, husband, or brother? Will she succeed when she fiercely exerts her autonomy and regards and treats men as non-essential? Will this attitude actually enhance her relationships and her life? I think not. Independence versus Interdependence God created the two sexes to be interdependent—not dependent, co-dependent, or independent. This is the case in marriage, and is also the case in the general way the sexes interact with one another. Scripture actually cautions us against adopting an independent attitude: “In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman. For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman and all things come from God.” (1 Corinthians 11:11-12) God did not create male and female to operate independently. In this game called life, we’re players on the same team. We’re “heirs together of the grace of life.” You will do your daughter a disservice if you teach her to be fiercely independent. It’s not a biblical perspective, and it’s not good for her. Yes, you should teach her to guard against unhealthy relationships, and not to look to men for her source of identity. But at the same time, you should be careful to teach her to respect men, to encourage and speak well of them, and to value and welcome the contribution that they can make to her life. I understand that there are some scum-bags out there. I understand that your daughter may never get married. Or that her spouse might ditch her. Scripture provides an answer to these potential situations. It teaches that God has a special spot in His heart for women who don’t have dads or husbands. It promises that in such situations, He will be their father or husband. We Need Each Other Women need men.. Do not buy into the idea that men are unnecessary. Do not teach your daughter to be independent of men. Do not teach her to devalue men and write them off as inconsequential to her life. We need men. We need them to be the fathers, brothers, husbands, protectors, providers, God created them to be. Being interdependent and having healthy relationships with males enriches a woman’s life. Women and men need to function interdependently. It may be true that a fish doesn’t need a bicycle. But it doesn’t follow that women don’t need men. Gloria Steinem clearly got it wrong. What do you think? Why do you think women fear losing their independence? How can women avoid becoming dependent, co-dependent, and independent, and foster a healthy interdependence instead?