Recipe of the Week

Yum Yum. For years and years I have not been happy with my cinnamon buns. I have tried so many different recipes and techniques. I am a perfectionist so I have extremely high expectations for anything I do and so it really bugs me when I don't meet those expectations. I have worked on somethings 5 plus years before I felt satisfied. This is one of those recipes. Wow. This recipe is awesome. The lemon extract in the dough is that secret ingredient that will make people say "These are sooo good" but not be able to put a finger on what it is because all the flavors compliment each other so perfectly and meld together. These are not lacking in the flavor or the moisture department. The round pan really help them all cook through evenly so they are fully cooked though and still really moist and soft. I have struggled in the past with having the outside dried out and the inside under cooked. Boiling the raisins makes sure they don"t steal moisture from the dough. Mike was requesting cinnamon rolls and I made some dough but got sick so we put it off and this dough ended up sitting in the fridge almost a week. I really like cold fermentation but doing it quickly at room temp. will still be delicious.

Cinnamon rolls

5-6c. all purpose flour

1 Tbsp. active dry yeast

2 c. water or milk

1/2c. butter

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 tsp salt

2  eggs

1 Tbsp. lemon extract

Filling:

3 Tbsp.  cinnamon  

¾ c. white sugar

1/3 cup butter melted

Boiled raisins ( if you like them)

chopped pecans ( if you like them)

White fondant glaze:

2 cups icing sugar

1 Tbsp. corn syrup or honey

1 tsp. vanilla, lemon or orange extract

3-4 Tbsp. milk

Add warm water or milk to a large bowl and then add the yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes then mix in remaining ingredients and lastly add flour a little at a time until you have a soft slightly sticky dough. At this point you can either place in the fridge for up to a week or let rest at room temp. for 1-2 hour or until double in size. If dough has been in the fridge, remove the dough from the fridge 20 minutes before you work with it. Dust a counter top with flour and divide the dough into two. Roll out one half of the dough into a rectangle ¼ to ½ inch thick.  Pour half of melted butter over the dough and us a pastry brush to spread it out over the entire surface evenly. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the top then roll up starting from the long end of the rectangle. Use a sharp non-serrated blade or string to cut into cinnamon rolls about two inches thick. Place in a greased pan. I love how they cook up in a round pan, nicely shaped and from my observations they cook more evenly as well. Do the same with the other half of dough. Let rest a room temp. until doubled in size or place in the fridge overnight. This is convenient if you want them for breakfast. Remove from the fridge and either place on the counter for 2 hours or place in an oven, preheated to 150 for 3-5 minutes then the heat turned off, for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 10 minutes then turn the pan and bake until and golden brown. Meanwhile you can make the glaze. Mix icing sugar, corn syrup and vanilla, lemon, or orange extract and then whisk in milk a little at a time until the consistency of pancake batter.  Let buns cool for 5 minutes before topping with glaze.  Using a spoon, drizzle over cinnamon buns.

Kayla's First Birthday

The theme for Kayla's first Birthday was strawberry chosen by Jada. It was alot of fun doing everything in strawberry. We did face painting and the girls got strawberries painted on their cheeeks along with several of the adults. We also played a game where they had to find strawberries (picture not the real thing) and the bring them to me and for every strawberry they brought they got to dig for a small present. We had buried several small toys in a bucket full of packing foam. Kayla also had a strawberry birthday cake that was shaped and iced to look like a strawberry. We also had strawberry filled cup cskes and strawberry ice cream with strawberry topping.Everyone had alot of fun. We just had a simple cake and presents for Jada's first birhday but having a toddler in the house that LOVES birthday parties we decided to do a full out party and I am glad we did. Some funny moments from the party... Kayla got this dog on a lesh that you pull around and it barks. Both girls loved loved it. Jada was treating it very tenderly giving it hugs and comforting words. Kayla got a little car and she knew just what to do with it which surprised me. She pushed it aound on the ground and made sounds kind of like vroom vroom.

I'm married to a superwoman!

So as we said earlier, we are expecting Innes child number three. I'm hoping for a boy, if only to not be like my brother-in-law Mike with three girls ;) It wouldn't really be that bad, but I think that every father wants a son. Chelsey is also hoping for a boy for so that I can have a son. In fact, she has already started going through boy names she likes. Some of the ones she is thinking of include Seth Michael Innes and Levi Michael Innes. (I think those are the top two thus far). Any opinions on which is better?
Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that Chelsey is a superwoman! I don't know how she does things that she does - keep the house clean (often cleaning up the kids messes several times a day); feeding us delicious and nutritious meals (with Makayla clinging onto her leg almost the whole time); taking care of both Jada's and Makayla's wants without becoming a helicopter parent and teaching them how to do things by themselves (Jada's thing right now is to ask us to get her something even if it is a couple feet away. We're happy to help her find it, but we don't want her getting into the habit where we do everything for her!); and Prepare her lessons for relief society! She does all this and more, often being really tired and nauseous herself! I try my best to help out around the house and let her rest when I'm at home, but often I'm at work all day and am unable to help out. I wish there was more that I could do to help out, but we have to get a paycheck as well. I just wanted to give a shout out to Chelsey saying how wonderful she is!

Makayla is working on yet more teeth. She got the top four in, and one more on the bottom, and she is working on the other bottom front tooth plus some molars. I cant believe that she will be a year old in just a couple of weeks. Jada is a very happy enegetic two year old and we are always amazed at how smart she is and what words she knows.