Quick & Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Ah… Comfort food! We all need it now and then. Even though I would love to indulge in a fair amount of comfort food daily, I generally reserve comfort foods for special times for obvious reasons. One of those special times for me is Sunday Mornings.  Sunday mornings for me mean drinking a great cup of coffee and eating a luscious caramel pecan cinnamon roll while sitting in a cozy chair surrounded by abundant rays of sunshine.   The perfect start to a Sunday wouldn't you say?

In times past I used to make my own bread dough for the rolls, roll it out, fill with cinnamon and sugar, roll and cut the dough into individual rolls. I enjoyed it and found it somewhat relaxing. However, it took a length of time and effort so now my favorite method of baking cinnamon rolls is by using the  frozen form of cinnamon rolls which make  it much easier for me to indulge in my Sunday treat more often and with minimal effort. 

Simply by taking one of the prepared frozen cinnamon rolls out of the freezer on Saturday night and allowing it raise overnight, it is ready to bake when I get up on Sunday morning.  Then, I can happily enjoy my cinnamon roll with minimal effort with my gourmet coffee.  It’s as simple as that!  And even if the sun isn't shining, it feels as though it is.

Below you will find my scrumptious cinnamon roll recipes, one using the frozen roll variety and the other for  Classic Cinnamon  Rolls from scratch. Enjoy!

 EASY CINNAMON ROLLS

(1)Package frozen cinnamon rolls
Butter
Brown sugar
Walnut, Pecan, Almond or
     Peanut pieces (optional)

Butter the sides and bottom of a baking dish or iron skillet. For each roll you are placing in the dish or skillet place a teaspoon of sliced butter pieces into the bottom. Sprinkle one teaspoon brown sugar per roll over the butter. If you are a nut lover, then sprinkle either walnut, pecan, almond or peanut pieces over the brown sugar.  

Place rolls on top, flat side down.

Cover with a cloth and set in a secure draft free place for rolls to rise. I like to prepare my rolls this way the night before I want them for breakfast the next morning. Then they are all risen and ready to bake.

 

Preheat oven, then place the baking dish or iron skillet on the center rake of the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-18 minutes or until they are golden brown on top.

 

If your frozen rolls included a packet of cream cheese frosting, you can spread it out on a plate or cookie sheet.

When your rolls are finished baking, immediately place your rolls onto the frosting.

Do this by turning over your baking dish or iron skillet  so that the browned side of the rolls is on top of the frosting and the caramel side is facing up. If your frozen cinnamon rolls did not include a packet of cream cheese frosting, I have included a recipe at the end of these recipes.

Now...Enjoy with a cup of coffee, tea, milk or juice.

 CLASSIC CINNAMON ROLL

Rolls:

1 ½ pkg. active dry yeast
1   cup lukewarm wate
3  ½  to 3 ¾  cups bread flour
3  Tablespoons granulated sugar
¼  Tablespoon salt
2  Tablespoons softened butter

Filling: 1 Tablespoon softened butter, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon,   3/4 cup white granulated sugar, mixed together.

Topping:  1 stick (1/2 cup butter), ¾ to 1 cup brown sugar, chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds or peanuts.

In a large mixing bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add sugar, salt and butter. Mix until dissolved then add ½ of the flour. Beat with a spoon until smooth.  Using the spoon, then hands, mix in enough of the remaining flour until the dough cleans the sides and bottom of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured board or flat surface. Knead until smooth and blistered about 5-10 minutes. Place dough into a large buttered bowl, cover with towel and set in a warm draft-free place to rise. Let rise until double in size.

Punch down dough and knead again for a couple of minutes. With a floured rolling pin or a marble rolling pin, roll out dough on a floured surface forming a 12”x 12” square. Spread  1 Tablespoon softened butter over the rolled out dough.  Sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar mixture, then spread evenly over the dough. Starting with one of side of the dough, roll it up into a tube. Seal the edges  by pinching together.  Using a serrated  knife, slice the rolled tube into 12 equal portions.

Butter the sides and bottom of a 13”x9” baking dish.  Place 1 stick of chopped butter on the bottom of the dish. Cover with the brown sugar. If you like nuts then sprinkle chopped nuts over top. Place each roll with flat side down on top of the nuts. Cover with cloth and let rise until double in size. 1-3 hrs.  Remove cloth and place on center rake of oven.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-18 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Immediately remove from baking dish by turning over onto a large cookie sheet that has been spread with cream cheese frosting.

 CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 oz. butter, softened
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Little milk as needed to blend

In a medium size bowl beat together cream cheese, butter

and vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar and cream of tartar until you reach a smooth spreading consistency. Add a little milk if needed.

It's Seed Ordering Time

We had our first significant snowfall last week here in Southwest Iowa. It has been an unusually mild and dry winter here this year, but I will take it. Generally speaking we are blessed with quite an abundance of snowfall and sub-zero temperatures during our winters in Iowa.

This week the thermometer has bounced back up into the upper 40's and low 50's giving way to the rapid melting of the 5 inches of snow that fell last week. It's nice to see the grass showing through the snow again and breathe in the mild fresh air outside.

I took a little stroll around my yard today just so that I could bask in the warm sunshine. Suddenly, I realized that spring is just around the corner and it would be planting time again once more. Oh, how I look forward to planting my vegetable, herb and flower gardens in the spring. Digging in that fresh black dirt is so therapeutic to my soul.

I don't use any pesticides or chemicals on my lawn, garden or flowers so the neighborhood birds, bees and worms just love my yard. I feel that is my duty as a steward of the earth to contribute to a healthy environment when at all possible.

When it comes to buying seeds and plants each year, I try my best to only purchase organically grown plants and organically produced GMO free seeds. I have found this to be a very challenging task some years, however. I live in the first Nursery Capital of the World, the place where seeds were first commercially grown, packaged and made available through purchase through catalogs. Yet, little organic and non-GMO seed is even produced here, probably because it would be nearly an impossible task to accomplish since all of the nursery fields are surrounded by farmland where the crops are all GMO and heavily sprayed with chemicals.

So.....I've come to accept it and look elsewhere for what I need if nothing is available locally. One of the places that I love is actually by way of a nursery called “Seeds of Change” or seedsofchange.com. Their online and print catalogs offer a large variety of Certified Organic non-GMO seeds and plants including fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruit trees. They also offer a variety of gardening products, even raised planting beds.

I have ordered seeds online from Seeds of Change for the past 3 years and have had excellent germination, growth and production from the seeds that I purchased. And, I feel so good that the plants and foods that I am growing are chemically and GMO free. The difference in taste between the foods produced from seed and plants that aren't organically grown  and those that are is like night and day.

Seeds of Change has not paid me and I receive no compensation for endorsing them. I just love their products and would like to pass along the information to those who are organically conscience. I also appreciate  their Safe Seed Pledge . The first couple of sentences read, “Agriculture and seeds provide the basis upon which our lives depend. We must protect this foundation as a safe and genetically stable source for future generations.........”

Anyway, in closing...it's time to get your seeds ordered from wherever it is that you order them so that you will be ready for spring planting. I can't wait until those tiny green shoots start to poke up out of the ground.....Happy Planting!

Grandma's Old-Fashioned Cocoa

We all have wonderful memories of our childhood that flood our senses from time to time. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of the times we spend with our grandparents.

We spend alot of time with our grandparents, but especially with our  maternal grandparents who greeted us with warm smiles on every occasion.  Grandma would  always make certain that she had something special for us during each and every visit to her house.  She always had freshly baked cookies waiting in her cookie jar and in the wintertime she always treated us with her delicious old-fashioned homemade cocoa piled high with marshmellows.

Wintertime always reminds us all of our grandmother's old-fashioned homemade cocoa. She could whip it up in nothing flat and fill it chock full of an abundance of love for us all. I remember how she smiled at each and every one of us as she carefully sat that warm mug of cocoa in front of us. Our eyes magnified with joy as we nutured every sip until we reached the bottom of the mug.

My mother carried on the tradition with her grandchildren, And I have tried to keep the tradition alive in our family yet to this day. I hope you and your family will enjoy our old-fashioned homemade cocoa as much as we have.......

Grandma's Old-Fashioned Cocoa

Single Serving(1 large mug)

1 rounded tsp. baking cocoa powder
1-3 tsp. granulated sugar
dash of  salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 tsp. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
*Marshmellows(optional)

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Large Serving(6 cups)

5 rounded tsp. baking cocoa powder
1/2 to 1 cup granulated sugar
dash of salt
12 oz. can evaporated milk
12 oz. can water
3 cups whole milk
1 Tab. butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
*Marshmellows(optional)

In a heavy saucepan combine the cocoa, sugar and salt, mixing together. Add a small amount of the milk a little at a time to form a thin cocoa paste. Turn heat on medium, continue  slowly adding  the milk  until it is evenly incorporated into the cocoa mixture and there are no lumps. Stir this mixture consistantly so that it doesn't burn.

If you are making the large serving, now is the time to add the water, then continue to stir. Using a whisk is most helpful at this stage. Once the cocoa is warm, then add the butter and vanilla. Continue to slowly stir until the cocoa reaches the desired hottness. Do not let it come to boiling!

Pour into mugs or cups. If desired, add small or large marshmellows. Enjoy!

***You can refrigerate any leftover cocoa and either reheat it or use it  as chocolate milk. You can also fill popsicle holders to make homemade fudgesicles.

COZY GOURMET COFFEE

If you are a coffee buff you will certainly enjoy a cup of this specially  flavored coffee with your  breakfast or bunch. I drink it everyday, though, because it's simply so delicious!


Cozy Gourmet Coffee

2 cups of coffee
1 heaping Tab. baking cocoa
1 teas. ground cinnamon
1/2 teas. ground nutmeg
*Whipped cream, whole milk
     or eggnog(optional)

Mix all of the dry ingredients  together well. Place your usual amount of coffee into your perculator or drip coffee maker with the required amount of water. When brewed, pour into a cup or mug and add a scoop of whipped cream or a bit of  whole milk or eggnog if desired.

Be sure to keep plenty of this mix on hand when you have the urge for a great cup of coffee!

DECADENT MARBLE FUDGE!

FUDGE..............the perfect decadent treat  anytime, whether it be for a holiday party, gift for someone special or just a chocolatey specialty for yourself or your family.

I love fudge, any kind of fudge. I love to eat fudge and give fudge as gifts to my friends, family and as  a thank you to my professional caregivers, such as my doctors, dentist, veterinarians, postmen, etc.

Anytime is fudge time for me and this easy Marble Fudge is one of my favorites. Why? Because it tastes so darn good and is so darn easy to make in a jiffy. If you would like to try it out just follow my easy-as-fudge recipe.

DECADENT MARBLE FUDGE

12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
18 oz. (1 1/2 bags) white chocolate chips
(2) 14 oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teas. baking soda
*1-2 cups chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds(optional)
1/2 teas. vanilla extract

Line the bottom and sides of a 13x9x2 inch baking dish with parchment cooking paper. In a heavy, medium sized saucepan melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips, one can of the sweetened condensed milk and 1/4 teas. baking soda over low heat. At the same time, in another heavy, medium sized saucepan melt the white chocolate chips, the remaining can of sweetened condensed milk and 1/4 teas. baking soda on low heat. Stir frequently with a separate spoon for each, heating 5-7 minutes until both are melted, evenly incorporated and smooth to the appearance.

Remove pans from the heat, then add the vanilla to the semi-sweet chocolate mixture and the chopped nuts if you prefer. Spoon large mounds of the two different chocolate mixtures alternatively into the baking dish. Using a butter knife or kitchen spatula swirl the two mixtures together creating a marbling effect.

Cover the baking dish with a lid, foil or plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours or until the fudge is firm. Then, lift the fudge from the baking dish using the parchment paper to do so, or turn over onto a clean sheet of parchement.

Cut into small squares and place in covered container, gift boxes or tins.

***You can easily vary this recipe by using peanut butter chips, peppermint chips or any other flavor of baking chips instead of the white chocolate chips.

This stuff is so great that you will have a hard time keeping your hands off of it! Just warning you ahead of time. :)

PERFECT PECAN PIE

 Pecan is one of my favorite pie's in the whole world! Interestingly, I had never even tasted a Pecan Pie until about 5 years ago. However, after that first bite there was no turning back.... I was addicted!

This recipe comes down from my Aunt's finest old time recipes. It was the first Pecan Pie that I ever baked and the first Pecan Pie that I ever tasted. I have made a couple changes to the original recipe, however,  this an  absolutely devine pie.

PERFECT PECAN PIE

4 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups dark corn syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tab. + 1 tsp. melted butter
1 1/2 cups pecan halves
Single uncooked pie crust

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix, roll out pie crust and place in  a pie pan.

Place the pecan halves into the bottom of the crust. Mix all of the pie ingredients in a medium size bowl, then pour into the pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees for 60 minutes.

Let filling set up  by cooling for several hours or overnight before serving. Do Not cover while cooling and Do Not place in refrigerator, to avoid failure of the filling setting properly.

Here is a great video showing how you can  make "Pie Crust the Easy Way".
http://uniquecozytreasures.blogspot.com/2011/11/pies-made-easy.html

Color Wheel Made Easy

***My series on Color Mixing Parts 1-9 has been so successful that I decided to simply combine all of the lessons into one lesson for my readers convenience. You will find the following information very useful in your everyday life. 

If you would enjoy having this tool at your fingertips please feel free to download a copy of my eBook  - "The Color Wheel Made Easy" found in the Amazon Kindle bookstore  at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/COLOR-WHEEL-MADE-EASY-ebook/dp/B00BMB8QPW .


My eBook can be downloaded onto any electronic device for quick and easy viewing through the Amazon Kindle Bookstore. 

LESSONS IN COLOR MIXING

Part 1-9

For many years I had wanted to learn the art of oil painting on canvas. However, it just seemed to somewhat intimidate me Why? Because I felt it was important to learn the art of mixing color in order to feel comfortable painting. I took a few private lessons from a fantastic artist, but the colors just weren't quite correct in the painting that I first did.

Of course, I also chose a harder than life subject to paint which didn't help (lol). I was a bit discouraged so didn't pick up a brush for awhile. I didn't have my own oil paint and supplies at the time, so decided to wait until I could invest in those before attempting another painting.

I had been mentally absorbing Mr. Bob Ross' technique for years through viewing his programs on public TV and was anxious to see what I could do with it. Since learning to oil paint had been a lifetime goal, I decided to take the plunge and order the supplies needed to get started.

Through Dick Blick mail order art supplies I ordered everything I needed to get started including the Bob Ross master paint set. I was very excited to get started and actually completed my first masterpiece in about 4 hours! Then a few days later painted another and and then several more.

My family and friends were so impressed they began to commission paintings from me.

One thing is missing here though. Bob Ross doesn't teach the art of mixing oil color in the master paint set. So now, I still didn't know how to mix various colors of paint. Several other TV series that I viewed featured oil color artists who kept mentioning that they only use 3-5 colors of oil paint, then mix any color under the rainbow with those colors. However, they never did teach how to accomplish such a feat.

Finally, I got an email one day from an artist in Australia who was giving a live video showing over the internet about mixing oil color. I had my own color mixing chart, but really needed a bit more mentoring to figure it out so I watched the video. It was absolutely enlightening.

I'm going to share with you some of what I learned about mixing oil color and how you can too can easily learn to mix oil color for painting and how you can use the art of color mixing to enhance your everyday life through creating color pleasing crafts, fashions, home decorating, etc.



PRIMARY COLORS

Below is a chart showing the three primary colors: Red, Yellow, Blue. In Oil paint that would represent, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow and French Ultramarine Blue. These three colors are from which ALL others are made.

SECONDARY COLORS

Now if you mix these primary colors together in various combinations they will make up SECONDARY colors: orange, green, and violet.

Then, by mixing various combinations of these secondary colors, you will create INTERMEDIATE colors and so on.



INTERMEDIATE COLORS

Now, I will share with you an easy way to mix INTERMEDIATE COLORS.

INTERMEDIATE colors are reached by mixing one primary color +(plus) one secondary color as shown in the diagram below.

TINTS, TONES, SHADES

TINTS are achieved by adding WHITE to a color.

TONES are achieved by adding GRAY to a color.

SHADES are achieved by adding BLACK to a color.

The amount of WHITE, GRAY or BLACK that is added to a color will determine the intensity of the TINT, TONE, or SHADE.



WARM AND COOLS COLORS

Now that we have reviewed PRIMARY, SECONDARY & INTERMEDIATE colors, TINTS, TONES & SHADES, we will now learn which of these colors are WARM or COOL colors.

WARM and COOL colors are colors that reflect emotional values. They add warmth or coolness to a painting, hand knitted or crocheted item or to any number of other artistic pieces.

The WARM colors are: Yellow to Red-Violet on the Color Wheel.

The COOL colors are: Yellow-Green to Violet on the Color Wheel.

COLOR HARMONIES

Now we will focus on Color Harmonies, colors that go together. These color harmonies include, Complementary, Triadic Harmony, and Split Complementary.

Learning COLOR HARMONIES helps us develop harmonies in color and color patterns that are useful when developing designs for hand knit or crochet projects, painting, and in many other artistic pursuits.

The first of the color harmonies, Complementary Colors are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel as shown below. The chart below the color wheel shows how the colors complement each other.

Learning how colors can complement one another is so important in every day life and will help us in designing handmade crafts, fine arts, decorating, in our wardrobe, etc.



TRIADIC COLOR HARMONY

To find a Triadic Color Harmony on the color wheel, select a color, then choose two additional colors that are equally spaced apart. This concept is shown in the color wheel diagram below.

The color chart that is located below the color wheel above shows how triadic colors compliment each other.

Using the concepts of selecting color harmonies is helpful in everyday living as we choose pleasing colors to design knitting, crochet & sewing projects, designing home decor, entertaining, cooking, creating artwork and in almost every aspect of life.



SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY COLORS

Split Complementary Colors are a color and the two colors next to it's complement on the color wheel.

This is shown in the color wheel shown below:

The Chart below shows how Split Complementary Colors complement each other:

Using Split Complementary Colors to design fashions, knitting, crocheting, art work, in decorating,etc. makes them more interesting and pleasing to the eye.

TRIAD & TETRAD COMPLEMENTARY COLORS

Learning how to use the color wheel in every day applications can be both challenging and rewarding.

The final two color harmonies that we will be discussing are Triad and Tetrad complementary colors.

Triad colors are three colors that are equally spaced on the color wheel as shown in the diagram below:

Tetrad colors are four colors that are equally spaced on the color wheel as shown in the diagram below:

COLOR DEFINITIONS

QUICK REFERENCE

Now that we have reviewed the main components of Color, it is important to have a quick reference guide to Color and it's definitions. The chart below gives Color definitions for your convenience.

COLOR: Described by the three dimensions of intensity, hue, and value.

Intensity: Also known as Saturation or Chroma. Means the relative degree of brightness or dullness of a color.

Hue: A specific color family with it's relative degree of warmness or coolness.

Value: The relative degree of lightness or darkness of a color.

Primary Color: Yellow, Red and Blue. These colors cannot be mixed from any other colors.

Secondary Color: Two primary colors mixed together resulting in Green, Orange and Violet.

Intermediate Color: Also known as Tertiary Colors. Achieved when one primary and one secondary color are mixed together.

Warm or Advancing Colors: Yellow, Red and Orange colors.

Cool or Receding Colors: Green, Blue, and Violet colors.

Tint: White plus Color.

Tone: Gray plus Color or it's compliment.

Shade: Black plus Color.

Key Color: A Dominant Color in a color scheme or mixture.

Neutral Gray: A Combination of White and Black.

Chromatic: A Color with hue, including Red, Green and Violet, etc.

Achromatic: A Color without hue, including White, Black and Gray.

Achromatic Color Scheme: A Color scheme using only White, Black and Gray.

Monochromatic Color Scheme: a Color Scheme using one color in different values.

Analogous Color Scheme: A Color Scheme using colors that lie next to one another on the color wheel.

Complementary Color Scheme: A Color Scheme using colors directly opposite on the the color wheel.

Split-Complementary Color Scheme: A Color Scheme using one color plus the two colors next to it's complement on the color wheel.

Triad: Three Colors equally spaced on the color wheel.

Tetrad: Four Colors equally spaced on the color wheel.

Now you can use this quick reference guide along with Lessons in Color Mixing when designing your craft items, crochet and knit pieces, your art work, fashions and in decorating!

A Great Junk Day Find!

 One day several years ago while as I was driving down a street in a small Iowa town, I spotted this old antique farm table sitting beside the curb surrounded by mountains of other items in a huge pile. The owner of the table and other items was busy in his garage nearby gathering up even more items to add to the pile.

   

  At this time please keep in mind that this old farm table was painted with silver paint and was anything less than attractive. The older generation of farmers used to paint tables, benches, etc. with silver paint to protect them from the elements when they were used out-of-doors. I'm not sure how long or why the owner of table had it, beings he was an attorney, probably never a farmer and lived in the beautiful house near the curbside. However, possibly it had been used in his lavishly beautiful garage that sits next to his beautiful house.

At any rate, I stopped to visit with the attorney to ask him if he was throwing the table away and if so, may I have it. He said I could have it and anything else in the pile that I wanted. My friend who was traveling with me thought the table to also be a pile of junk, but agreed to help me lift it into the pickup truck bed and haul it home.

   Once I got the farm table home after hauling it for 5 hours to the town I live in, I set it set in my garage for sometime trying to decide what I could do with it to repurpose it. Finally, one summer day I decided to slap some leftover paint on it one coat at a time with different colors.  Then, the final coat I brushed on was an exterior white, so it would continue to be protected from the outside elements if I decided to just leave it outside on my patio.

One day I mentioned to my son that I was thinking of shortening the legs to make a coffee type table out of it, but it was just a passing thought at the time. To my surprise when I had returned from a short out-of-town trip........my son had sawn off the legs of the table so he could  use it  as a game table when entertaining his friends! Since this isn't in my son's character to take it upon himself to alter my furniture without permission first,  I was somewhat shocked to find my table reduced to size. I was happy, though, that he did get all four of the legs cut to the same height and it looked really kinda cute and unique.

I had so many compliments on the table that I eventually set it in my livingroom where it resides today.Everyone loves it just the way it is now. Since, I am redoing my livingroom this summer, I'm not sure whether the table will be staying in this spot or if I will move it to the patio with my adirondack chairs, which also need some tender loving paint or whatever.

Incidently,  the friend who helped me lift the junk table into the truck and haul it home, suddently realized after it was repurposed, that maybe it wasn't junk after all....it may look really  great in his livingroom.(lol)

Anyway, the moral of this story is...."One Mans Junk is Another WoMan's Treasure" :)

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If you enjoy puppies and dogs you may want to check out my other blog: http://www.debsdogblogg.blogspot.com/

You may also enjoy this fun newborn puppy video from our second litter of German Shepherd puppies born in November 2008. Loved raising puppies, but am out of it now.  Since spring is puppy time, I thought you all may enjoy this cute video....