Friday, June 24, 2011

i cinnybun, you cinnybun,

and now,
we all cinnybun.
(say hello to my special assistant katie!)
if you frequent my blog,
you may have seen this.
and you may have been wondering how to create those tasty looking
cinnamon roll things.
i don't blame you.
they're fkkin delicious.
well would you like to know a secret?
i bet you would.
which is why i am about to share the recipe with you.
so have a happy few hours in the kitchen,
and impress all your friends and fam with your cinnybuns.
it's so worth it.
ENJOII.
-----
this recipe requires a few things.

if you choose to make your own dough
you're going to need:
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup warm milk
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/3 cup butter (softened)
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 3/4 cups flour
- 1 pkg. yeast
 &
one of these babies.
a.k.a. a bread machine. 

if there is no way in hell you're making your own dough,
or if you just don't have the necessities, 
you can use 1 loaf frozen white bread dough, thawed.

for the filling your going to need:
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
- 2/3 stick of butter
and for the icing you're going to need:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
-1/3 cup cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of cinnamon

let's get started :)

dough:
- put all dough ingredients in bread machine in order listed.
- after you've done that, select dough cycle & press start.
this will take most likely a little over an hour to let the dough knead and rise, 
so in the meantime, continue with steps below to make filling and icing.

filling:
in a bowl, mix together cinnamon and brown sugar.
i chose to use nutmeg in mine as well :)
after you're done mixing, set aside.
if you choose to use nutmeg, mix in about a tablespoon with the brown sugar and cinnamon.
icing:
in a medium-sized bowl, 
combine powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, and cinnamon,
and mix together until creamy. 
set aside.

when the dough has finished rising,
preheat oven to 100 degrees,
and sprinkle counter-top with flour and place dough on it for rolling out.
roll out dough to about a 15x7 inch rectangle. 
spread butter over dough, and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar-(nutmeg) mixture.
pat the filling down onto the dough firmly. 
roll up the dough tightly from long edge like a jelly roll! :)
cut into one-inch slices and place in buttered pan.
cover with saran wrap and place in preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes or until rolls double in size.
remove rolls from oven,
and bump up the heat to 400 degrees.
place rolls back in oven for about 10-15 minutes,
or until golden on top. 
when rolls are finished, 
let cool for about 20 minutes, 
and then while still warm 
frost rolls with your already prepared icing.

the end result is an ooey-gooey, warm & chewy sensation that you may just have to have seconds of..
or thirds..
.....or fourths.
 ....or fifths.

xoxo.
dedications:
to kevin: this one is for you. oven mitts and all. 
<3

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

say hello to your kitchen's newest addition.

ME.
i went on a baking rampage today.
i guess that's what happens when you work 3 days a week,
and all your friends are unavailable for one reason or another.
however, 
no one in this family is complaining.
because my latest hobby took over my life this evening,
and the end products were quite tasty to say the least.
a little something called pumpkin pie bars.
and these little suckers in the oven are called oatmeal cranberry white chocolate chunk cookies. 
and yes.
they are delicious.
all 24 of them.

so maybe i'm a baking machine.
but we're okay with that.


coming to a kitchen near you.
xoxo.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

me and you.

taner and i finally did a song together.
gosh i sure do love him.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

just call me chef miller.

so i've been baking a lot lately.
i couldn't tell you why,
but for some odd reason, i've recently decided i am the next iron chef,
or cupcake wars champ,
or some other food network up-and-comer.
these days, 
i'm operating my own in-home bistro, pastry shop &
 up-scale restaurant. 
i've suddenly got this urge to spend all of my time in the kitchen and on stumbleupon hunting for new recipes to add to my ever-growing collection of favorites.
not to say that every one of my food creations has exceeded expectations
(the chili gruel concoction i whipped up the other night was less than okay)
but for the most part,
i must say i am quite impressed with myself. 
for example,
the other night mother and i made homemade cinny buns.
(and just so you know they were DAMN good.)
and if you were to ask me if we made our own bread, i would say
heeeelz yea we did!
so check it out.
absolute perfection.
and because i like showing off so much,
here are a few of my other successes. 
so you should look at them.
bre and i made these the other day.
i can't take all the credit because that would be cruel considering how delish they were.

steamed asparagus.
who cares if it makes your pee smell funky?
uhh yeah. not me.
so i like food and i like making food.
have i put on 10 lbs in the past 3-4 days?
maybe.

IN OTHER NEWS:
GUESS WHO'S HIRED BITCHES?!
HEJ!!
(that means 'hello' in swedish, aka the native language relative to my new place of work.)
i'm bi-lingual and bi-cultural now.
get on my level.

xoxo.

Friday, June 3, 2011

this is what i call webcam fun time.

you can't tell but my freckles came out today :)

 



it is clearly time for bed.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

feliz cumplianos a mis perros.

cutesy little white daisy look-a-likes we saw on our walk today :)

birthday boy #1: benjamin button.

birthday boy #2: owenski. 

which translated means happy birthday to my two darling puppies,
who coincidentally turned two today :)
(today being June 1st, as of course, i am up late writing this, and haven't slept yet, so today, in my case, could still be considered the 1st.)
we went on a lovely walk this morning,
which at one point resulted in a minor leash rope burn injury on my left pointer and middle finger,
and played fetch for a good part of the day
(although their version of fetch usually consists of me throwing the ball, and them semi-returning it to me about 3 or so feet away, so i am actually fetching the ball to throw it for them again).
they feasted on a few lovely gifts of meatball and doggie brownie treats,
 and enjoyed their Cesar selects fancy dog dinners.
overall, i'd say it was a successful day.
happy birthday boys :)

dedications:
- to owen: it's okay that you accidentally destroyed my fingers this morning. and thank you for always being the calm puppy that i can rely on when senior spaz-attack benjamin is busy having social seizures.
you're as sweet as pie. <3
- to benjamin: i'd say we had quite a lovely time today, except when you semi wanted to attack the horse we saw on our walk. but you were super verbal today and i really enjoyed that.
never change. <3
- to the grandpa in the garden: i apologize for the out of  control cursing that occurred right after the rope burn incident.
i could tell you were just horrified.