Cinnamon Roll Testing: Mike's Great Grandma's Recipe

When Aunt Kathy found out we were testing cinnamon roll recipes she very kindly sent me a number of Sophie Derby's (Mike's Great Grandma who owned the Derby Cafe in South Dakota. This is also where he got his middle name; Derby). These are her Sour Cream Cinnamon Rolls and they're currently holding first place. They're also handy since they only require one rising period. The cinnamon to sugar ratio is much more balanced than Cooks Illustrated. We still have at least 4 more recipes to try... (we're trying to spread it out so we don't get too sick of them!)

Starting Seeds

We got our seeds started a tad earlier this year which will hopefully produce more mature plants. We also splurged on better light bulbs and some nicer seeds from the Cooks Garden (available locally at Tri State) so we'll see if we get stronger plants that produce more fruit this year! Of course with all the house showings these poor seeds go back and forth from their lighted area to the back of my car so they might be stunted already.

Cinnamon Roll Testing: Pillsbury

Safeway had their Pillsbury canned cinnamon rolls on sale for $.50 and I've never tried them before. So here they are. The cinnamon isn't really swirled more speckled - but they actually tasted better than we expected. (I wasn't expecting much.) Unfortunately you can't avoid that "canned" flavor. They smell great while they're baking but don't deliver on that smell. We'll continue with real recipes.

Happy Birthday Naphtali!

Naphtali decided on an Asian themed lunch so we spent Saturday shopping and prepping. The Menu: chicken stir-fry, fried rice, pork pot stickers, crab rangoon, ordered 8 egg rolls (but they only gave us 2), hot sake, and red velvet cake. It all turned out great!

The camera ran out of batteries right as Naphtali was blowing out the candles.

Dad's Home

Gerbs

I got another batch of gerbs in today and I just can't help taking pictures of them! They look so fantastic in multiple vase groupings without any greens, going whichever direction - you just can't go wrong with a gerb.

Cinnamon Roll Testing

Cinnamon Roll recipes generally disappoint me. The dough gets too dry, too tough, too sticky, or too sweet. I especially dislike it when they are buried under a few inches of icing! So I'm testing out various recipes. The one above is from Cook's Illustrated. I was absolutely thrilled with the dough - it was soft but still held it's shape, and not so sweet that you couldn't handle eating both the dough and filling. The filling, however, was dry and bitter. The fam all agreed that there was WAY too much cinnamon.  We'll see how Martha Stewart's recipe goes...

Doing Laundry

One of Asa's favorite forms of entertainment is sitting and watching the washer and dryer. Now he's discovered that he can unload and reload the laundry. This was the first time I caught him doing it (thus the worried look on his face). But once he realized this was not a "no touch" he hammed it up for the camera.

Friends of Logos Fundraiser

Here's what we won for Asa from the Silent Auction! (The entertainment was an old radio show so all the centerpieces were tin toys.)

Globe Clock

Wouldn't this make great office or classroom decor?! It's a tad big for our little study. Here's the how-to if you're interested.

Fun things for Valentine's

Valentine's for the family.  Asa tried to help with these so they ended up with a little bit more character and charm!

Naphtali, Morgan, and I decorated the cookies with stamps and paintbrushes. Thanks Christine, Rachel, and Laura for the baking help!

by Naphtali

Hanging Hearts -an idea we copied from How About Orange.

Ta-Da!

Such a talented kid...(Dad C built the tower but Asa's a pro at knocking it down.) Dad C also took all these pictures.

Valentine's Flowers For Sale

I decided to go ahead and order some extra flowers so if you're in need of some cheerful, and very affordable, Valentine Flowers shoot me an email or give me a call! (while supplies last - I didn't order tons!)

kathrynmchurch@gmail.com

Mike in Maine

Mike got to go see the Portland Head Lighthouse in Maine! I so wish Asa and I could have come too. He got these pics with his iphone (of course we didn't think about sending the camera) but they turned out pretty well!

Don't you love parties?

I saw this Raggedy Ann party idea over at Twig and Thistle. The photography was done by Nicole from A Little Sussy. Isn't this fun!? Of course I don't have a girl but I love looking at all kinds of party design!

Asa 10 Months (yesterday)

Asa is now 10 months! He walks around the furniture, is finally learning how to sign for please (we think), loves playing with Amara, and eats everything from avocados to goat cheese. No picky eater here!