Cinnamon rolls for Havi

The kids and I recently made cinnamon rolls and posted a finished picture on FB. An friend of ours from Wa. State asked for the recipe :) Here you go Havi!!

I just use bun or bread dough with a few additions for the dough. I make my dough in the bread machine on the dough cycle.

2 Cups warm water
2 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil or butter

Let this set until the yeast has come up from the bottom to float on top.

Add 6 cups of flour. I did 2 whole wheat and 4 white.

That is my bread recipe :) To make cinnamon rolls I put in twice as much sugar, a egg and another tsp of yeast.

You can either make it on the dough cycle on the bread maker or by hand until it's well mixed and dough :) Then let it rise for about an hour or until it at least doubles.
This part is fun and the kids love to watch and help. Sprinkle flour on the table or where ever you have a nice big surface and roll out your dough. I did half at a time because it makes it easier to deal with. When it's about a 1/4 of an inch thick get some soft butter and butter the surface of the dough. Lots or little will depend on the person. I do about half of the surface with a very lite cover of butter. Then take cinnamon and sprinkle some on :) This too depends on the person. I have a great big cinnamon container and just do a light dusting. Brown sugar is next and I try and cover as much of the surface as possible with a thin layer. Raisins, if you like them, go on next. About a cup in total for all the bread. Too many and it makes it hard to roll up!
 Rolling it up is fun! start at the long side of your dough and roll it up until all the dough is rolled. Pinch the ends into the side of the roll and your ready to cut! We always eat the ends of the roll :) I cut mine about 2 inches deep all the way down the roll. Put them in the pan as you go to save mess. Put them cut side up into the pan. I let mine rise for about 20 minutes.. until the sides are touching. If you let them rise too long you'll have all dough :) Btdt. I baked mine for about 30 minutes at 350 but my oven is a bit cool.. so 25 might do just as well on yours.

I don't make these very often and I'm still playing with the recipe. I like to use my bread recipe because I have it memorized. Cinnamon rolls that I've had that others have made seem to have richer dough which is why I added the egg. Next time I may add two just to see what that does. But these were defiantly better then the last batch I did with no egg and no extra sugar or yeast. Hope you like them :) Oh and I just put store bought icing, and only a tiny bit, on them when we eat them. You could also mix a bit of icing sugar and milk and drizzle it all over them while they are warm. The kids like them plain with no icing or anything. These do tend to stick to the pan.. so loosen them up as soon as the cool off a little and then cover them with plastic wrap before they are completely cool... YUM!!!

Eggs!!! And My Ice Cream Recipe!

Papa found 6 lovely chicken eggs in the hen house this morning. With every thing on our plates this fall we didn't have time to figure out how to get a light into our new chicken house, so we ended up having a 'dry spell' of about 2 months without very many eggs at all. (We even BOUGHT eggs from the store for baking!) But about 2 weeks ago Papa got a new extension cord and light bulb and TA DA there was light!! That is the one bad thing about using the green house for the chickens, so far. It's quite a ways from the house and not set up at all for lights and things. The calf, Meatloaf, broke one bulb, and another one just burnt out. We finally got one to stay on and now we are getting eggs!! Worth the hassle for sure. Tomorrow night we are having Mr. & Mrs B over for supper before they drive out of our lives again for another month of traveling and homemade ice cream is on the menu!! BBQ's chicken or a pork roast, baked potatoes, salad, corn and ice cream for dessert! Yummo!! We might even make COOKIES tomorrow and eat the dough raw!! Oh wow. Now I'm drooling!! :)

If you've never had it or made it.. you've got to try it.
Here's what you do!
Ice Cream.

1. Whip 4 fresh farmer eggs till they are a  really light yellow color and foamy. Make sure you scrape the sides and get it all mixed in.
2. Add 1/2 of sugar and 2 tsps of Vanilla, keep whipping till it's all mixed in!!
3. Add about 4 or 5 cups of cream, some people cut it in half with milk, but we like it with just cream!
4. Mix it together until it's all the same color!
5. IF you plan on freezing it after making it you can add about a tablespoon of vodka to keep it from freezing hard as a rock!! If you planning on finishing it off that night don't bother.

Now this is the harder part. We have a ice cream maker that comes with a bowl that you freeze and then you add the mixture to the frozen bowl while the machine turns the bowl and it mixes very nicely into wonderful ice cream.  All I have to do is set the timer and take it out when it's done I've also heard you can put it in the freezer in a shakable container and take it out and shake it at intervals which mixes it and makes ice cream. There is also the old ice and salt hand cranker which I've heard works well but have never seen done (that I recall) or used.

Now if you want to make chocolate ice cream or some other kind, play with it. Last time I made chocolate I just whipped in cocoa powder with the sugar and it was AWESOME!! You need quite a bit of cocoa mixed in. I think I did 1/4 cup and you could have done 1/2 no problem! We've also mixed in ice cream sauces in the last few minutes or candies, cookie dough, chunks of chocolate bars, (be aware. Chocolate chips HURT when you bite into them frozen!!)  mint thin paddies are REALLY good :), strawberry jam works great with some strawberry drink mix (my kids think strawberry ice cream has to be pink) to make a great strawberry. There are lots of combo's to try!! Have fun! Kids love to help you make it, and eat it,  and HEY it's even science :)