Tuesday, February 19, 2013

awww, cute!

My daughter, Lilly, will give her siblings a kiss and then say, "Aaaww...cute!" It's the cutest thing ever lol. Well that's how I felt after spending a romantic day with my husband last Friday.

We went to a Brushstrokes & Bellinis event here in Germany. I've done this two other times with friends and absolutely loved it! A very talented artist guides you through step by step on how to paint the picture she has chosen for the class. Your blank canvas transforms into a lovely painting in the end. You're almost shocked that you can create such a masterpiece. There are bellinis of course and plenty of food the people in your party bring to share.

At this particular event the theme was for couples...obviously for Valentine's Day. We spent the evening with another couple we've grown to love since moving to Germany. They also have twins and are just as funny and silly as we are. The evening was spent laughing and painting and enjoying some good eats (and for them some good drinks). Our pictures turned out completely different and I love that. Though we all draw inspiration from the same original picture, we all have the autonomy to create. The other events she held were a little different than this one. Normally, you receive a blank canvas and step by step from the background to foreground she shows you how to paint using different techniques. This one, she had pre-sketched the image onto our canvases and you and your partner shared a canvas. While I loved the idea of us painting together, I didn't like having to "paint by numbers" per se. It was also awkward painting together on one canvas. I wouldve liked to each have a smaller canvas and later put them up side by side. Overall, I really had a blast that night. We will have memories to last a lifetime and that's what it's all about.

Side note... Gabby has a very short attention span for arts & crafts and her dad is EXACTLY the same way! hahahahaa...

Here are pictures from that night with our friends and the other two I created in the past. CIAO!







Sunday, February 3, 2013

im the bomb.com/nom nom nom

My husband caught me singing "I'm the bomb dot com slash nom nom nom" and dancing in the kitchen only 15 minutes ago. I just made the best cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting and I'm feelin' myself!

We've had tons of plans to go places, but thanks to the rain and all of us being sick, we've made it absolutely no where. I'm hoping for some sunshine soon. When you're shut in with a bunch of babies, what's better than cooking and cleaning. That's a joke- seriously people, you should know me by now. BUT...and this is a huge butt... (yes b-u-t-t), if you must be cooking why not bake deliciousness.

I've had a few recipes pinned to my Pinterest board, but I've been putting them off because they seem to need some effort on my part. The last thing I want to do is spend any extra hours in the kitchen after my normal hours are over. Other than cinnamon rolls, I've been eyeing some baked donuts as well as a copy cat pillsbury chocolate chip cookie recipe. I finally settled on the cinnamon rolls.

I gathered all of my ingredients and began my task. One thing I liked about this particular recipe was that the initial process took place in the bread machine. We all know how much free time I have and even though I started during the kids' nap time, I was sure this would need more time. I'm one of the world's greatest multi-taskers. It's part of being a mom. So, in went the ingredients for the next hour of mixing, kneading and rising while I started dinner.

I followed the recipe exactly- well, almost exactly. I didn't have enough cream cheese to make enough frosting so I cut the frosting recipe in half (except for the vanilla extract). I then made another batch of frosting and combined the two in my kitchen aid mixer. The second recipe was simple enough- 1 cup of powdered sugar and a tablespoon of milk. I mixed this together and added just a splash more of milk to make it easier to stir. Threw the two together and made magic! Delicious heavenly frosting atop a cinnamon pastry of perfection...the world isnt ready! Hahaha! Here are some pictures and the recipe is at the end. I added some notations to things I altered or omitted. Please let me know if you try these out and if you're as in love as I am.

Until next time... CIAO!






















Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients
  • DOUGH
  • 1 cup milk (warmed to 110 F)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened and cut into small pieces
  • 4-1/2 cups bread flour (not all-purpose flour)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2-1/2 tsp Active Dry yeast
  • FILLING
  • 1-1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 3 Tbl Saigon Cinnamon (our fav)
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • FROSTING *I did half of this recipe, then mixed with 1c of powdered sugar & 1 tblsp milk
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup salted butter
  • 3-1/2 cups powered confectioners sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract * I didnt half the vanilla :) 
Instructions
  1. DOUGH: Warm the milk. Place dough ingredients in your breadmaker in the order recommended – generally in this order: milk, eggs, butter, flour, salt, sugar, and in a small well not touching the salt, sugar, or liquid, place the yeast.
  2. Select the white bread dough cycle. If your machine has an “add” alarm, check the dough. Poking it with a finger should result in a dent that fills in after a minute. Too stiff? Add a tablespoon of milk. Too soft? Add a tablespoon of flour. I’ve never had to do either with this recipe.
  3. Allow the bread machine to complete the mix and rise cycle (approximately 1 hr). Dough should have doubled in size. If not and your kitchen is cool, turn your oven on to the lowest possible setting and place the dough inside covered with a towel. Allow the dough to continue its rise. Don’t allow it to over proof – just doubled in size.
  4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface or silpat. Roll out to about 21″ long x 16″ wide in a rectangle shape. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
  5. Brush entire surface of the dough with melted butter. Cover butter with sugar/cinnamon and pat gently into dough. Top with raisins and walnuts (keep 1″ from all edges) *I didnt add any raisins but did sprinkle a light layer of crushed pecans.
  6. Start rolling from the long edge and keeping it as tight as possible without squeezing out all of the filling. Cut into 12 rolls by cutting into quarters first, then cutting each quarter into 3 rolls.
  7. Prepare a 9×13″ pan with Cooking Spray. (See freezer instructions above if you’ll be freezing all or some of the rolls). Rolls will double in size so don’t place them side by side and give them room to grow.
  8. Cover with a towel and allow to rise 30-60 minutes or until doubled in size (rise time depends on room temperature – if your room is cold, use the oven method above).
  9. Preheat oven to 400 (375 for glass pan). Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.
  10. FROSTING: In large mixing bowl beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar and finally vanilla. *I cut the frosting recipe in half and added milk & powdered sugar mixture. 
  11. Frost warm rolls immediately or freeze in small containers for use later. Use within 3 months of freezing. *Who is freezing these? LOL Eat them now now now!