Especially when I suddenly bust out things like home made cinnamon rolls randomly.

He’s slowly getting used to the fact that I’ve started learning how to cook. He still won’t take bites of things when I walk up to him with a spoon and say “eat this”. That freaks him out.

But waking up to fresh cinnamon rolls doesn’t scare him… At least not that I know.

Plus I already have the perfect dough for this project.

This lovely dough was left over from the wonderful Sweet White Bread monster dough. Remember that stuff? Yeah, it rocks my socks off.

Anyways. Take your lovely dough. Knead it lightly. Tell it you love it.

Then roll it out. I rolled it as thin as I could without tearing it. I think it was somewhere between 1/8″-1/4″ thick. Try to make it as rectangular as possible, it makes it easier to cut off the ends later if its mostly even.

You also have to make the filling. I used a little bit of super soft butter, sugar and cinnamon. My butter is unsalted so I added just a pinch of salt to it. Just because I could.

Spread the filling all over the rolled dough. Its a little hard to make sure its completely even, but get it as close as possible. Also, leave one long edge of the dough uncovered. You need one of the long ends to pinch over at the end to help seal your log so it doesn’t come undone while rising or baking.

And now we get to roll the dough. I had issues with this part since I was afraid to make the inside too thick without enough filling. I think I was just being obsessive. Its just cinnamon rolls for crying out loud, not brain surgery. I make things more difficult than they are.

After its all rolled up, make sure to pinch the uncovered side to the rest of the long, seal it closed.

Using the back of a knife, start dividing the dough to make your cutting guides. Its easier that way, plus you only get one chance to cut the dough and you want them to be pretty even. I made mine into 8 rolls, but you could easily make them into 12. They were huge.

Its also easier to use a serrated knife to cut them. Make one pull through with the knife and cut half way down, then one more pull through to cut the rest of the way.

And make sure to cut your ends off too. Or else they just look funny.

Aren’t they pretty? So nice and swirled. Now we just have to let them rise and become what they were meant to.

While I let them rise, I made some Cream Cheese frosting. I had made butter cream frosting before and figured it would be similar, since just cream cheese and sugar really didn’t sound appetizing, I added butter!

Because butter makes everything better.

Cream cheese and butter, with a little vanilla extract and a whole lot of powdered sugar. I think somewhere around 2 cups. After everything was mostly incorporated, I just let my whisk attachment go wild and put it on high for a few minutes. It turned from a slightly yellow (from the vanilla) color to a nice whiter color. Pretty.

Now go put it in the fridge and stop sticking your finger in it.

Now that the rolls have risen its time to put them in the oven. They get a pretty good rise, which is not surprising because of the dough I used. Its awesome dough. But then again thats what happens when you use lots of yeast.

After baking, they just have to be the most glorious cinnamon rolls I have ever tasted. Not nearly as sickly sweet as Cinnabon, and fresh from the oven.

Did I mention that this whole recipe I just winged? It was one of those “soul cooking” endeavors. A little of this, a little of that, add more butter. Sometimes those just happen and its so wonderful that it turned out delicious.

Cinnamon Rolls
Makes 8-12 rolls

• Dough: See Sweet White Bread recipe. Use 1/3 of the dough for this recipe.

Cinnamon Filling:

• 1 cups brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2-1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Take the dough and roll it into a large rectangle, roughly 1/8 inch thick, 16” x 20” wide.
2. Stir together all ingredients for the cinnamon filling, until the butter is fully incorporated and mixed in.
3. Spread the cinnamon filling over the dough evenly, leaving 1” along one long side bare. Start rolling the dough along the long cinnamon covered edge and end on the uncovered side of dough, pinching down the seam to make sure it seals.
4. With a serrated knife, cut off the ends of the roll then cut into 12 equal sized portions. Let rise in a greased 9” x 12” pan for 40 minutes.
5. Bake at 350ºF for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Top with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Whip together the cream cheese and butter until completely incorporated. Add the vanilla and salt.
2. Slowly whip in the powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time until all is incorporated.
3. Turn the mixer on high and whip for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture has lightened in color, scraping down the bowl often.
4. Refrigerate until used.

I first remember the cravings starting with cheese cake. I had to have cheese cake multiple times a week. Then it was anything in a tortilla. There were a few others in there but lately it was tomatoes. Not just any tomatoes, but cherry or grape tomatoes. Small tart yet sweet little tomato treats. Not often do you hear people waxing poetic over tomatoes, huh? Yeah I’m a freak.

But what do you do when you break down and buy the huge container from the warehouse retailer? There are only so many tomatoes that you can eat in a day before you realize that the basis of your snacks at work are tomatoes. You also get some funny looks from coworkers.

You can dry them of course!

I seem to be having this new obsession with my dehydrator. I feel like I’m having a naughty affair behind the backs of my fresh tomato’s… Do they have backs?

I had never tried drying tomatoes before, mostly just making fruit leathers from applesauce or making apple chips. The tomatoes were looking a little on the over ripe side, since there are only so many tomatoes you eat before you get a little burned out. So I decided to try something new. Cut them in half and stuck them cut side up in the dehydrator.

It really isn’t a quick process, but in the end I think it’s better than buying them prepacked in olive oil and other preservatives in the grocery store. I will have to try making some sauces and pastas from these little babies soon. But they are quite tasty, dried and plain out of the bag.

Now if only I could get rid of this random obsession with mustard…

I’ve had some apples living in the bottom drawer of my fridge for a few weeks, but had no urge to eat them at all since they seemed rather squishy. I HATE squishy apples. They have to be almost under-ripe and super crunchy for me to eat them.

So I went to town and sliced up all my apples. There were about 5 large ones, and it made quite a bit of apple chips…

But sadly enough these were all that survived. I made them the same day that my friend helped me to make some ice cream sandwiches, and in between steps we kept munching on them. I have to say I was REALLY full by the time we were done making those sandwiches.

Imagine eating 2.5 apples worth of fiber! That’s a whole lot of fiber!

Most of the time when you find dried apples in the stores, they are thick and chewy and covered in chemicals so they don’t turn brown. My versions are generally thinly sliced and almost over dried, making them slightly crunchy chips. And who cares if they are slightly brown! Yum!

I also like using tart apples for this, it gives it a little more flavor and not too sweet. A friend of my husband mentioned in passing that he always had too many apples due to the trees on his property, hopefully I can get some of those this year and make an arsenal of apple chips!

I just have to remember not to eat them all in one day…

My husband turned me on to Artichoke Spinach Dip a few years ago. I had never had it and suddenly I was hooked. I love the warm, cheesy gooeyness eaten with chips or crackers. Who could hate that? Plus the added bonus of having the vegetables in it makes it seem not as bad for you.

There are so many recipes for this dip out there, yet so many of them made me wary. They all contained mayonnaise. For some reason, the thought of cooking mayo just really doesn’t sit well with me. I finally found one that had sour cream instead. I had to do my own modifications to it, such as low/reduced fat items and reducing some of the items as well.

It turned out pretty well and even made it for others and they loved it. I achieved my goal of making it better for you, and not have anyone notice.

Spinach Artichoke Dip
Serving size: 3 tablespoons
Total recipe makes: 26 tablespoons (about 5 cups)

• 1 10oz package frozen chopped spinach, partially thawed
• 2 cloves garlic (minced or use a garlic press)
• 1 14oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
• 1 8oz package low fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 16oz container light sour cream
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Black pepper to taste

1. In a medium sauce pan, stir in the oil, garlic, and spinach. Chop artichoke hearts into desired size and add to the pot. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Mix cream cheese and sour cream into the spinach mixture. Stir in Parmesan cheese and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm with bread, or chips.

Tips

• Don’t use fat-free cream cheese, it takes much longer to melt and I’m not as fond of the taste vs. the reduced fat varieties.
• This recipe makes quite a bit of dip but it survives the freezer very well.