death by cinnamon rolls

I've been making these delicious cinnamon rolls for a couple years now and have had lots of requests for the recipe. So I decided to post the recipe today for anyone who might be interested! I must warn you that this recipe is not super detailed, so it does leave a little room for error, but if you are familiar with baking with yeast you should be fine.

Cinnamon Rolls

Yields: 18 rolls
Prep time: 12-16 hours
Baking time: about 15-18 minutes

{Rolls}
1 pack highly active yeast
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 t. salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 T. shortening
Flour - enough to form dough (sorry so vague! I've never measured, but it is probably in the neighborhood of 1.5-2 cups)
1/4 melted margarine
Sugar
Cinnamon

{Icing}
1/2 stick butter
1/4 bag of powdered sugar (1.5-2 cups)
1/2 t. vanilla
2 T. milk

Directions:
Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water until completely dissolved. Add salt and 1/2 cup sugar to mixture. Slowly work spoonfuls of flour into mixture until a lump of dough begins to form. Add shortening and work through dough. Do not overwork the dough! Once you are satisfied with the consistency of the dough, cover it with a clean, dry cloth and let it rest and rise to double. Once dough has risen, roll it out flat into a rectangle shape. Pour melted margarine over top, being sure to get almost to the edges. Mix together sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. (You can set your own ration of sugar to cinnamon. I change mine up every time and it always tastes wonderful. It's kinda hard to mess up sugar and cinnamon. ;)) Roll the dough up into a log and cut one inch slices and lay into a glass pan. I do not grease the pan first because there is already a lot of butter in the layers. Let the rolls rise again for 8-12 hours (or overnight). Bake at 350 degrees until lightly golden brown, about 15-18 minutes, depending on your oven. For icing: Melt butter and add vanilla, milk, and powdered sugar. Stir together and distribute over warm rolls. Enjoy!

easter with family

In typical Louisiana fashion, it was a very stormy Easter Sunday. We braved the rain and lightning and gathered with our church family to celebrate Jesus and the sacrifice He made. I am so thankful that I am able to call Him my Father and so unworthy of His love. What a wonderful Savior!

rainy day

Some spring rain spoiled the fun-filled Saturday we had planned. So we decided to stay home and make the most of this rainy day! We grilled hot dogs and burgers on the back porch and hid a bunch of eggs in the house so the boys could have an indoor Easter egg hunt. After (a hail storm), we all took a long nap. Now how does it get much better than that? I certainly don't know a way! It turned out to be such a happy, laid back day with all three of my boys. :)

 

^^Cayden's favorite book is his Storybook Bible. He can even read it upside down. Talent.^^

a few instagram pics

my new bedroom

 

So you know all that remodeling I've been talking about? Well, it is finally DONE and I'm so happy with the results! My husband and I spent 30+ hours working on remodeling our bedroom and bathroom. We removed the wallpaper, steamed the glue off the walls, sanded, skim coated the walls, primed, textured, and painted them. We installed new light fixtures in both the bedroom and bathroom and installed new blinds. We painted all the trim and doors in both rooms and replaced the hinges and knobs. In the bathroom, I spray painted all the old fixtures with brushed bronze metallic paint. I should note that the flooring in both rooms had previously been replaced.

 

Now, onto the fun stuff. My mom taught me how to use my sewing machine a couple weeks ago and I made (with her instruction) the blue chevron curtains and orange euro shams. She was an amazing teacher! I also made the two decorative pillows as well. The cream quilt and shams I found at Target. It is an oversized quilt and we love it. A little thin, but I added my great grandmother's quilt underneath and it is the perfect amount of warmth for us here in the South. I bought the orange trellis candles at Target, and the blue bird picture came from Hobby Lobby.

I plan to make a quilt for the end of the bed and some artwork for the opposite wall from my leftover scrap fabric and will post those projects as they are completed.

In the meantime, I am so happy with the way this remodel turned out, and I can hardly be convinced to leave my room. :)

This picture is the "before". I know, I know. It's BAAAAD.

sunny saturday

We have all been a bit under the weather this week, but in spite of that, today has been a beautiful day so far. Sweet playtime with my littles who have been so sweetly enjoying each other's company. They are so lucky to have each other. :)

 

 

remodeling, hide and seek, and singing in the shower

Daniel and I have been working every night for hours on end to get our bedroom and bathroom walls finished. It is a very tiring process and I am happy to say that we now see the light at the end of the tunnel! Through the remodeling of our home, we have learned how to do various odd jobs that we may, or may not, use again in our future homes: patching dry wall, taping and floating wall joints, skim coating walls, texturing walls, and installing toilets and light fixtures, to name a few. Through this process, we have also learned a lot about each other...how we so differently handle stress, what causes conflict between us, and also how delirious we can get at 12:00 AM on a weeknight when we still have work to do. :) I don't think we will ever choose to remodel an entire home again, although I do feel a sense of pride when I look around and see all the hard work we put into each of these rooms.

Here are a few iPhone pictures of the boys from the last couple of days...

 

^^^Cayden is obsessed with playing hide and seek right now. He thinks that as long as he can't see you, you can't see him either. ;) ^^^

^^^Max has been singing songs during his bath for two days in a row now. They are the silliest made-up songs you've ever heard. We both quite enjoy them.^^^