Yummmm!!!!

The BEST Cinnamon Rolls Ever  .... Courtesy of my neighbor Becky

Chris and Becky Jackson are my neighbors and are, until this June, serving as LDS Mission Presidents in Brazil. We are excited to welcome them back. I have missed borrowing from them on Sunday. They are my second food storage resource. Becky makes these cinnamon roll for many occasions. They have even been baked to bribe the young men and young women to come to choir practice and I learned how to make them at Girl's Camp. I think I made pretty good cinnamon rolls, but hers are better .... more BUTTER and GLAZE! The key is butter ... rolling rolls out in butter! Julia Child always said that everything is better with butter. I have tried to make these on the first day of school/college for my children and Becky and Chris's. I have made them often for the ranch. You have to eat cinnamon rolls with cold milk ... I have to eat everything with cold milk.

2 cups milk                                                  1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter                                               1 T. salt
2 T. yeast                                                     3 eggs
1/2 cup water                                               6 cups flour

Scald milk on stove. Put butter in milk to melt. Measure sugar and take 1-2 T. of it and mix in small deep bowl with the 2 T. yeast. Add water to the sugar/yeast mixture and stir. Let work while butter is melting in the milk.

When butter is melted, put milk mixture in Bosch bowl, or other heavy duty mixer bowl. Add yeast, remaining sugar, salt, eggs and flour. Using dough hook, mix for 10 minutes, scraping bowl once or twice.

Meanwhile, butter inside of large plastic bowl. When dough is through mixing turn dough (pour dough, as it will be slightly runny) out into bowl. Cover with buttered plastic wrap and let rise for 30-45 minutes.

Melt 1 stick butter. Mix 2 cups sugar with 3 T. cinnamon. (You probably only need half of this mixture and half of the icing below). If you want raisins, put about 1 cup into bowl of water to plump. Using shortening, grease bottoms ONLY of 2 or 3 9X13 inch pans.

After raising, punch dough down and divide in half. Pour a small amount of melted butter on bread board, enough to cover area of dough to be rolled out. Put a little more melted butter on top of dough and after buttering your rolling pin, roll out into a rectangle about 3/8" thick. If desired, brush butter on dough rectangle. Shake a substantial amount of cinnamon/sugar mixture on dough; add raisins and/or nuts, if desired. Roll up and slice with a buttered knife (I use a piece of thread or thin fishing line) into 1-11/2 inch sections. Place 4-5 rows of 3 rolls into a 9X13 inch pan.

Let rise 30-45 minutes. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees (ovens vary, so just bake until tops are slightly browned. I will often cover them with foil after 10 minutes and let them cook an additional 5-10 minutes so that they are not too doughy or brown on top).

While baking, mix 1 cup sugar with 1/2 cup water and heat to dissolve sugar. Immediately after removing baked rolls from oven, brush sugar glaze on top of rolls. After cooling about 10 minutes, frost with icing while still warm, so that icing melts down into rolls. (Or, if you want to freeze them for future use, after glazing and cooling, cover with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and put them in the freezer. You can reheat them at 200 and then frost when warm.)  Make 2+ dozen rolls ( I usually double and often triple the recipe)

ICING: Mix 1/3 cup softened butter, 1/8 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. vanilla, 4 cups powdered sugar and enough milk to make a little thinner than what you's use to frost a cake.(You probably only need 1/2 of this icing)

ORANGE ROLL VARIATION
When dough is rolled out, spread with butter and sprinkle with about 1/2 cup sugar and about 2 T, grated orange rind. Roll as for jelly roll and cut in 1 inch slices. Place in greased muffin tins and let rise until double. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown. As soon as removing from oven, glaze with the following icing:

2 T. Butter                          
2 T. grated orange rind
3 T. frozen orange juice concentrate or fresh orange juice
powdered sugar, enough for a thin glaze


Enjoy! Sharon

It's spring today and I can already hear the sounds and smell the burning wood of a Ranch Bonfire ...

I was reading a few of my friends' food blogs last night and I thought about each of you and what I have learned from, it seems like, a million missionary celebrations, showers, bonfires, and ranch dinners. The woman (and sometimes men) of Pine Valley are the best cooks, and I am always asking for recipes. So, scattered geographically as we are, I thought it would be fun to blog. I hope you will find it fun too ... I am always amazed at your collective talents. So, cousins get ready, we are all in for culinary treats from the "valley." My first post is a recipe that my sister-in-law Ann made last year and Ashlyn choose for her 20th Birthday dinner at the Ranch ... a new family favorite. When Ann married Spencer she was a self-proclaimed culinary "mess," but she is now an amazing cook and I love her for lots of things, including her delicious meals. Stephanie told me she made it a few weeks ago. It is refreshing and delicious!

Ann's Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

6 tablespoons honey
5 tablespoons lime juice (1 large lime)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded ( I often cook it in the crock pot)
8-10 flour tortillas (I actually use whole wheat)
1 pound monterey jack cheese, shredded
16 ounces green enchilada sauce
1 cup sour cream

Mix the first four ingredients and toss with the shredded chicken. Let it marinate for at least 1/2 an hour. (I tossed mine together in a ziploc bag and let it marinate overnight). Pour about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese, saving about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of the enchiladas. Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade. Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown and crispy on top. BUENO! (and my kids think I don't know Spanish!) Sharon