~Bec~

AH YES!!! I just rememered that a few of you asked for the cinnamon roll recipe. I figured I would just post it here instead of e-mail it separately. Then you can look at the pictures in the last post to help you out, too. ;-) I'll just copy and paste some of the stuff I had sent to Emilee so I don't have to type it all up again. Here goes:

1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs, beaten
2 pkg. yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water (whatever the temp is that you're supposed to mix yeast into--I forget)
3 cups flour
2 cups flour
1/2 cup flour on table
(Isn't that dumb?! -- 3 separate measurements of flour!)

Heat milk and pour over salt and sugar; stir until dissolved. Let cool. Just a little. ;-) Pour in oil and eggs. In cup, add yeast to water and mix; add to first mixture. Stir in 3 cups flour, then 2 cups. Dumb, hu? Oh, for goodness' sake--just dump it all in at once! That's what I do. Now that I look at it, this recipe is written up really dumb, so I'm re-writing it from here. Dump all 5 cups of flour into the bowl with everything else and crank up the KitchenAid (just on stir, actually) and let 'er rip for 7 minutes. (If you don't have a KitchenAid, don't sweat it--we mixed it up by hand for years.) Put flour on the table and then plop the dough on top and knead it, adding more flour as necessary until it's not sticky anymore. Grease a large mixing bowl with oil. Toss the dough in it and get one side slimy in the oil, then turn it over so the other side will get slimed up, too. Cover and let rise for 2 hours, preferably someplace warm. Sometimes I'll turn the oven to "warm" ahead of time, then turn it off before I put the dough in. Just be sure it's covered with a heavier towel or it will get crusty and dry. Anyway, after the two hours you knead the dough. If you're doing hot rolls, separate into three parts, then roll each one out into a circle, slice like a pizza, and roll into cresents. If doing cinnamon rolls, separate into two parts and roll into large rectangles.

This is the don't-ask-for-any-measurements part. Just wing it! I will, however, give you a list of ingredients...

Butter
Brown sugar
Butterscotch pudding
Cinnamon
Raisins

Melt or soften some butter (one stick for both rectangles is good) and spread over top. Then crumble brown sugar over the top. Don't be stingy--I don't think you can have too much, but you'll miss it if you don't have enough. Just make sure the dough is well covered with a generous amount. Sprinkle on one box of Butterscotch pudding (one box for both rectangles), then cinnamon and raisins. Roll up the rectangles starting at a long side.

Get two cake pans and spread or pour some more butter in each one--be sure to get the sides, too. Then sprinkle some brown sugar in there -- not as generously as you did on the dough. :-) Put the rolls in pans and cover for about 30 minutes. Pour whipping cream over the top -- don't be scared to use it, but don't totally drench them or your rolls will be soggy. (I think I used about 3/4 pint on both pans--not EACH pan!) Cover and leave for another 15 minutes or so.

Bake at 375 degrees for.... hhmmm. I can't remember. I think it usually takes about 20 minutes, but you might want to start checking it after about 15, just in case. I use a toothpick to check them, but you have to be sure not to poke it through a bunch of the gooey stuff or it's hard to tell anything about the dough itself.

Let them cool for about 5 minutes, then turn upside down onto a sheet of foil. Scrape all the great gooey stuff out of the pan and spread it over the rolls--and be sure to lick the spatula! It's the rule. ;-) Wash your pans up, then pick up the rolls and put them back in the pan (still on the foil). Gather the fam and dig in! And be sure to post lots of pictures on your blog of how everything turned out and how much your family adores you for going through all of this for them. :-) --And you have to come comment here on THIS blog to let us all know who has taken a stab at it and if you think it was worth it all. Those are all of the requirements I can think of at the moment, but I'll be sure to post more later if they come to me. Good luck!!!