Cinnamon Buns~Happy New Year!

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.”~ T.S. Eliot~

I started this post at the beginning of January but, alas, did not get around to finishing or posting it. Before I knew it. Chinese New Year had arrived, and once again, I lingered over the keys, trying to get this first post off the ground. Again, life swept me up and away. It’s not like I had nothing to say. I have been bursting with things to share, but until today, it felt like every moment was spoken for.

Finally, today, as fluffy, white flakes, fall gently on our still wintry landscape, the day feels peaceful. It feels empty. The perfect environment to write a blog post. As I type, I can hear the kid’s muffled laughter. After lunch they asked, “can we shovel the drive way?” I can just imagine what it looks like now; here and there cleared areas and crunched footprints of snow everywhere. My husband, David will smile when he arrives home.

I love Pro D days, when the teachers are in class, and I’m home with our children. I daydream about what it would be like to keep them home full time. We spent the morning doing more math, writing, reading and music, than they do at school in a whole week. Yet I know, for our children, school is an important part of their learning. Did you know that I started working as a lunch time, school supervisor last fall? Yep, that’s my new gig. It’s also one of the reason I haven’t had time to write. I’m needed, smack in the middle of my day. It cuts any hope of my creativity in half. But it’s been good.

I watch children during lunch hour and realize school is far more than teaching academics. I observe children making and keeping friends, thinking up games and negotiating rules, treading sometimes roughly on other’s feelings, and I help them consider their words and guide them towards saying a humble, “I’m sorry.” I’m there to advocate for those who need help speaking up and watch as they smile, with an obvious sense of accomplishment, when they have been heard. Who knew one hour a day would allow me to see our future, or what it could look like.

Kids are good!

And while I often have wondered if we should be homeschooling our children, (everyone has to find what is right for their children) I see that our children learn far more being out in the world, than I could teach them at home. But that is a blog post for another time. For now, this precious day allows me to have time to be creative, and for our children, to have time to delight in an endless, wintry day.

Bonus: our drive way is partly shoveled.

No, today isn’t on writing about the merits of school, teaching social skills, but about the New Year.

Happy New Year!

Is it still a New Year? Maybe not according to Western dates but based on the Chinese New Year date, it’s still relatively a new year. And According to the Chinese,

THIS IS MY YEAR!

It’s the year of the PIG!

Yep, that’s me! I was born in the year of the pig and I’m proud of it. Many of the traits a pig supposedly holds, resembles me.

” People with Chinese zodiac Pig sign are considerate, responsible, independent and optimistic. They always show generousness and mercy to endure other people’s mistakes, which help them gain harmonious interpersonal relationships. However, sometimes they will behave lazy and lack actions. In addition, pure hearts would let them be cheated easily in daily life.”

Hmmmm…….

• Strengths
  Warm-hearted, good-tempered, loyal, honest, gentle
• Weaknesses
  Naive, gullible, sluggish, short-tempered
• Hopeful!

Okay, I added that last one, but I would say that describes me almost to a tee, especially the sluggish part, which sadly, describes my writing of late.

OINK!

Also, one of the pig’s lucky numbers is “8.” Since we have eight children, I’d say that is a very lucky number indeed. At least for me. Many would say two is good. And many these days would say zero is their number!

Whatever your number is, rejoice!

Eight is my number and without it, I wouldn’t have as much to blog about. So here I am, back to my blog, even though the New Year is well tarnished and my New Year’s resolution, “to write more,” is rather rusty. It is, however, still relatively early in 2019 and there is much to accomplish and experience this year. And so today is the beginning of a new year, and a new day.

And so it is.

What is your Chinese sign? Check out the link to this site.

And that is how I am going to navigate my days….all 312 Days — or — 44 Weeks and 4 Days until the end of this year.

Who’s counting?

Each one is a hope, filled, gift.

Speaking of gifts, before I plow any further into this year, I want to glance back to the last time I wrote, which was the end of 2018. I wanted to share a peek into our holidays, and also share with you the highlighted recipe of our Christmas season. Cinnamon Buns!

Ever since our oldest daughter Alyssa was a baby, making Cinnamon buns has been a holiday tradition. I’ll never forget that first Christmas, when I plunked her into one of our double sinks, layered with a thick warm towel and gave her some sweet dough to play with. As I stood beside her, kneading the dough, Christmas music wafting from the stereo and the warmth of the kitchen surrounding us, little did I know as a young mom, I was creating a tradition that would continue for many years. It seems appropriate to share that tradition now and also the recipe for future generations to enjoy.

I felt really blessed this past Christmas, to have seven of our eight children at home for the holidays. So much so, that I made not one, but two batches of “sticky buns,” as my mom used to call them. Now I know these aren’t the healthiest thing in the world to eat, but another thing that I’m conscious of as I grow older, and that is, I’m not going to live forever and there are some things in life that are worth making and eating. Cinnamon buns are that for me. Besides, I’m going to be writing about making Buddha bowls next, and if you eat 90% healthy, and drink lots of water, then I figure some cinnamon buns are more than okay.

Here are a few snap memories of our holidays and my cinnamon bun recipe. I have to thank my mother in law, Doreen, whose been gone for over a decade now, for she gave my husband this cook book when he left home. This book, “Five Roses Guide to Good Cooking,” is well loved and ratty and has been a staple in my cook book collection for years now.

• 

• 

And then they start coming home….

And that, in a nutshell of picture memories, was a bit of our Christmas 2018. When I think about it now, I feel warm. The love in our home, the memory of the laughter, the joy on the faces of our little girls, seeing their dollhouse for the first time, the smell of cinnamon drifting from the kitchen, the magic felt when cello and violins come together to play endearing Christmas music, eggnog latte’s….I want to thank my family for the best gift of all….staying connected!

And now without further ado, the recipe that I want to share to all who read my blog. My recipe for:

Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients for the sweet dough

2 packages of active dry yeast (each pkg is a little less than 1 tbsp….so if you use bulk yeast like I do…just under 2 tbsps)

1 cup of lukewarm water

2 tsp sugar

1 cup of milk

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

6 cups of Five roses All purpose flour (or whatever you use)

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp grated lemon rind

Opt: 1 cup of raisins or currants…we opt out as some of the kids don’t like them

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Instruction

Sprinkle yeast into lukewarm water, add 2 tsp sugar; let stand for 10 minutes, then stir.

Scald milk; add butter, sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm and add softened yeast; mix together.

Add half the flour, 3 cups, to make a thick batter, add the 2 tsp of cinnamon and if you are using the raisins, you add 1 cup at this time. Add eggs and lemon rind and beat well.

Stir the remaining flour, using only enough to make a soft dough that does not stick to hands or bowl. Turn out on a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and satiny~about 10 minutes.

Place the ball into a greased bowl; turning it over to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in size. About 11/2 hours.

Punch down and knead lightly. Shape with a rolling pin into long rectangular pieces. (I find I can get two long rectangles with this recipe) Brush tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon.

Starting at the long side, tightly roll up, pinching the seam to seal. Then with a serrated knife, cut 11/2 inch pieces and lay them on a prepared pan. (I lightly spray with cooking oil) Brush melted butter over the buns and cover and let rise in a warm place for another hour or until they double in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 10 minutes and then lower to 350 degrees, and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. My oven is hot and I find that I need to watch the buns closely. I bring them out when they are golden brown.

I frost them while they are warm using a cream cheese icing and sprinkle them with chopped pecans, walnuts or as we did at Christmas time, crushed peppermint canes.

Nothing says Christmas to me more than Cinnamon Buns…the gooier the better. One final note, years ago, I made these with my hands but now I use my kitchen aid mixer for most of the dough mixing, although the 10 minutes of kneading is all me. The next time I make them, I’m handing that task off to my younger kids and get them into the art of making this sweet dough. It’s a new day after all.

Well dear ones, that is my long, held post and I can’t tell you how glad I am that it’s now written and ready to publish. So much has been going on at the homestead since the holidays. I started into New Year decluttering big time, inspired by Marie Kondo’s Netflix show on that subject. Then once we started to declutter, I realized our walls were really, REALLY beige.

Alyssa’s been telling me that for years. Funny, I didn’t see it, but suddenly, “Naturally Calm,” was driving me crazy. I asked Santa to take off his red hat and replace it with a painters cap. The next time he visited Home Depot, he brought me Behr’s palette of greys. As I type, Santa, aka, David is in the process of painting our interior. “Graceful Grey,” for the most part…don’t you love the name?

Stay tuned!

Also, I want to tell you about my latest discovery, “Buddha Bowls.” Yes, I know, I know, those of you who are hip and urban say, old news, but hey, we’ve been doing them all along and I want to blog about it. Who knew something we’ve been doing for years now would be so cool! They are the one stop meal for all your daily nutrition and when you are a busy mom, you need one stop and few dishes. I will be blogging about it soon, so I hope you come by for another visit. As your New Year unfolds, one joyous day at a time, may it be full of peace and love.

And to close my post, here is Will.I.Am singing, “It’s a new day.” Even though this video was from 10 years ago and our political environment is much different, I believe with a positive attitude and holding the vision for how we want our world to look, we can change much. It starts with you and me, teaching our children well…all of us together. So come on and start singing with me, “it’s a new year…it’s a new day!”

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope