Trick for a Treat : Pumpkins and Spice
The countdown to Halloween has begun. Putting up the final decorations, stocking the candy bowl and roasting pumpkin seeds may be on your agenda this week. There are only a few days left to put the finishing touches on Halloween this year. The children are excited to wear their costumes and the jack-o-lanterns have been carved.
If your pumpkins have already been carved, you may notice a squash like smell graces the front porch of your home. It’s an interesting earthy smell that reminds me of fall and Halloween. However sometimes it can be a little over powering. If you find this to be true at your home here is a simple trick you can use to create yourself a treat.
Take some powdered cinnamon and rub it on the lid of your jack-o-lantern. When you light the candle tonight, the aroma of cinnamon and pumpkin will fill the air. As the neighborhood visits your home this instead of being welcomed by the smell of three day old squash, they will be greeted with the welcoming smells of pumpkin pie.
Cinnamon Lunch – Cinnamon Raisin Bread Recipe
One the way home from school yesterday with my 6 year old we were discussing his day. He began telling me about his friends and all the exciting things that happened in his kindergarten class that day. Including how he feel asleep during math and drew a great big line down his paper when his hand slipped. It’s interesting to listen to him relate his feelings of school and friends in our one on one conversations. These times in the car result in some of the best conversations I have with my kids. When I have them all to myself in the car I feel like they are willing to share things they wouldn’t speak up and share at our crowded dinner table. I love how if I will listen to them just for a minute, during this one on one time, they start to talk about almost everything they could possibly be thinking.
When I asked my talkative six year old what we should have for lunch, he paused for a minute as if in deep thought and then replied, “ We should have a cinnamon lunch!” As he grinned at me from ear to ear. I started to think of all the things we could make with cinnamon. By the time we pulled into our driveway we had decided that we would make cinnamon bread.
As I pulled out the ingredients, mixed the bread and baked it he was actively by my side. This a simple everyday moment but one that has changed the way I think about cinnamon. As I pulled the bread out of the oven I thought “mmmm, cinnamon lunch!”
Cinnamon Raisin Bread Recipe
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup warm water
2 packages active dry yeast
3 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup raisins
8 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan or microwave until it bubbles, then remove from heat and let cool.
2. Dissolve yeast in warm water, and set aside until yeast is frothy. Mix in eggs, sugar, butter or margarine, salt, and raisins. Stir in cooled milk. Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough.
3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes. Place in a large, greased, mixing bowl, and turn to grease the surface of the dough. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.
4. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Moisten dough with 2 tablespoons milk. Mix together 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon, and sprinkle mixture on top of the moistened dough. Roll up tightly; the roll should be about 3 inches in diameter. Cut into thirds, and tuck under ends.
5. Place loaves into well greased 9 x 5 inch pans. Lightly grease tops of loaves. Let rise again for 1 hour.
6.Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes, or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when knocked. Remove loaves from pans, and brush with melted butter or margarine. Let cool before slicing.
A Little Extra Love At Breakfast – Heart Shaped Cinnamon Rolls
Whoever said the way to a man’s heart if through his stomach was right. Living in a house full of men I can attest to that. No one’s happier around our house when food is on the table than our boys.
It seem’s like life is so busy and just keeps getting busier. I’m sure many of you like us are always running from one activity to another. From sun up to sun down we have a million things to do and so little time. So when I can I try to add extra little touches to family meal time to make our meals fun and change it up a little.
On Valentines Day I tried to make a quick Valentines breakfast for my boys. I feel like it’s just one more way to squeeze an extra “I love you” into the day. Really it wasn’t anything spectacular but the boys loved it and felt loved because I included a little extra special touch to top it off.
Cinnamon rolls from a can with fruit and milk on any other day would be a pretty ordinary breakfast. Since it was Valentines Day I made heart shaped cinnamon rolls. It was quick and easy, didn’t really require much extra preparation and was fun. Here is what I did.
Quick and Easy Heart Shaped Cinnamon Rolls
1. Pop open the can of prepared rolls.
2. Unroll the prepared cinnamon rolls one at a time.
3. Roll toward the middle from each end until they almost meet in the middle.
4. Shape to form a heart.
5. Bake following the directions.
6. Frost the cinnamon rolls.
This simple expression of love was worth the smiles it brought that morning at the breakfast table. I though since February is the month of love this would be fun to try this weekend as part of our family breakfast. Just another thought, it might be fun to serve at a bridal shower too.