They came into the kitchen just as Lois was putting the last of the food into a small brown sack. There were a few loaves of bread wrapped in towels, some jerky and salted meats and a variety of dried fruits. A canteen dangled from one of the straps.
"Ah! There you are." She said when she spotted her daughter and the young man in the doorway. "I've got everything ready for your journey. Oh--!"
She ran into the large pantry and came out a moment later with a small wooden box.
"Can't forget these!" she exclaimed, shaking the box at them before stuffing it into the bag.
What are you serving for Christmas
morning? Everyone I know loves Cinnamon Rolls and Coffee Cake... so
this year I am making a Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake! This recipe is
terrific, you can mix up the topping, streusel, dry ingredients and wet
ingredients separately in their own bowls the night before. Christmas
morning all you need to do is preheat the oven, assemble the cake and
bake. Everyone should be awake by the time its finished baking (and if
they aren't the smell will surely wake them up!) ready to dig into a
nice big slice with a cup of coffee or homemade hot cocoa and
marshmallows! This cake has it all: toasted nuts, sticky caramel, warm
soft coffee cake and spicy streusel filling! Its great warm and gooey
outta the oven or try it at room temperature the next day (if there is
any left!). This cake stays nice and moist. If you want to re-heat, use
a 250 degree oven for 15 minutes. Note that you need a 9" round cake pan with 2" sides to accommodate all the batter (thanks for the new pans Gigi)! Here is how you can make your own:
Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake adapted from Cuisine At Home Magazine
Makes one 9" cake
Total time: About 1 1/2 hours
For the Caramel-
Stir Together in a measuring cup:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt
Sprinkle:
1 cup chopped toasted pecans (toast whole pecans in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly then chop)
For The Streusel-
Process:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, diced
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
For The Cake-
Whisk Together in a measuring cup:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt (I used plain with 2 tsp. vanilla extract)
2 eggs
Sift Together:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Cream:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees; coat a 9" cake pan with 2" sides with pam. Place pan on a cookie sheet. [Pan needs to have 2" sides or the cake may overflow.]
Stir
together brown sugar, cream, and salt for the caramel. Pour into
prepared pan and spread to coat the bottom. Sprinkle pecans over the
caramel.
Process brown sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, and salt for the streusel in a food processor. Pulse until it looks sandy; set aside
Whisk buttermilk, yogurt, and eggs together for the cake in a measuring cup with a pour spout.
Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, and salt into a bowl.
Cream
butter and sugar with a mixer just until combined.
Alternate dry and wet ingredients by hand with spatula, starting and ending with the dry. Blend each addition just until incorporated. I blended by hand with a spatula so that I wouldn't over beat and get a tough cake.
Spread
half the batter over the caramel, then sprinkle with half the streusel.
Carefully spread remaining batter over that and top with remaining
steusel. I used my damp fingers to manipulate the batter smoothly over the nuts and streusel. Worked better than any spatula!
Bake 50-60 minutes (make sure to keep the pan on a cookie sheet to catch any overflow), or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool
cake for 5 minutes on a rack, then run a paring knife around the sides
to loosen. Invert onto a serving platter while hot, then let cool
slightly before slicing. Store at room temperature in air-tight Tupperware.
Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake adapted from Cuisine At Home Magazine
Makes one 9" cake
Total time: About 1 1/2 hours
For the Caramel-
Stir Together in a measuring cup:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt
Sprinkle:
1 cup chopped toasted pecans (toast whole pecans in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly then chop)
For The Streusel-
Process:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, diced
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
For The Cake-
Whisk Together in a measuring cup:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt (I used plain with 2 tsp. vanilla extract)
2 eggs
Sift Together:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Cream:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees; coat a 9" cake pan with 2" sides with pam. Place pan on a cookie sheet. [Pan needs to have 2" sides or the cake may overflow.]
Alternate dry and wet ingredients by hand with spatula, starting and ending with the dry. Blend each addition just until incorporated. I blended by hand with a spatula so that I wouldn't over beat and get a tough cake.
Have a lovely Christmas everyone! I'm off on my holiday for the next week+ so see you for the annual review of 2009 next week! <3
I'm still sad. I'm still hurt.
Must be that I didn't know him well enough to understand what is going through his head.
Sucks when someone you thought is a good friend takes you for granted.
I do miss hanging out with him. BUT... It has to end somewhere... I don't want to get into the same situation again. Painful. Awefully painful. As much as hanging out with Shima helps... or going out with Jep or talking to Zai... it still hurts. Looks like its going to take longer than expected to get over this thing.
Note to self:
Sabar feruz... you have some other really good friends out there who cares for you, and who really appreciates you. T____T
Aside to all my friends::
I love you guys! Especially to Shima&Chep, Eema, Zai, Jep & Arm... for being there when I needed them the most :)
Almost a month?
Seriously?
the longest drought ever....since I started this blog.
I don't like it. I miss my blog..
and I don't even know why I stopped for so long....
The craziness of the holidays...
Having nothing to say....
I feel guarded, at times, on what I can write on this blog.....because at some point, everyone does stop by...
A wee bit sad about "life" in general for a little bit there.
Of all the friends and family I have, very, VERY few people read this....so why bother?
Because it's for ME and I LOVE having it.....and some people DO read it, faithfully.
So back to it, I go.....I hope to not let this happen again...a friggin' month. Just crazy.
Right off the top of my head.....what has been going on in the last few weeks...okay, okay..almost MONTH.
- Thanksgiving was nice...quiet, uneventful and just....nice. :-)
- Jaime made honor roll!!!
- J got a web cam and I get to SEE HER TALK NOW!!!! Amazing....and I am so addicted to it. I love getting to "see" her, love getting to see her son....it's just an awesome thing.
- A little girl I love dearly....is so growing up and it makes me miss her so bad.
- I got my Christmas cards out---watch your mail, they are on the way!!--THAT makes me so happy.
- Rode the roller coaster of Zak's work....had a potential multi million dollar client change their mind about moving to NH. It's not completely over with, though. They are not 100% sure what they are doing. They know they are leaning toward not New Hampshire right now, but it's not definite and they LOVE Zak. So if they DO decide NH after all, it will be Zak they use. That right there, is cool. That they dug him so much. But it was quite the roller coaster for a bit. lol.
- Benjamin is going to be Rudolph in his class play....!!! I CANNOT WAIT!!! It's the 23rd.
- I injured myself really, REALLY bad. Fell off one of our high dining room chairs and fell about 2 feet ONTO the chair, right on my ribs. Pretty sure I did some serious damage.....it's finally better but it was almost 2 weeks of hell. Couldn't sleep...couldn't hardly walk....couldn't bend. Just sitting was painful if it I did it for too long...I'm still feeling it, but I can function now. Zak and my mom really stepped up and saved me. They did the laundry and dishes and were just amazing...thank God.
- My business is doing pretty good. I have made enough money in the last couple of months, to pay for Christmas. I am pretty freakin' proud of me! And I love having my business!!!! So nice to be doing what I love and get PAID for it! I haven't done much marketing, just because I keep getting clients and work without having to do much marketing, so I've just been working with the business I have and keeping things at a reasonable pace. After the new year, I will start putting a plan in place and I am really excited to see what kind of business I do once I do some marketing! VERY exciting.
- I had started going to the gym and then hurt myself so I haven't been able to. THAT is a little frustrating.
- I am annoyed as hell that I STILL have not "reviewed" Bon Jovi's new album.
- Mariah Carey is coming in concert, within in driving distance of me, THREE TIMES in January. I am really bummed I will not be able to see her. She is one of my all time favorite artists and I've never seen her in concert and I would do anything to be able to. BUT....I think I am going to bust my ass with my shop and see if I can manage to earn the money to go. Kind of a birthday present to myself. Good Luck to me!!!
- Very excited about the new year and knowing it's going to be a better year for us.
Sooo...that's it. A little run down of the major things going on. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff or leaving stuff out.....meh...one step at a time, right? LOL
Dinner was sitting on the counter getting cold, but the girl still wasn't home. Lois rested her chin in her hand. Just for a moment, she thought. But a moment became a nap, and Lois was soon snoring loudly. The fire in the hearth flickered and sputtered. As it began to die out, sparks flew out and landed on the flagstone floor. At least, they would seem to be sparks to the common eye. But these were long and skinny, and when they landed, they began to scuttle about.
Rum Balls are a traditional Christmas treat but most of the recipes I've come across use crushed vanilla wafers or chocolate cookies, not
this recipe! These Rum Balls are made with a rich, dark chocolate
brownie base that is crumbled and mixed with dark spiced rum (I've
spiked mine with vanilla beans!) to create the most delicious "dough" that
is then rolled into little balls and coated with sparkling sugar! This
recipe in simple, easy and tastes amazing! These balls are best served
chilled or at least cool to hold their shape well. They make a terrific
addition to any gift basket and are a very welcome hostess gift as
well. Here is how you can make your own:
You can find the entire recipe for Rum Balls here. Pre-heat the oven to 350. Generously coat a 12"x17" rimmed baking sheet with Pam and set aside. In a small bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt together the chocolate and butter until smooth and combines. Set bowl aside to cool slightly.
Whisk together eggs, brown
sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the cooled
chocolate mixture, then mix in the flour. You will have enough batter
to create a shallow layer in the baking sheet. Spread the batter evenly
over the baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. Let cake cool
completely.
After cake has cooled, break into small pieces and place in
the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. I like
the turn on the machine and let it break up the cake into small crumbs.
With the mixer running, slowly pour in the rum (I used a Spiced Rum
that I had added a few vanilla beans to the bottle to give a vanilla
essence to the rum) to create a nice dough ball.
Using a 1 inch ice
cream scoop, make small balls and coat in sanding sugar. When all balls
are finished, chill in the fridge for around 2 hours.
For gift giving: wrap each of the balls individually in a small square of plastic wrap and place in a mini-muffin paper. Fit a small rectangle of cardboard (my dad cut up some Macy's shirt boxes! Yeah Dad!) on the bottom of a cello bag and add a small strip of decorative paper. Place two rows of three rum balls each in their muffin papers into the bag, tie with ribbon and add a tag. Store in a cool place before giving.
You can find the entire recipe for Rum Balls here. Pre-heat the oven to 350. Generously coat a 12"x17" rimmed baking sheet with Pam and set aside. In a small bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt together the chocolate and butter until smooth and combines. Set bowl aside to cool slightly.
For gift giving: wrap each of the balls individually in a small square of plastic wrap and place in a mini-muffin paper. Fit a small rectangle of cardboard (my dad cut up some Macy's shirt boxes! Yeah Dad!) on the bottom of a cello bag and add a small strip of decorative paper. Place two rows of three rum balls each in their muffin papers into the bag, tie with ribbon and add a tag. Store in a cool place before giving.
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