Cinnamon Rolls.....

I'd been wanting to make cinnamon rolls for a while. Ever since, I had that 'ooey gooey goodness' from IKEA. (Yes, IKEA makes cinnamon rolls) I have never made anything with yeast before so I figured I'd give it a go. I enjoy reading Julia's blog and she made whole wheat cinnamon roles a few weeks ago. I read thru the recipe and thought I'd give it a go.

Recipes Adapted from Baking Bites

Makes 12 Cinnamon Rolls (or 15 if you make them a tiny bit smaller)

Cinnamon Rolls
2 1/2 tsp (.25 oz) active dry yeast (1 packet)
1/4 cup warm water, about 100-110F
2 cups whole wheat flour (if you have white ww flour, you can use that for all the flour
1- 1 1/2 cup white flour (I used exactly 1 1/4 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled (I didn't let mine cool, oops)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt

Cinnamon Filling
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp coarse sugar/regular sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Glaze
1 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
4-6 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a small bowl. Add additional milk or confectioners’ sugar, as needed, to make glaze pourable.
Drizzle over cinnamon rolls while still warm.

I only used white flour....and I realized after I started I didn't have buttermilk. So, I used milk. (oops!!!) I also had a problem getting the dough to rise. After googling my dough rising problems I figured out that it's important for the dough be in a room that's very warm/hot. I had the bowl of dough on top of the oven (which was on) but it just wasn't good enough. So....I put it in my microwave which tends to be very warm. That helped A LOT! :)

I baked them this morning to go along for my dad's birthday breakfast. :)

They didn't turn out like the perfect 'cinnamon roll shape' but I liked them. They tasted good! My nephew, Joseph loved them so much that he ate 2 big ones. :) YEY!!!

Team Building....

Today, we had a team building morale thing. My boss planned a canoe trip for us to take down the Rappahannock River. I figured why not, something to check off my life list. :)

The blue line is the path we took. We started at the Hole in the Wall and ended at Mott's Run.

Jess is getting another look at the map.

Before our trip, Elizabeth (in the fancy pants...she's a radio sales rep) decided to read a little devotion to us. But when she referred to GOD she kept pointing up to the sky and saying the 'big guy' or 'it upstairs'. Then someone finally said...You can say GOD, I think everyone here believes in him. I guess she wasn't sure and didn't want to offend anyone. It was strange. LOL

Deirdre Blake (who does news) and then Hilary Ucciardi (who works for the paper in marketing). They were partners in their canoe. Poor Hilary tho....a lot of us didn't know her and some people thought she was a fill in or a tour guide. OOPS! She was really nice. :)

Jessica and Ryan (webmaster) going along. Ryan isn't really doing much. He's holding a drink. LOL
I was teamed up with our new Promotions Director, Sharon. She's pretty funny. I have no clue as to what I'm looking at. LOL

People getting out....Sharon and I were the first ones out....we WON!! :)

Sharon being a big helper. I think the best part of the day was when Todd fell in the canoe b/c his partner Fayth got out of the canoe and he didn't realize it and he fell into the river. ahahahaha....too bad no one got a picture of that. :)

Silly group photo at the end! :) What a nice fun day!!

Pot of Gold...

Last week, after a rain shower my neighbors across the street took a picture of my house with a beautiful rainbow. I love the picture. My house is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. :)

Sister Sunday...

Ashley came up today and we went downtown. We ate lunch at Castiglia's and then went to Colonial Cupcakes for dessert.

Cute chalkboard sign on the sidewalk. :)

Kristen and I had been here right after the place opened. Looks like they've done a few changes to the counter area. There are also some cupcakes that are not iced and you get to pick the icing and decorations and they do it right in front of you.

Ashley got a Key Lime Meringue cupcake.

The Chocolate on Chocolate stood out to me. :) Thanks Ashley for the lovely afternoon! :)

Miller Farms

After the Farmers Market we took a little road trip down towards the OC of Virginia.

We stopped off at Miller Farms. I wanted to pick up some Strawberries for my dad.

Silos!
OPEN sign! Yey!!
Farm Fresh eggs.....so cute in the basket.

Strawberries for my dad. They were a little pricey tho. $5.00 per container. They had pick your own but I went the easy route and headed straight to the fridge. :)

Salsas made at the farm. They also had some jams and jellies from places like Graves Mtn. :)
Inside the shop they also had several different craft signs, and handmade items. I saw this little purse made out of Sheep wool. Very cute! And so is the little sheep on the tag. :)

Handmade Potholders. How adorable!! :) Another fun day with my BFF! :)

Farmers Market @ Hurkamp Park

Kristen came up today and we went to Hurkamp Park to check out the Fredericksburg Farmers Market. It was pretty cool. So many flowers, and locally grown herbs and produce. We didn't buy anything. We just looked around, but I def want to go again and get some fresh veggies etc.

I love the old bricks used for the walkway around the park. There's just something about it.

Cute Strawberries!
Radishes...which always remind me of Rapunzel. Especially my favorite version.

Onions!
Herbs! :)

American Red Cross Luncheon

Because of my blood clotting disorder (Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome) I can never donate blood. Being a Radio DJ, I can still put forth my efforts and time by getting people to donate. For 2009 I did all of the American Red Cross Radio Remotes (live broadcasts) for my station. I also voiced some of their commercials that we aired on all 3 of our stations. I was invited to a luncheon on Friday to pick up the Media award for our involvement. Jessica (Morning DJ) and I went to represent our stations and we had a wonderful time.

It was at Fredericksburg Square. Which is the place I was married! It was really cool to see again. It's been almost 10 years since I've been back there and it's still just as beautiful. :)

We were allowed to sit where ever we wanted. I sat down at table 2...not realizing I'd be sitting with rival radio peeps. But it was cool...I jokingly said to them "Even tho we're rivals we can be friends today right", and they said "of course". A few speeches were done from Tammy Berfield and Rebecca Crosen. Awards were given out after lunch. Once the awards were given out they did a raffle where if your number was chosen you won flowers. Guess who won? Yep, I won some really cute purple flowers. :)

Picture of the award! :)

Surfing Sheepy! :)