Pudding Cinnamon Rolls

Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls, or simply, the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had. Please note, I've eaten AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT of cinnamon rolls and sweet rolls in my life and these were simply the best.  The recipe comes from Mel, who I rely on for consistently delicious, family-style recipes. You should make these for your next weekend breakfast. They are so worth the effort.

Thanksgiving in the Sun

Oh my goodness, Arizona is quite nice this time of year. We loaded the three of us into the car for our first family roadtrip and abandoned the cold, snowy days of Utah for the sunshine of the desert. Sawyer was great, and I- for once!- contributed some driving time, at least until Jeff couldn't stand it anymore, then I got promoted to playing with Sawyer in the backseat.

Our time in Arizona was unbelievable.  Really. Can you believe this: all us sibs together, first day, Rudy's Texas BBQ and up late talking about the good, bad,and ugly, next day the Phoenix Zoo, next day the flu. FLU. Lots of it, everyone in the house had it with the exception of our hosts.  Even poor little Sawyer was so sick he couldn't eat for days and had to pass on his first Thanksgiving.  Of course, getting sick meant that we got to stay an extra day, which meant Krista had plenty of time to get me hooked on "White Collar" and Jeff and Steve got to watch all that Thanksgiving football, so really even getting sick wasn't too bad. In the end, we realized we had even more to be thankful for. There's nothing like being with family.

Thanks for a memorable Thanksgiving, friends!

Excuse us....

 we've got some scrumdidily to devour.

I woke up this morning craving cinnamon rolls, but I was on an eggs-and-toast time schedule. These chocolate swirl biscuits were the perfect solution: bready and yummy, and ready in 30 minutes. I followed the recipe with a few minor adjustments.  My food processor was the handy dough mixer-it seriously cut the prep time in half because all I had to do was pulse several times to crumble the butter into the flour, then pulse a couple times to incorporate the milk to make it all a dough. Voila! Dough ready to go in 2 minutes or less. I also used miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate chunks, and I used an egg-only wash.

Weekend breakfast anyone?

10 months!

{maple oat tea scones}

On Sawyer's 10 month birthday we invited our friend over for tea to celebrate her baby girl (due in February). Sawyer showed off all of his tricks including his latest big adventure, walking from the couch to the lounge chair. After the wonderful visit was over, Sawyer and I settled down to a little light reading.

He can now not only tear each and every book off the shelf, but he can turn the pages himself (without tearing...).

Weekend Mirths-A Thoughtful Holiday

{boldly going where no stroller has gone before} 

Saturday morning was a world of discovery.  While Jeff headed out to help the neighborhood pull branches out of their front windows and off of their cars, I bundled Sawyer boy and headed out for a stroll through the untouched snow.  We were both in a state of complete shock at the strange beauty and somewhat terrifying results of the huge winter storm.  Instead of seeing tons of runners and other strollers as we usually do, we saw neighbors walking around with shovels and chainsaws, stopping anywhere to lend some help where needed.  We encountered complete silence broken only by the occasional sound of branches being cut and our own exclamations and efforts to get the stroller through inches of snow.  It was amazing to see our little community pull together and we- for the gazillionth time- were so glad that we moved to such a wonderful part of town. 

The quiet lent itself to reflection and we strolled through Memorial Park, dedicated to veterans and our country, thinking about the brave people who, past and present, have been fighters for freedom.  In the park there is a memorial that among other things, has a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby inscribed on one side. It reads:

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom. Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

Abraham Lincoln 

I cry every time I read it.  Maybe it's the mother in me, maybe it's the eloquence of speech and feeling, but most likely it's the heartfelt gratitude for all our veterans and servicemen who "[lay] so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom." I'm certainly thankful for sacrifices made by those who serve, as well as their families, and it was them we remembered and prayed for this weekend.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Today is Sawyer's first snowday.  It began this morning with rolling thunder and rain and after our morning nap we awoke to find snow dusting the grass, trees, and rooftops around our home.  He was positively mesmerized by the large, fluffy flakes' descending acrobatics.  He sat on his doughy white legs, his baby blues charting the path of snowflakes from cloud to ground, smacking the window and watching the winter splendor.  I watched with him and just like every time he experiences the joy of something new, I felt like it was my first time seeing a snowfall too. Or at least, I felt like I saw a different kind of snow than ever before.

I love you, my one-of-kind, no other like you, little snowflake baby.

Apple Round-Up

Just a few blocks down from our home is a generous little apple orchard. Generous I say, because anyone and everyone can go there to pluck apples from the trees for free. As many apples as you please, too.  I love walking over to the orchard-going there makes me feel like I'm back home, back in the land of Johnny Appleseed, at least until I look up and see the looming mountains. Sawyer loves to accompany me and squeals with delight as we hop up to grab apples and laughs when I drop them in our sack.  He watches with wonder the leaves that fall around us and hones in on apples as they free fall from trees. The apple season is all but finished around here so this past weekend was our last trip.  That is, until next year, generous little apple orchard.

Check out some of the links and ideas below for our favorite ways to eat apples in autumn.

apple cider doughnuts, ridiculously delish

chocolate apples and spiced cider

applesauce