It happens every year. You make your New Year’s Resoulutions, which include things like “Lose the 10 pounds I was supposed to lose last year,” and “make it to the gym past the first two weeks in January“. You are feeling really confident that this is the year that you aren’t going to fail on your resolutions. Then, without fail, your doorbell rings. You open it to find a sweet little uniformed girl with a smile so sweet it causes your teeth to ache. She appears innocent, but what you see is the devil hidden behind a green little jumper and girl scout badges. She happily hands you the 20 boxes of Girl Scout cookies you ordered way back in October and at that moment you see all of your New Years resolve vanish.

Why in the world do the Girl Scouts deliver their cookies in January? I would love to have them in December, when I’m pigging out anyway and have people over all the time to share them with. But, nooooo…. they have to come at the very beginning of January, just when you think you may have a chance for success this year.

Unlike some people, I cannot stick the cookies in the freezer and eat them only in emergencies. If they are in my house, they have to be eaten. My kids get to go on a cookie eating binge, eating cookies for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner simply so I can get the darn things out of my house.

I have taken extra precautions this year so I can be mentally prepared for the Girl Scout cookie arrivial. I’ve discovered this tasty recipe from the back of the Andes Mint Baking Chips bag. These cookies taste so much like the Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies that I really think I’ve eaten enough of them to not be nearly as tempted by the real thing when it comes along.  We’ll see if it works or not. I’ll let you know after the little devil in disguise arrives.

Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies (Andes Mint Cookies)

20 min | 10 min prep

42 cookies

Let’s get the big stuff out of the way here real quick. The winner of the wonderful gift basket of goodies from Pillsbury is…. Jenifer from the very funny blog, Nutcase101. Out of 79 comments, the Random Number Generator came up with comment number 18, which belonged to Jenifer. I hope you enjoy the basket, Jenifer, and thanks to Pillsbury for the generous giveaway!

I’ve been thinking about how life is going to be with four kids. It seems as if the people I know who have more than three kids either live in complete chaos, but really make it work for them or they are totally organized. I’d be dreaming to think that I am going to turn into Martha Stewart by the time May rolls around, but I do think I have a few months to get some good systems back into place. I want to get on top of my menu planning, scheduling, cleaning, freelance writing, hobbying, etc. I think the best way to live, especially with kids, is as simply as possible. No - this doesn’t mean we are giving up toilet paper and completely clearing our house out, but I do want to do some major de-cluttering, restructuring and planning.  If I am going to be the best “Mom-in-Chief” of my household, as Michelle Obama likes to call it, then I need to simplify and stick to it.

One way I like to simplify my menus every week is to throw in a few meals that I know I can whip up quickly. There are some nights where eating out just seems easier than cooking, but if you have a few “quick” meals scheduled for your week, you will be less likely to be tempted by the thought of eating out. Two food items that I know I can always turn to for a dinner time quick fix are shrimp and Italian sausage. Shrimp and Italian sausage thaw super quick (which to me is important because I am constantly forgetting to take the meat out of the freezer to thaw out) and cook quickly, don’t require a lot of extra ingredients to make a meal out of them, and it shakes up your weekly menu a bit with something besides the typical beef or chicken.

As I begin my goal planning for the next year (which is something I am getting my kiddos involved in too and encourage you to do the same) you’ll hopefully be seeing a lot more planned out meals on a weekly basis from me. You can bet that in that rotation you will begin seeing a great deal of things that can be put on the table fairly quickly. I’m going back to basics in order to begin my journey to simplicity.

I adapted this Italian Sausage and Peppers recipe from the Taste of Home website. Talk about simple and delicious… the recipe fits my new plan perfectly!

Italian Sausage and Peppers (adapted from Taste of Home)

45 min | 15 min prep

SERVES 4

Hungry for more simple meals featuring Italian Sausage? Check out what these food bloggers are cooking up:

• Rustic Pasta Sauce with Italian Sausage, Onions and Sage from Kalyn’s Kitchen
• Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup from My Wooden Spoon
• Tomatoes Stuffed with Italian Sausage from French Kitchen in America
• Italian Sausage Cacciatore from Big Red Kitchen

I seem to be out of words tonight, but luckily sometimes there are things that don’t need much of an introduction. This pancake recipe is an International House of Pancakes ® copycat recipe. You wouldn’t think that a couple of measly little tablespoons of pumpkin and cinnamon would change the flavor of a simple pancake that much, but these were divine. Fluffy, melt in your mouth, full of pumpkin flavor delicious!

Remember, you have until midnight on the 24th to enter to win the Pillsbury Gift Basket giveaway. Head over there now and leave a comment about your favorite kitchen shortcuts!

Speaking of shortcuts, I am not sure if I have mentioned this before or not, but a lot of the recipes I use call for buttermilk. I never buy buttermilk. I always use 1 Tbs of lemon juice (or white vinegar) per 1 cup of milk. Let the lemon juice/milk sit for about 10 minutes until it curdles. Stir together and you have a great buttermilk substitute!

Copycat International House of Pancakes ® Pumpkin Pancakes (adapted from Recipezaar)

15 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 3 -4

1. Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with oil cooking spray.
2. Combine eggs, buttermilk, butter, pumpkin, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Use an electric mixer to blend ingredients.
3. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and blend with mixer until smooth.
4. Pour the batter in 1/4 cup portions into the hot pan. Should form 5-inch circles.
5. Flip the pancakes and cook other side for the same amountof time, until dark brown.

Are you looking for some more recipes utilizing pumpkin? Check out what these food bloggers are cooking up!

• Pumpkin Pie Milkshake from Cakespy
• Rosemary-Polenta Pumpkin Spice Cake from The Recipe Girl
• Pumpkin Muffins from A Veggie Venture
• Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Streusel Buns from Culinary Adventures of a New Wife
  

I know a lot of people who are stressing out about all they need to do before Christmas arrives. I have never been one to get too worked up about things. I plan ahead, but admittedly am a last minute doer. Still, I try not to let things like hosting big dinner parties or having the family Christmas celebration at my house stress me out. Maybe that is because I know that the people I invite will love me no matter what. There is no need to get all worked up worrying about everything being “just right”.

A lot of people won’t even host get togethers at their house because the thought of having people over, judging their hosting abilities, stresses them to pieces. I hate hearing that because I know that I get so much joy out of sharing my home with others. I am happiest when we have a house full of people, a big meal to share, and lots of wine to drink

When I host parties, which I do quite often, I normally get all of the guests involved. That really helps to take 100% of the pressure off of me. I let people know what is going to be on the menu and ask them to bring sides or desserts or appetizers that will complement the menu. Many times, the people I invite are thrilled to be asked to contribute and are happy to help out.

Another thing I do when hosting parties is to make sure I have a good mix of shortcut options available. If my kitchen is going to be full and a lot of things will be going on, I try not to do too many complicated things at once. Use your crock pot, have on hand some Boxed Chicken Stock… just think of things that might make your day go by a bit easier. One huge lifesaver when I am hosting parties are Pillsbury ready made crusts. I’ve mentioned before that I have a love/hate relationship with pie crusts, so why would I add what I consider to be a stressful task onto my plate when Pillsbury pie crusts make the job simple.

Remember, when you are starting to stress out this holiday season that the people you are hosting are not judging you, your food, or your home. If they are truly your friends, their focus will be on spending the holiday’s with you and building special memories. Make your life a little easier by remembering that not everything has to be done the hard way. Give yourself the permission to sleep in a little longer and use some of the handy shortcuts that are available to us on the market today!

The lovely team at Pillsbury recently sent me a basket full of goodies… 2 glass pie plates, an adorable Crate and Barrel tin of pie crust shape cut out tools, an Oneida pie server and a CD full of photos and recipes to use with their ready made Pie Crusts. Being the generous people they are, the team decided that one of my readers deserved a basket too - so I’m giving one away! To sweeten the deal, I am throwing in a copy of Cooking Light’s Essential Recipe Collection of Desserts cookbook. To enter the giveaway, in the comment section of this post simply tell me one shortcut that you use in the kitchen that helps you to stay sane. All comments must be made by midnight on Wednesday, December 24th. The winner will be chosen through the Random Number Generator and will be announced sometime after Christmas day!

PS - having overnight guests? Try this wonderful quiche recipe… easy, versitile and sure to help your guests wake up happy!

Basic Quiche (from Recipezaar)

1 hour | 10 min prep

SERVES 2 -4 , 1 quiche

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
2. Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add filling and milk and mix well.
4. Pour mixture into frozen pie crust.
5. Place quiche on cookie sheet and bake on the middle oven rack for 45-50 minutes, or until top is browned and a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

It is a funny thing, being pregnant. I was sick for almost the entire first half of this pregnancy, only starting to feel good the past couple of weeks. I still don’t look pregnant. I just look like I have had a few too many Jelly Doughnuts. I don’t feel the baby moving very much either.

The funny thing about being pregnant, for me, is that it doesn’t really feel real. That is, until you sit in that dark room, anticipating the sonogram, and the second that wand hits your tummy you see the outline of the little human moving around. Moving, kicking, double flipping. It is always such a neat moment and one that I know I am very blessed to experience.

Today we found out that our baby, who will be joining our family in May, is a little girl. I know that we were all a little shocked because I would have bet money that I was having a boy this time around, but we are thrilled none the less.

The good news is that our little Leah Katherine (I *think* that is going to be her name, anyway) is an active little thing. I was so relieved to see all of her activty because on the way to the doctors appointment I was telling Nick how nervous I was because I hadn’t really felt her move lately.  Either there was something wrong with the baby or we had a lazy kid on our hands. Turns out I was wrong!

The bad news is that the doctor told us she has a possible obstruction on her heart. My doctor didn’t seem overly concerned. She said it could be something or it could be just a shadow or something. My placenta is also low lying and they couldn’t see her kidneys, but that is probably because she was moving around so much.

Anyway, I have a level 3 sonogram scheduled for the 31st and will keep you all posted. I’ve always wanted to have one of those, so I guess this is my chance!

And to tie in a recipe, one of the reasons I thought I was having a boy is because I have been craving a lot of the same things I did with our oldest. Breakfast food, tortillas and cheese and carbs. Banana Bread has been a favorite of mine this pregnancy as well. I have had the chance to try out a bunch of different recipes, even though I still have one recipe that is my absolute favorite.

The recipe I’m sharing today is from a Taste of Home Cookbook. It is a lighter version of the other banana bread recipes I try. It isn’t my all time favorite, but for a lighter version it is pretty darn good! I hope you enjoy it.

Banana Nut Bread from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in bananas and sour cream. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir into banana mixture just until moistened. Fold in nuts.
Transfer to a greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 1 loaf (12 slices).

Is it too early to say I am sick of winter and ready for spring? Because, I am. I am sick of winter and am so ready for spring. I already feel like I want to hibernate. Remember how I told you awhile back that we may get transferred to Minneapolis? I now officially know that there is no way I would survive there! Anyone have a good job for a really talented <insert the title of whatever it is my husband does> in, say, my favorite state of North Carolina? I would jump on that opportunity in a heart beat!

Speaking of husbands, do any of the rest of you not know exactly what it is your husband does? I always get a little embarrassed when people ask me because I try to explain it (something along the lines of managing computer programmers for a company in the Mutual Fund Processing Industry) but in all honesty, I really have no idea. I know he works a lot, often comes home crabby from his day, and would love to be independently wealthy, but I have no idea what he actually does. Married to the man for over 9 years now, and I still struggle with explaining his profession.

Anyway… enough blabbering. I’m sure what you are really here for is to find out who won the Taste of Home Cookbooks and the Brother P-Touch Label Maker. I loved all of your organizing tips! I left the decision of the winner up to the Random Number Generator and out of 80 comments, it chose comment number 62. Comment number 62 just happens to be… Carmen from Carmen Cooks! Congratulations, Carmen! I can’t wait to hear about all of the great things you do with it.

For the rest of you who didn’t win this time, I won’t leave you empty handed. My friend Sandie over at Inn Cuisine sent me this recipe for Creme Brulee back in April. I’ve been meaning to try it for quite some time now, but just haven’t gotten around to it. This is a rich and delicious Creme Brulee recipe and I love the little kick that the Grand Mariner ads. I replaced the vanilla extract with beans from a whole vanilla bean (and sliced the palm of my hand open in the process…but that is for another time).

Stay warm and enjoy some delicious Creme Brulee and stay tuned for another great giveaway later this week!

Creme Brulee

1 extra-large egg
4 extra-large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for each serving
3 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange liqueur (recommended: Grand Marnier)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the egg, egg yolks, and 1/2 cup of the sugar together on low speed until just combined. Meanwhile, scald the cream in a small saucepan until it’s very hot to the touch but not boiled. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cream to the eggs. Add the vanilla and orange liqueur and pour into 6 to 8-ounce ramekins until almost full.

Place the ramekins in a baking pan and carefully pour boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the custards are set when gently shaken. Remove the custards from the water bath, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until firm.

To serve, spread 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly on the top of each ramekin and heat with a kitchen blowtorch until the sugar carmelizes evenly. Allow to sit at room temperature for a minute until the caramelized sugar hardens.

Hungry for more Creme Brulee? These food bloggers are cooking it up with some special twists!

• Crockpot Creme Brulee from A Year of Crockpotting
• Maple Creme Brulee from Closet Cooking
• Coffee Creme Brulee from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy
• Pumpkin Creme Brulee from More Than Burnt Toast
  

If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you have probably figured out that I can be a little bit scatterbrained. I am what I like to call organized in a very chaotic way. I have a very deep desire to find my inner organized self. I know she’s in there… she used to be the only self I had but that was all pre-kids/pre-chaos. When it was just me and my little life, I could “to do” list and Franklin Planner with the best of them. Now, I have to create situations that make me feel like I am organized.

For example, the “to-do”list. I’ve mentioned once or twice here that I love lists. I am obsessed with lists. I love to read lists (you know when you get a new calendar or time management program and they have examples of how to use it? I scour those reading the lists that are on the example. Anyone else do that?? I am list obsessed.) Often times, I will create lists just so I can mark things off. I will often sit down at night and make my to-do list from the day I just finished and then mark it all off, just so I can have that sense of accomplishment. Yes, I know that truly organized people sit down and write out their to-do list for the next day. That is not the way the “organized in a very chaotic way” folks like to roll.

This past Sunday I did a little pantry organization project. Inspired by an episode of Real Simple Real Life, I decided to buy some nice clear plastic containers from The Container Store. I went to town using my handy dandy new Brother P-Touch label maker and started dumping things into containers and labeling my shelves and the containers. I realized things were getting a little out of control when I labeled a clear, mind you, container full of what was obviously pretzels, “pretzels”. As if you couldn’t tell by just looking at the container that it contained pretzels. Still, it got a label and I was a happy, chaotically organized camper.

During my pantry organization project I realized I had an insane amount of flout and raisins. It was with a thrilling glint in my eye that I decided to pull an issue of Simple & Delicious magazine off of my labeled Cookbook shelf, grab a clear container of raisins marked “raisins” and take my over abundance of flour and put it to good use. This Cinnamon Raisin Bread from the most recent issue of Simple & Delicious is really good and it makes two loaves. Guess what you can do with that second loaf? Stick the bread in a Ziploc bag, take your handy dandy label maker and create a name label of who you want to gift it to. You will feel like you are the most organized person on the planet!

I am giving you all the chance to be “organized in a very chaotic way” too. I have a new Brother PT-80 P-touch Electronic Labeling System to give away so you can be label obsessed just like me. Along with that, Kate from Kate in the Kitchen has two more cookbooks to include in this giveaway. The lucky winner will win the Labeling System, the 2003 Taste of Home Annual Cookbook and the 2005 Light and Tasty Annual Cookbook. Lots of great stuff to snag up here! Enter to win by leaving a comment on this post sharing with me one simple organizing tip. Steal it from FlyLady, borrow it from Real Simple… just share any tip you can think of that has to do with organization. All comments must be accompanied by a valid email address. Comments will be accepted up until midnight on Monday, December 15th.  Good Luck

Oh - and before I share the recipe… did you know that my first guest blogging post is now up at the SC Johnson Right@Home website? Won’t you please go check it out?

Cinnamon Raisin Bread (2 Loaves) from Simple and Delicious Magazine

1¼ hours | 15 min prep

2 Loaves

Quick note… if you missed this post and are a parent, head over to it now for the chance to win the parenting book every parent in this age of “Extreme Parenting” needs to read.

I think I was in about the 7th grade when my mom discovered the joy of making homemade bread. She had purchased one of those big Bosch mixers and once that mixer entered into our life, so did homemade bread. I can remember her grinding wheat to make homemade wheat bread (my dad’s favorite… the heartier the better). I personally loved it when she would make white bread and then would also make homemade honey butter. There was many a Sunday afternoon where she would make a loaf of bread with honey butter and we would have the entire loaf gone by the end of the day. In fact, there were some days where that is what we would have for dinner… fresh from the oven bread and butter!

I first started making bread around 6 years ago. I bought a bread machined to aid in the process. My first few attempts were using the Krusteaz bread machine mixes. Once I got comfortable with those, I graduated to recipes that came in my bread machine manual. Eventually I was able to master just about any standard bread machine recipe I came across. With the aid of my bread maker dough cycle doing most of the work, I soon discovered how simple bread baking could be. Now days, my bread machine is the most used small appliance in my kitchen (I only use the dough cycle and never actually bake my bread in the bread machine). I make homemade bread so often that my spoiled kids think nothing of sitting down to dinner with a loaf of homemade bread on the table.

I know there are many of you out there who are scared of baking with yeast. I hope that you will take my word for it when I say there is absolutely nothing to be scared of. If you own a bread machine, take it out of storage and start playing around with it. If you follow your bread machine instructions you will see how easy bread making can be (for my machine I add liquid first, dry ingredients next (with flour next to last)… make a well in the flour and add the yeast).

If you want to dip into bread making, but want some encouragement or some advice, send me an email. I’d be happy to support you along the way

Old Fashioned Buttermilk Dinner Rolls (from Recipezaar, posted by Burgundy Damsel)

Click on the recipe title to see my review, including my adaptations

2½ hours | 2 hours prep

SERVES 16 , 16 rolls

Would you believe that I have been a mom for 7 years and until recently I have never read a parenting book. The last book I picked up that had anything to do with parenting was What to Expect When Your Expecting. Trust me… it is not that I think I have all the answers. I know I don’t. I know I am not a perfect parent and that reading up on some parenting books would probably do me some good. My problem is, I know so many people who read parenting books and then that book becomes bible to them. “This author says you should let infants cry it out… don’t feed that baby until four hours have passed or you will spoil him.” “If you don’t give your child choices, they will have poor self esteem. You should really practice Love & Logic with him.”

I guess I would say I parent mostly based on my instincts. I rely a lot on advice from other moms, blogs and my own family. I know a lot of people who do read the parenting books and they waste no time at all in passing on the information to me One of the biggest reasons I have avoided parenting books is because I always had the feeling that I would question my own parenting instincts after reading one. I did not want to feel extra guilty about the job I was doing as a parent simply because someone else did not agree with how I did something.

Recently, Naomi of Rock-n-Tot, Tracing Handprints and Being Savvy Cleveland stopped by my blog and commented on my post about Jacob, Parenting With a Heavy Heart. That day, I took a look at her blog and was intrigued by a parenting book she had reviewed on her site titled “Even June Cleaver Would Forget the Juice Box.”  You may remember back to the beginning of the school year when I realized the day of that I forgot my daughters 1st day of preschool. How about when we had the lovely situation where Kelly completely undid her car seat while driving down the interstate and my day ended in being puked on. Another gem.. the day I locked both girls in the car at the grocery store parking lot? Those were all days where I lost the Mother of the Year award (and the reason I started investing in a therapy fund for them for their adult years). Those parenting moments where you feel so guilty and so inept to be a parent and just know in your heart of hearts that you are the only mom in the world who would have this experience with their kids.

Parenting these days seems to be done in extreme measures. If your child hasn’t already had 3 years of soccer under their belt by the time they are 7, good luck finding a team that will take them. Mom’s are shuttling kids each and every day after school to this extra curricular activity or that. Birthday parties… oh don’t get me started on the birthday parties. Gone are the days of a simple cake and ice cream party, here are the days of traveling petting zoos, tot makeovers and live bands. It has all gotten to be a bit rediculous to see the pressure moms have on them to keep up with each other and to be “perfect”.

Enter Even June Cleaver Would Forget the Juice Box by Ann Dunnewold, Ph.D. This book needs to be in the hands of every mother on planet earth. Give it away at baby showers. Have a neighborhood book club featuring this book. Do something, please, so that mom’s all over the world can realize that there is no need to be a perfect parent. From the back cover, “Follow your gut, not your guilt. Connect with instead of compete with other mothers. Curb your need to overprotect, overperfect, or overproduce.”

Parenting books aren’t my thing, but if they were all as real as this one, I think I’d be singing a different tune. Namoi graciously sent me an extra copy to give to one of my readers. If you don’t win a copy, be certain to pick up a copy at your local library or head to your neighborhood bookstore and pick one up. It is an attitude shifting book that every mom needs to read! To win, please leave a comment on this post telling me what the best piece of parenting/marriage/life advice was you have ever received. All comments must have a valid email address. Deadline to enter is Tuesday, December 9th midnight CST.

And, since this is a cooking blog, I am adding a “recipe” if you can call it that for one of my kids favorite and simple treats. If I don’t have enough left over pie crust when making a pie to make them these cookies, I’m in big trouble with them!

Pie Crust Cookies

Use this pie crust recipe or your favorite pie crust recipe… it works either way!

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 teaspoon lemon juice or cider vinegar

5 to 6 tablespoons ice water

3 tablespoons sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Place flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl or a food processor bowl. Mix thoroughly. Cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add lemon juice or vinegar and enough ice water to make a dough that just clings together. Cover dough with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll dough our on a lightly floured board or pastry cloth to 1/8-inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Transfer to ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake in the center of the oven for 9-11 minutes, until golden. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Updated 12/10/2008 - And the winner is…. Stephanie from Fun Foods on a Budget. Congratulations, Stephanie!

I am always so impressed with the effort that goes into food gifts this time of year. Ellaborate trays of cookies, breads of all kinds, gingerbread houses… bakers are busy in the kitchen cooking up things to give to others. A gift of homemade goodies, in my opinion, is a true gift of love.

I think I am going to do an assortment of pumpkin bread, cookies and something a bit different this year. My closest friends are going to get a pan of Caramel Rolls. I read about this idea last year, but with using your favorite cinnamon roll recipe. Purchase several alumnimum round cake pans and whip up a few batches of your favorite cinnamon roll dough. Roll and slice the dough and place 6 rolls each in the round cake pans. Tightly cover and freeze. When you are ready to gift your cinnamon rolls, take them out of the freezer, wrap in clear plastic wrap, decorate the packaging as you wish and attach instructions for thawing and baking on a card. Your friends will love the idea of having home baked goodness given to them to bake fresh in their own oven. Imagine how nice it would be to wake up to hot cinnamon rolls on Christmas Day without the effort of actually making them.

What food gifts are you giving your friends and neighbors this year? I would love to hear your ideas!

Mom’s Caramel Rolls (from Sidd on Recipezaar)

First, a couple of notes. These are the best caramel rolls I have ever tried! Buttery and delicious and full of sweet ooey gooey caramel flavor. I halved the recipe since it was just for my family and did all of the work in the bread machine. I took out the dough and then followed the rolling and baking instructions from there. I got 10 large rolls.

2½ hours | 2 hours prep

SERVES 18