Christian Artwork

My picasa album has been updated with the 6 Christian artworks I've created in the past 2 months, along with all the other artwork I currently have for sale... :) If you're interested, please drop me a line! Thanks! Cynt

If you are interested in getting a print, drop me a line (sales@ladybughugs.ca.nospam) (remove the .nospam) Prices vary, see price section on www.ladybughugs.ca . More paintings are coming :)
here's the link : https://picasaweb.google.com/115059476290825560455/PaintingsAndDrawingsThatAreUpForSale#

Life Savior

Lambs Book of Life/Holy Adoption

A seed is planted

Blood of the Lamb/Lily of the Valley

Light of the World / Spiritual Warfare

The Mighty Cross/Tree of Life

Almond Rolls

Good day to you folks! I've promised this recipe would be typed up in time for me to bring it to church (tomorrow - I don't procrastinate much, just twice a year, and it lasts 6 months).

So, here we go. I used the basic Amish Bread recipe (posted on here) and then went a little artistic with it (just wait until I post the Cheeky Monkey Balls recipe.) ;)

Today's recipe, Almond Rolls

You can download a printable version of this recipe by clicking on this link -> Almond Roll (PDF) (opens in a new window)
So, whip up a batch of that yummy bread, and either use it all for these babies, or do half and half. Prepare the Amish bread, divide into 2-4 balls. (4 balls will give you smaller rolls, but may be easier to work with.)

Trying to raise some much needed funds!

Trying to raise some much needed funds!

This is for a friend who has just lost EVERYthing!

car, savings, even utilities! she's pretty much starting from scratch, and she desperately needs help.

If you can chip in even just FIVE dollars! That would be amazing! If you don't have paypal, PM me on Fb or email me at home, and I will give you the address where to send a check (this is a US friend).

If you are a Canadian, you can send it to me, and I'll forward it to her. Please consider how you would feel if this happened to you. Thank you, God Bless you!

About the amish bread/rolls

I thought I'd give a quick update on the rolls and breads.

I've made this recipe (below) about 4-5 times now. I'm almost out of flour, from a 5lb bag. ;)

• First off, REAL bread flour made all the difference for me (and NOT bread machine flour). Yes its more expensive, but in the end, its worth it.
• Half and Half just does not cut it (pun intended).
• Whipping cream and 35% cream is awesome. I've a thingy of "light" cream (LOL) 18% waiting for the next batch, I'll keep you posted if it works, or not.
• A pan with a hole will pee caramel in your oven. I'll be burying one of my grandma's pans :(
• If you're gonna make this recipe a lot, buy a jar of yeast, and if you'll be REALLY making it a lot, I've seen (for the 1st time) 2lb yeast blocks, kinda neat!
• One of those huge sugar shakers (like a large parmesan shaker) works AWESOME for sprinkling all that cinnamon.
• A good whisk is your friend (even a dollar store once, so long as you treat it gently).
• Even if you're tired, after you've rolled your rolls, and put the loaves in the pans, clean your counter and get it ready for the cooling off of the baked goods.
• While you're at that dollar store, get a couple of cooling racks, these fold out of the way, and are indispensible for your culinary adventures! ^_^
• A good non-shedding brush works well for the melted butter ;)
• Be warned, once you start offering these to people, they will be thrilled! Oh, and be warned, if you tell people you make this very therapeutic recipe by HAND they'll look at you like you're nuts!
• Forgetting ingredients (like salt and oil like I did.) makes for a tough recipe, but still good. The bread loaves I made had a hard time standing on their own, so they were given with the instructions, stand on their heads. They were so soft and fluffy (and delicious omgosh!) but you could taste the missing salt (see? I screw up too!) you have to learn to laugh at yourself. ;)
• If you know someone who's just had surgery, or an elderly person (and maybe not so elderly ;) that does not get much visiting, or outing, why not bring them a pan of these, or even 3-4 rolls? Make someone's day, and share the goodness. And wish them a Merry Christmas (and if its on your heart, why not take the opportunity to INVITE them to your Christmas dinner (or your after Christmas dinner)? I can tell you, as a single bachlorette, how warming it is, when I'm asked to a friend's house for Christmas or Thanksgiving. :)

Merry Christmas, I'll be back, with more favorite recipes! Stay tuned! And, remember, if I can do this, SO CAN YOU!  God Bless!

Amish Bread and Caramel Rolls

Credits for this recipe go to my friend, Emily Blank. She'd told me about this AWESOME Amish bread and even better Caramel Rolls recipe, and of course, my ears twitched and I started drooling. (I'm a total sucker for homemade bread). Now before you say, ooh, I can't make bread... Listen, if I can do it, YOU can! ^_^

I will redo the recipe when I get more bread flour, and I will take pics like I normally do, to help along. For the time being, here's the recipe, as Emily gave it to me.

Amish white bread recipe:


Dissolve 1/2 cup sugar in 2 cups hot water

Add 1 packet of yeast and allow to proof (foam) (proofing takes 5-10 minutes, as per google. ;)

Stir in 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 cup oil (veg, canola...whatever)

Then I stir in 6 cups (roughly) of premium white bread flour. I knead in about 1 cup at a time. Pour small amt of oil in a bowl, once the dough is ready roll it in oil , cover and let rise. AFter a few hours, punch it down, knead a bit more...divide into 2 loaves and put i bread pans, allow to rise a bit more, then bake at 350 for 30 mins.
(I placed my bowl, covered with a floured towel, next to the hot air vent. I normally keep my place VERY cool, so this was perfect). The rising took about 1 hour I think... I will re-check next time. You know its right when its doubled in size, and when you press it, GENTLY - NO POKING! your finger should leave an indent that pops back. If it pops back very slooooowly, then its not ready.

 I don't have a bread loaf pan, so I used mini-loaf pans... it made the most PERFECT mini bread slices! and just the right size when you're not that hungry :)

Caramel Rolls:

These are SO freaking GOOD!

I use 1 loaf worth of the above dough. Then in a small saucepan I melt 1 stick of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar. Then remove from burner and stir in 1 cup of whipping cream until stirred in completely. Pour into 9X13 pan. (I used an 8X8. giggle. they popped out. LOL!)


Take the dough and flatten in rectangular shape. Then (I just use my fingers) spread butter over dough and sprinkle cinnamon over dough. Roll the dough lengthwise so that it looks like a footlong sub Seal the ends and creases. I use dental floss to cut into rolls. Slide floss underneath the dough, criss cross and pull until it separates, leaving a roll. Do that all the way down and place on top of caramel mixture. Then cover and let raise. When ready, bake at 350 for 30 minutes. After you take it out of the oven let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Then I cover with tin foil and flip over. And Voila! Mine still don't look all that pretty but they are DELISH!
 

Mini-Loaf. See how much they POOFED up? AWESOMER! :)



My 8X8 messy pan :| I'll know next time. I use a convection toaster oven (I didn't use the convection part), which may explain why my buns are so toasted. ;) and they really POOFED! See all the caramel on the side? yum.



After flipping the pan into my serving plate. The caramel is not this color, its just the camera. lol! but its sooooo good!

Cinnamon-onum-numnum! :) I wanted to see if the rolls were done inside. And then well, you just CANNOT give away the imperfect ones right? :)

MY way of cutting, I used a sharp knife, and sliced in one motion without squishing. Also, make your slices about 3/4 -1" wide as these will go POOF and like expand, a LOT! (which is kinda neat). If you want to be mean, make sure to invite people over, just after taking these out of the oven. DROOL! :)
 
ALSO, I used a foil pan. BIG mistake. It was not solid enough when I pulled the pan out, and I had caramel sauce ALL over the place :( what a waste, all that yummy caramel - oh hi! sorry... Use a solid pan, and I would suggest you NOT pouring ALL the sauce in the pan at once, pour some in, add the fluffy things, then add some as needed. I had an excess amount too, plus 4 fluffies, so I used 2 mini-loaf foil pans, and oh they were YUMMMMMYYYYY!  I used a long/wide serving plate (instead of foil) due to the silliness of the foil pan... and flipped it. Please be careful, its HOT!  now, GO. bake! you CAN do this! :)