Cinnamon Roll Brunch

I bought myself a gift. When I saw this new book at Williams Sonoma, I knew I had to have it. The photos are awesome, the recipes sound delicious and there's even a recipe from Tartine Bakery here in SF. I gave Junior some purple sticky tabs to mark what things she'd want me to make. Naturally she marked 80% of the book! But, I knew all along which recipe I'd want to try first and we invited the girls over for a Labor Day brunch.

The night before, we did some pre-brunch prep so we could sleep in longer on our day off.  When I can, I always like to set the table the night before. It's one less thing to worry about. I chose my sassy cowgirl tablecloth and got out grandma's silver coffee service. Did you know that silver is worth more if it's tarnished? Someone once told me not to polish my silver and that's all the excuse I need! 

And yes, mom, I ironed the cloth napkins.

Now let's get back to the good stuff...

I got these sugar/flour containers a long time ago at Wal-Mart. I like how old fashioned they look, but I have a serious problem when it comes to filling them. Who am I kidding? Basically anytime I have to lift a bag of flour, sugar, or especially powdered sugar I end up dumping it all over the place, regardless of the container. I think the powdered sugar is the worst because the bags are always so floppy. I once dumped an entire bag ALL OVER my mom's kitchen. As I tried to grab one side, it launched the other side into the air and unleashed a rainbow of powder everywhere. I felt like I was fighting back in slow motion. When the bag finally landed, I couldn't believe the carnage! 

 

This is my mom's old mixer and I love it. It's probably twenty years old and has produced countless batches of chocolate chip cookies & birthday cupcakes. 

Let the dough rest and move on to the filling...

 

Brown sugar, cinnamon and orange zest = A--mazing! 

And now, a moment of silence, while I assemble the most delicious cinnamon rolls ever...

 

 

 

 

 

You're welcome. 

Good night, cinnamon rolls. Enjoy your nap in the fridge. We'll see you in the morning!

 Well, hello there! Aren't you two pretty?! Let's get you in the oven ASAP.

 

Our Moo creamer is always good for a laugh. He looks like he's barfing creamer. Why would you design this?! One year for Thanksgiving, we thought it's be funny to serve gravy out of him. Wrong! It congealed and got stuck in his snout. Again, good for a laugh, though.

WARNING: The faint of heart should look away. The following photos may cause excessive slobbering.

One time, I took Junior to Krispie Creme for doughnut. They handed us free samples in line and as I took a bite, I looked over at her, and her face was covered with wrapper and the doughnut was gone. In the time it took the woman to hand me mine, Junior had devoured hers. She looked up with her eyes glazed over as if to say, "What just happened?" We now call it black-out eating. Apparently homemade cinnamon rolls have the same effect. I don't remember emptying my plate, but I know it was DELICIOUS.