The secret to good cinnamon rolls isn’t the recipe; and more!
It’s been a quiet week here other than my washer breaking down (because of the motherboard, of course). Yes, I will try to find a Speed Queen. The only issue is our second-floor laundry room and lugging that rather heavy appliance up there, but it can be overcome.
I came across the word “Crafternoon” and I sort of love it. I had some friends over for some handwork and glasses of cold water, it being Lent and all. We had fun!
Still working on this Good Mouse. She’s done but she needs a hat. I was committed to using a lighter weight wool so she wouldn’t be too big, but then I went ahead and made her dress out of worsted, so it would go fast. The pattern is for overalls, but I wanted her to be a girl. I guess the overalls could have looked girly with this yarn.
I stuffed her with pure wool roving; consequently she has a little haze. She is impossibly squishy and lovable!
Baking CornerI used to be bad, very bad, at making cinnamon rolls. Maybe I’m the only one with this problem — the only one who needs a “secret” to making good ones.
I failed for the simple reason that I always cut the log into too many slices, in an attempt to produce a greater number without the waste of a little child taking a big roll and then only eating part of it.
The way I was doing it, they didn’t rise into each other and the edges got unpleasantly crunchy, especially the ones near the edges of the pan. They weren’t like other people’s rolls! Disappointing!
I contented myself with making more babka- or wreath-like loaves rather than expose my shortcomings.
But now I understand: the log has to be cut into wide slices. That way they snug up against each other and emerge fluffy and moist. It means fewer rolls. You might have to cut them up for small kids. It’s worth it. I chalk my issues up to being that “intuitive” baker who won’t read the darn instructions.
It doesn’t matter much what recipe you use. You need a “sweet roll” recipe, which is some kind of brioche dough. That means it has enrichments like milk, butter or oil, and maybe an egg. Ricotta is good. At least milk.
You can use my sandwich dough, adding 2-4 tablespoons of butter or good-quality neutral oil (like avocado) and an egg and/or 1/3 cup of ricotta. You will likely add less milk/water than the recipe calls for with these liquidy additions, so do them first and then the milk as you mix.
Divide the dough in half. Roll each piece out and spread with brown sugar and cinnamon, mixed with butter if you like. Roll up and cut into slices — just make sure they are wide slices! That’s the key. Each roll will give you 8 slices, no more (I was always trying to do 12).
Use a well buttered pan (or two as I did) to give them room to rise but also have them close enough that they snug up against each other. You can pour some heavy cream over everything to add extra moisture and delectability; I did not do that this time and they were wonderful anyway!
I made a quick glaze with milk and powdered sugar, spreading it over them after they had cooled a little. You can certainly use cream cheese! I also used a bulb baster and basted the buttery sugar syrup that collects beneath them over the tops while everything was still pretty hot.
These were our treat for the Feast of the Annunciation! They were really tender, moist, and cinnamon-y. It’s a dry run for Easter!
bits & piecesThis little Instagram reel should give pause to anyone who argues that a “new” feminism can be implemented if only we would distribute childcare and household duties equally between men and women (and have the government pay for certain things, meaning the taxpayer of course, meaning hardworking families like the one in the reel, on whom it would be a real burden). I put “new” in quotes because it’s not new — this has been a talking point of feminism from the beginning and the past 50 years have been a failed, miserable experiment in making it happen.
It strikes me that you can identify the advocates of this aspiration — one never actually found in the wild because it goes against observable human nature from the beginning of time — as a member of that elite class of people who work at a desk, often from home, and who have flexible jobs and/or enough money to pay for all the actual tasks done in the home. Usually they are academics or work in think-tanks, and thus have regular, extended time off and a nice expendable income.
This “solution,” to stop viewing the home as, fundamentally, the women’s sphere, is proposed by those who do not grasp that it’s men who paint our buildings all day, like the dad in the reel, build our bridges, and fit our pipes. I believe that to such an ideologue, men — and it’s only men — in ditches in the road repairing broken sewer lines are quite simply invisible.
In their “solution” we don’t find the proposal that women go out on a frigid January day to dig up the street. So perhaps we ought to question its practicability. Surely they are not suggesting that these vital jobs go undone?
I personally could not eat most of the food this gracious lady is preparing, sadly — it all seems impossibly spicy to me, other than the carrots, I think! — I’m just that much of a wimp. But I appreciate the real difference her humble devotion makes and and what it contributes to our otherwise self-absorbed societal landscape. And I appreciate her good man doing a job that, but for his satisfaction in knowing his family cares for him, might feel pretty thankless. Bless them. They are the bedrock.
There are so many good books in the past, and we and our kids need to read them! It’s impossible for me to offer a comprehensive book list, though I have a few from others. Such things need to be crowd-sourced, but by people with the right standards. I have found two resources recently. One is on Facebook — as far as I’m concerned, this is the only good use of Facebook, other than Marketplace: the groups that exist for a particular pursuit, like finding out where the steam locomotives will be, fixing your old wood stove, or sharing your love for old chapter books Vintage Chapter Books for Children. The other is on Substack: Revisiting the Classics: An Introduction for Adult Readers.
Of course you have to use your common sense. Not every old book is great. (Many have been discussed here so you might do a search.) But wow, lots of wonderful suggestions on these sites!
Why Does Science Say Everything Will Kill You? A good tutorial on how to read these studies.Fr. Pokorsky on Changing the World with Pure or Impure Thoughts
Queen Alexandra’s watercolour sketchbook — inspiration for your young artist?
from the archivesA podcast I did quite a while ago with Eric Sammons on the Incompatibility of Feminism and Catholicism (I hadn’t realized it was going to be video, so please excuse… that part of it!)Tired Husbands
liturgical living
Blessed Berthold of Mount Carmel
Tomorrow is Laetare Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent and the halfway mark of our journey. To listen to the chant of the Introit which gives this Sunday its name, and read interesting commentary, go here.
follow us everywhere!Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts.
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
I keep this site ad-free, but you can support me these ways:
Using my affiliate link to my Amazon page — the only affiliate thing that goes on here on LMLD, which is why the blog loads quickly and you don’t have to keep closing pop-ups etc! It opens up an Amazon tab and anything you purchase using that tab for 24 hours sends a bit over my way without cost to you. Thank you for opening it and shopping if you are so minded — as some have asked me. If not, don’t worry one bit.
Buying me a skein or two of yarn! (This will appear on your credit card as “Domus Enterprises” — please remember!)
Thank you!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen: Consider subscribing to this blog by email. We would love to pop into your inbox! The subscription box is on this page on the sidebar!
My old podcast, The Home Truths Society, can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) if you haven’t heard them.
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest
