maple cream cinnamon rolls

As you may have read on last week's journal entry post, "chef" is still one of my dream jobs. Thus, I decided to perfect my cinnamon rolls, experimenting with different recipes and pans. I'm quite pleased with this one, even if the finished product isn't the most photogenic...

The recipe is easy enough to do in one afternoon, and it only makes one 9x13 pan. Perfect. (These photos are deceiving...one 9x13 cooks them better than two 8x8 pans.)

I first tried The Pioneer Woman's famous cinnamon rolls, but I preferred the Everyday Cinnamon Roll recipe on Our Best Bites. There were a few things I tweaked, so my adapted recipe follows. It's kind of a hybrid between the two.

Dough

1 c milk

4 T butter

3 - 3 1/2 c flour

2 1/4 tsp yeast (I just use a normal yeast, but the Everyday Cinnamon Roll recipe calls for rapid rise. I imagine either is fine.)

1/4 c white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

Filling

3/4 c brown sugar

1 T cinnamon

1/4 c melted butter

raisins or chocolate chips, optional

Maple Cream Cheese Icing

(I estimate every time, so these are approximations)

1 c powdered sugar

2-5 T milk

2 T soft butter

4 oz soft cream cheese

1/2 tsp maple extract

Just whip it all together with a hand mixer, adding in more or less of things to make it as thin and maple-flavored as you want.

Place 3/4 c milk plus the butter in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds until the butter is mostly melted. Stir in the last 1/4 c milk to cool the mixture off and set it aside.

In a large mixing bowl (a mixer is fine too, I just don't have one), whisk together 2 c flour, yeast, white sugar, and salt. When milk mixture is cooled off to warm, add it to the flour mixture along with the egg while stirring. Beat only until combined, about 1 minute. Add remaining flour, but ONLY until dough barely leaves the sides. You want it to be very soft and pretty sticky. Knead for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for at least 10 minutes. Put it in the fridge if you're going to leave it for longer.

On a floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle about 12x14 inches. Spread the butter all over the dough. Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle across the dough. Add raisins or chocolate chips if you'd like. Take one of the long edges and roll it tightly. Pinch the edges closed. Score the roll into 12 pieces, then use a long piece of floss to cut it cleanly. Have you ever used this trick? Slide the floss underneath, then pull the ends up and cross them to slice the dough. Place them in a buttered 9x13 pan--that's important! Mine have turned out best when I use that pan. And be sure to use butter to grease the pan. The bottoms come out soft and delicious with butter and crispy with a spray. Put a towel over the pan and let them rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. I like to preheat the oven for a minute or two until it's warm and put the pan in there.

When the rolls have risen up nice and plump, bake them for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven until light golden brown. Spread with the maple cream icing when you take them out.

xo 

Jane

will you be my bridesmaid?

I'm guest posting over here today on Tiffany Rebecca's blog since she's out of town. Go take a peek and find out how I asked some of my favorite ladies to be my bridesmaids!

xo,

Jane

diy wall quote for a drab apartment

face it, student apartments almost always need a facelift, but it seems like more work than it's worth to do it on a budget. my sister and i have been living in apartments for years now, and both of us have tried lots of ways to spiff things up. this collaged wall quote has been one of our favorite projects to liven up our space.

equipment: 

a good, short quote - here are a few of my favorite quote boards on Pinterest {click here, here, and here}

magazines or catalogs - we like to use fashion mags or anthro catalogs because of the bold, colorful spreads they have, but any magazine will do. leah did one of her wall quotes completely out of ads, and it still looked great.

scissors

tape or sticky tack

choose your quote first. i usually go to pinterest and sometimes will have to abbreviate a quote to make it short. i would suggest keeping it between 4-6 words (trust me, you don't want to make it too long). if you're nervous about freehanding with scissors, you can sketch out your letters lightly and cut around them. whether you freehand it or not, just be sure to make each letter similar in dimensions with similar blockiness. it'll look silly if the legs on your K are skinnier than the tail on the E. 

like i said, you can use ads if you want and it'll still look fabulous. the letters become abstract looking since you can't see the whole image they were cut out of. depending on the colors in your room, you can go for brighter colors, muted tones, some black & white, neutrals, whatever floats your boat. i wanted mine to be bright since the quote ("wake with a winged heart") is about joy and optimism.

after you have cut them all out, hang them with sticky tack or tape and admire your abstract wall quote!

do you have any cheap and lovely ways to dress up a drab apartment?

xo,

jane

diy: winter hands lotion

I asked my hairstylist how she keeps her hands from getting so dry when she's washing and coloring hair all day long, and she let me in on her miracle lotion recipe. It's intense stuff and will banish cracking heels and hands, flaky legs, and bumpy upper arms.

Winter Hands Lotion 16 oz Johnson's baby lotion 8 oz Vaseline with cocoa butter 8 oz vitamin e cream (You can find these at the dollar store, Wal-Mart, or even the grocery store.)

A couple things to remember:  (1) The vitamin e cream comes in 16 oz, so either only use half, or buy two Vaselines and two baby lotions.  (2) The baby lotion comes in 15 oz, so just put in a few squirts of another basic lotion. I used the Kirkland brand hand lotion. Pour each bottle into a big bowl and use a spatula to get everything out. Whip them together for about 3 minutes with a hand mixer until the mixture is fluffy. To make things easy, you can spoon it back into the original containers; otherwise, be creative. little Mason jars, Ziplock containers, whatever you'd like. Next time I make a batch, I'm going to try putting in some essential oils to make it smell like citrus or something. xo Jane

diy: chevron makeup table

I finally had the chance to visit my sister at school last week, and her cute little apartment room inspired me to make my own space a bit more charming (For years I've only done minimal decorating because I don't like moving extra stuff from place to place. Also I didn't see the point of spending time to make space lovely until I was married and lived in something more permanent.). 

She crafted this nightstand into her makeup/hair station table, and was sweet enough to give the step-by-step.

Step 1: Choose a regular indoor paint from a hardware store and make it into chalkboard paint (she just Googled the recipe). Using a chalkboard version of the paint is good for furniture because it sticks so well you can avoid sanding or priming the wood first. This way, you can also distress the edges and the natural wood will show through instead of the primer.

Step 2: Paint the table completely and let it dry for a day.

Step 3: Make a stencil for your chevron stripes out of paper (computer paper works fine). Trace the stencil onto the tabletop lightly with a pencil and tape off the outline. Paint the stripes and let them dry for a day. 

Step 4: Use a sander or sandpaper to distress edges for a rustic feel.

Step 5: Paint one more coat with a polyurethane varnish for the glossy, finished look. My next project like this will probably be refinishing the desk I had in my room in high school. I'm ready for a change from the antique pink; maybe I'll redo it in more of a burnt umber. Have you done any refinishing projects? xo Jane

DIY's that i am loving

Confetti wall from I believe in Unicorns 

Calendar by Breanna Rose

Cute Quote Mug by Jenny Bodell

Paper Geo Decorations by the Red Thread

geo card holder by breanna rose

I have been in a super crafty mood as of late. I have been really inspired by the idea of using what you have instead of buying things. Yesterday I created a storage solution for my tights made out of cardboard after not finding exactly what I wanted at Target. I also made a recent attempt at a hanging decorative mobile. I'm crazy about all things geometric. Have you found any DIY's lately that you love?

har.

apple jam & button shortbread cookies --

Happy Christmas Eve! Jane and I hope that you are spending the holidays cozying up with your families. I have made the trek back to Oregon and Jane has been driving across the entire country- from DC to Idaho!- in order to get home in time for Christmas. We hope your travels have gone well and if you still have some traveling to do, be safe!

Today we would like to share a couple fun family food crafts that can be done as gifts or as treats for the family. These come from our new blog friend Remy (doesn't she has the most adorable penmanship?). Have a very Merry Christmas Eve and Enjoy!

***

1. Apple Jam

I found the recipe in this book by the lovely Lotta Jansdotter.

This tart, chunky and delicious marmalade is so easy to make! Any apples can be used. (I used Pink Lady Apples.)

2 lbs apples, peeled, cored, and diced
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 cup of water
6 cups of sugar

In a large saucepan, combine the apples, lemon zest, and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, or until the apples are tender. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice. Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes, Skim off any foam from the surface. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Serve warm. To store, ladle in sterilized jars, seal , and refrigerate.

I used left over fabrics my mom had at home and picked a country-christmas color scheme to cover the lids with a yellow ribbon. Use pinking shears to cut, then handmade tags were tied on. Ta-da! Gifts will be shared at Christmas! Perfect on waffles, toast or pancakes.

2. Rosemary Shortbread Cookie Buttons

I found the inspiration for these cookies in Country Living Magazine, but used the Rosemary Shortbread recipe from Family Circle Magazine (see recipe after the page break).

A 3" round cookie cutter was used. To make the cookies resemble a button, the blunt side of a 2 3/4 " round cookie cutter was used to indent a circle on the cookie's surface. Then, using a straw, 2 holes were poked in the center of each cookie. To package, a ribbon was strung through each cookie (6 per box). Boxes were purchased from Michael's craft store and I painted a snowflake on them.

Hope you like these holiday treats!
-Remy.

diy: budgeting the easy way pt. 3

Welcome back to the third and final part of the budgeting DIY series! Click here for part 1 and part 2. Today I'll show you how to complete your budget with the Totals bar.

• We're working with the Totals bar at the bottom. This is the code for Planned Total Expenditures: =SUM(C13:C26). Again, those are my cells, you'll need to adjust it to match your own. You want it to add up all the planned expenses. 

• For Planned Income Less Expenditures, type =C10-C28 (but your cells), which will be your Total Planned Income minus Total Planned Expenditures.

•  Repeat those steps for the actual totals. The codes are identical (=sum(xx:xx) & =xx-xx), but your cell names will now be from the Actuals column.

If you have followed closely and typed all the codes correctly, you now have a user-friendly budget (the not-so-user-friendly part was creating it...). All you have to do is keep track of your spent amounts, type them in, and your budget will do all of it's adding, subtracting, and multiplying on its own. Have fun with it!

 

diy: budgeting the easy way pt. 2

This is part 2 of the DIY for budgeting the easy way. Click here for part 1. 

If you followed along yesterday, you now have the basic structure for your GoogleDoc budget spreadsheet, complete with personalized colors and fonts if that strikes your fancy. Today I'll take you through the simple codes I used to make my budget user-friendly. 

1. Codes under Income

• Planned Wage & Other Income: Estimate what you make in one month. No code needed.
• Planned Total Income: As shown below, type =C8+C9 (unless your cells don't line up exactly like mine). You can also type = and then click on cell C8, type +, and click on cell C9. Either way works. Now your total income box will add itself if you ever change Wage or Other Income.
• Repeat these steps for the cells under Actual. They will show up as zero until you put a number in either Wage or Other Income (go ahead and play around with it if you want).

2. Codes under Planned Expenses

I have Tithing in this first cell, a percentage of my income for church. The code for this cell works for any item you want to monitor by a set percentage, deduced straight from your total income. 

• In the cell for Planned Tithing, type =(.1)*C10, or essentially, the desired percentage x Total Income cell.

For all the other cells under Planned Expenses, estimate what you spend every month and simply type the amount in the cell, no code needed. As you can see, I estimated my groceries to cost $20 a month and rent to be $200 a month.

3. Codes under Actual Expenses

• The base code for these cells is the same: =SUM(0).

Every time you spend money, you'll click into one of these cells and add the amount. For example, you spend $15 on groceries. You'll click on the cell and add the amount, so the text in the box will look like this: =SUM(0)+15. When you click outside the box, it'll add up the amount for you.

4. Codes under What's Left

• This column is basically for convenience and will show how much money you have left to spend. The code you'll type in tells it to subtract what you have spent from your available funds. As you see below, you'll type =C17-D17 (or whatever your cell names are).

Almost done! Come back tomorrow for the final part of the DIY series, and I'll show you how to finish up your budget. 

diy: budgeting the easy way pt. 1

For the past three years I have tried different methods of budgeting, but to no avail. Notebooks, binders and accordion folders didn't work. Budgeting apps didn't even work. Each attempt only lasted a few days before I lost interest or simply forgot about it. 

This past summer my accounting professor taught a lesson on the importance of budgeting, and her enthusiasm inspired me. Since then, I have experimented with GoogleDoc spreadsheets and found this method to be easy to follow and keep up with. For the first time in a really long time, my bank account saw an influx and I wasn't living from paycheck to paycheck. 

Since the process of creating the spreadsheet can seem a bit lengthy, I'm breaking this DIY into a few posts. Good luck creating your own!

Part 1 - (Refer to the photo above.)

If you haven't used GoogleDocs before, go to your main Gmail screen and click on "Drive" at the very top. From there, on the left click on "Create" and choose "Spreadsheet." 

I designed my budget to be four columns across. Don't worry about colors, font and font size yet; you can customize later.

• For now, simply type the labels like I did shown above: Income, Planned, Actual, What's Left. 
• Below the Income column, type (in separate rows) Wage, Other Income, Total Income.
• Leave one row blank. 
• Type Expenses in the next row. 
• Under Expenses, fill in your monthly expenses, organized and divided how you prefer. Mine change a little from month to month, so for your first budget just make your best to guess as to what you'll be spending your money on.
• Leave one row blank once you finish filling in your expenses.
• Type Total Expenditures in the next row.
• Type Income Less Expenditures in the row below that.
• Scroll back up to your Expenses row. In the next three columns (same row), type Planned, Actual, and What's Left (refer to the photo above if you're confused).
• Go back through your columns and resize them to fit the contents. Do this by clicking and dragging the lines between the lettered columns at the very top, which looks like this:

Now the framework for your budget is complete. If you're feeling creative or adventurous, highlight different rows or columns and change the colors. I only filled in four rows, but you can do every other row or even highlight the columns instead.