Cooking and Baking (Recipes Included)

One positive thing in the last few days has been the return of my appetite and the disappearance of my nausea. Today, I just felt like baking and cooking. I woke up this morning with a hankering for cinnamon rolls, so I got online and found the recipe that my friend posted on her food blog not too long ago and tried it out. I have tried about four other cinnamon roll recipes in the last year or so and none of them have turned out, and the only one that did, we didn't really like, it was too heavy. These were easy and didn't take very long to make--only about an hour total. I used another recipe I'd found on another blog for the glaze (icing). I had tried those cinnamon rolls too but they didn't turn out for me.

Since I had such great success with the cinnamon rolls, I decided to make my grandmother's roll recipe. I have yet to accomplish making them turn out exactly right, but this time they turned out better than any past attempts.

Since my husband was off today, a rare Sunday that he didn't work, we made a roast the right way instead of doing a pot roast. We browned the meat in the roaster in the oven at a high heat for 20 minutes and then brought the heat down and roasted the meat for another hour or so. It was delicious. My husband makes awesome mashed potatoes, so he did that part and we also made gravy.

For dessert, I decided to try my hand at that same grandmother's fudge. The last time I made that fudge was Christmas in about 1992, when I was 14 or 15 years old. I'm still waiting to see if it turned out. I'm not so sure it's going to set.

Rolls
Lavee Fowles
1 Tbsp yeast
4 Tbsp sugar
2 cups milk, warmed (105-120)
1 egg
6 cups sifted flour
4 Tbsp melted shortening or oil (I used oil)
2 tsp salt

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk. Let set a few minutes until foamy. Add shortening and half of flour and egg. Beat until smooth. Add salt and remainder of flour. Knead well (in Bosch or Kitchenaid 15 minutes). Place in greased bowl. Cover with dish towel. Let rise until double in bulk; stir down. Cover well and refrigerate until needed. Roll out to 1/4-inch thick. Brush lightly with melted butter and cut with biscuit cutter. Crease lightly through center and fold, pinching closed. Place on well-greased pan one inch apart. Cover and let rise until light, about 45 minutes. Bake at 425 about 10 minutes.

Fudge
Lavee Fowles

1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa
3 cups sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter

Combine cocoa, sugar and salt in a large saucepan (4 qt size). Add milk gradually, mix thoroughly; bring to a bubbly boil on high heat stirring continuously. Reduce heat to medium and continue to boil the mixture, without stirring, until it reaches 234 degrees F (soft, firm ball). Be sure bulb of thermometer is not resting on bottom of pan. Remove saucepan from heat and add butter and vanilla. Do not stir. Allow fudge to cool at room temperature to 110 degrees. Beat until fudge thickens and loses some of its gloss. Quickly pour and spread fudge in lightly buttered 8X8X2 pan. Cool and cut.

The tricky part of that last recipe is knowing how long to beat the fudge. I think I did for about 30 minutes and it still seemed runny, but I followed everything else exactly. I put it in the fridge to set, so we'll see how it turns out. It might end up runny, but still tasty.