Recipes | Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

My Mom is famous for her cinnamon rolls - she makes them, it seems, on a weekly basis.  The are soft, buttery, gooey and sweet.  They are great to make ahead of time in large batches and freeze for gifts - perfect for hostess gifts or impromptu holiday brunches.

Mom's Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

2 packages of active dry yeast
1 tsp. of sugar
1 cup of warm water
.......
1 can of evaporated milk
2/3 cup of melted butter
3/4 cup of sugar
4 tsp salt
6-8 cups of flour
.....
1/2 stick of softened butter
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3 tablespoons of cinnamon

In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and warm water.  Let the yeast activate.

In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine milk, butter, sugar, salt and flour (starting with 6 cups and add more, if necessary).  Stir in yeast mixture.  "Kneed" dough with dough hook on med-low for 5-8 minutes, adding flour as necessary, until it forms smooth elastic dough.  You may need to turn it out onto a floured board and kneed by hand until it is completely smooth.

In a large bowl greased with vegetable oil, place the dough in the bowl and cover with a warm damp kitchen towel.  Let the dough rest and rise for 2 hours in a warm place until it has doubled in size.  Sometimes I'll turn my oven on 250 degrees and let the bowl sit on top of it.

After 2 hours, punch the dough down and let it rest for 5 minutes.  Next, turn it out onto a floured surface and roll it into a rectangle (approx. 15" x 20").  Spread it with softened butter, then sprinkle it with the sugar and cinnamon.

Roll the dough into a log and cut into 1 1/2 inch slices (that look like a pinwheel).  Place them spiral side down into a buttered baking dish - I like to put them in a pie dish - it makes an easy presentation.

Again, let them rise covered with piece of parchment paper sprayed with cooking spray (to keep it from sticking) for about 1 hour.

Take off the parchment and bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes until slightly brown on the edges.

Cream Cheese Icing

4 tablespoons of cream cheese
8 tablespoons of butter, softened
2 cups of powdered sugar

In the Kitchen Aid fitted with a paddle attachment, whip cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar until smooth.  Add a little water, if necessary, to get desired consistency.

Home | Holiday Decorations | Christmas Tree | Classic Christmas Tree Decorations | Burlap, Red Berries

We stared our holiday decorating by taking our annual trip to the Christmas Tree Farm to pick out a tree. I'm thrilled with our selection this year - a Frasier Fur.  It smells amazing.  The entire house is brimming with the smell of Christmas!

On the mantle, I piled magnolia leaves under the TV and hung the stockings.  I love this stocking we got last year for Mr. Darcy.  The lantern on the left side is from my Aunt's floral and decor shop, "Picket Fence."

I'll try to get a better photo of our tree at night - they are very hard to photograph!  I used natural colors with pops of red.  The 'garland' is upholstery strapping made of burlap with a red stripe.

Here is a close up of Mr. Darcy's 2010 dough ornament - I picked it up at the Junior League Holiday Mart.

  

Some of the details are frosted red balls, the great lantern from my Aunts shop, red berries and burlap strapped.

Entertaining | How to Set Up a Bar | Holiday Cocktail Party | Bar Tips | Self-Serve Bar

If you're entertaining for a small- to medium-sized group, a self-serve bar is the key to a stress-free party.

Tip #1 : Get out of the kitchen... I like to set the bar in a room other than the kitchen - I find that guests like to crowd into the kitchen and setting the bar in the family room helps them to circulate around the house.  

Tip #2 : Help Yourself...  Make sure you have all of the tools you need for guests to help themselves.  I use one type of glassware for wine, beer and water.  You could also include a pitcher of a pre-made holiday cocktail, if you're feeling festive.  

What you'll Need (right to left) : 

*Pitcher for water

*Snack : I have "Sweet & Salty Caramelized Cashews" served here in a silver bowl.

*Chilled Drinks : I use this large pewter bowl to chill a variety of seasonal beer and white wine.

*Wine & Beer Opener

*Linen Cocktail Napkins 

*Red Wine

*Glasses : I like to keep them organized on a single tray to keep the bar neat and organized during the party.

*Flowers : I always like to have something "fresh" in every room.  It adds special feeling to your display.  These are potted paperwhites - which I love because they will last the entire holiday season.

Entertaining | Holiday Entertaining | Holiday Parties | Cupcakes & Cake Display | Dessert Buffet

For the Her Life Magazine Photo shoot, I put together this cupcake and cake dessert display buffet.  While it looks like it took a lot of work, it was actually just a couple batches of cupcakes and 2 cakes.  So, for about $20 I put together an impressive cupcake display that would be the centerpiece of any holiday party.

I dressed up the cake stands with red satin ribbon and cards that I printed from my computer.  I used the candy raspberries to add some color to the display.

Press | Her Life Magazine | Mr. Darcy & Jenny Steffens Hobick are featured in Her Life Magazine | Holiday Entertaining

Mr. Darcy and I are featured on the cover of Her Life Magazine's Holiday issue.  Read the entire article HERE to get all of my Holiday Entertaining tips!

 

Thanks to the Her Life crew and Kdog Photographers for the fun shoot day at our house!

My Maine Picks

While in Maine I thought I would look for some inspiration for the guest bedroom.   Now that the outside of the house is done, I have an idea in my mind what I want the interior to look like and it's always fun to find things that match that idea.  And there's no better way to kick off Christmas shopping by buying some things for myself!

As you saw in my earlier post about redoing the guest bedroom I was considering glazing over the wallpaper and coveting some of the bedding from Restoration Hardware.  As you can tell from that post, I'm aiming for a very neutral gray/brown color scheme.  And, if you've been following me for a while, you've also seen that I look unique vintage items.

Here are the things I found that fit all of those criteria:

This is a press of some kind.  I don't know what it's supposed to press but I thought it would be fun to put different things in it to fit my mood or the season.  Maybe a holiday ornament...an Easter egg...a stack of old photos...you get the idea.

I love the legs on the press.  It looks like it could get up and walk away.

This is a little Kosta Boda head I already had to put into the press today.  I think we've all had days we feel like this.

I LOVE this globe!  A black cast iron stand and a silver earth.

It's even got Boston on it.

Some vintage candlepin bowling balls that say "Lovie."  These have my name all over them!

Two vintage wooden disks from industrial wood molds.  I thought these would make great bases for cloches or just a stand for just about anything...

...kind of like this.  These wooden disks and "Lovie" balls came from the gallery and studio of a local Wells artist.  It was one of the most amazing places I've ever visited.  I'll have to tell you about it later.

I like these lamps because they look and feel like old silver trophies.  These were made by Smith-Zukas Antiques that I showed you back in the summer.  They're made out of old vases and the bases are black marble.

I think with a black shade, they'll look really handsome.  I know this shade isn't right.  If anyone can tell me the rules for lampshades, I would be appreciative.  I want a drum shade so it doesn't compete with the  shape of the base, but I'm not sure how big it should be.  I'm not convinced the finials are perfect either.

This old architect's drafting table would make a great bedside or accent table.  It's cast iron and the base is telescoping so the height is adjustable.  Smith-Zukas is making a top for me out of reclaimed pine.

I also thought I'd visit my country home away from home: Snug Harbor Farm.  If you missed last summer's post about Snug Harbor Farm, you can read it here.  They say they're open year round so I decided to see what was going on this time of year.

I was able to walk through the greenhouses and pick a few topiaries to bring home and enjoy for the winter months and then I headed up to the shop.

Check out this little work area off to the side of the shop.  It didn't photograph well but it's just enchanting in here.  The lit balls seemed to be floating in air.

Inside the shop, these wonderful little terrariums welcome you inside the front door.

Preparations for holiday visitors are well under way.

And the shop is packed with holiday decorations and gifts for the garden lover on your holiday list.

If you're in the Wells-Kennebunkport area next weekend, Snug Harbor Farm is having an open house from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.  You can find more details here.

Thank you, Michilyn, for being such a great host!

Back at home, my new topiaries have found a regular home in my sunny kitchen window.  When visitors are coming, I'll move them from here so everyone can enjoy them.

I deposited my new picks from Maine in the living room so I can enjoy them and get a feel for them before I make more decisions on the guest bedroom.   Here they are so you can get a look at how it looks right now and see how these new things fit in with my other things.   I think I'm happy how this room feels as you walk in from the new front porch.

This is the back corner of the living room.  It's what you see when you walk in the front door.  I've also got the gray and brown color scheme in here.  The painting on the wall is something I recently bought at auction.  Auctions are a wonderful place to get wonderful original art at reasonable prices.  It desperately need a new frame but it's not high on the list right now.  I might take it apart and paint it for now.  I think a weathered gray frame would look great.  I think I also need to put the drapes back up.

I love this photo.  It makes the house look really light and airy.  I'm editing out the TV and its stand from the left of the photo.  I'm still looking for a solution for the TV.  I'll show you another day.

This is the front corner of the living room.

And, finally, this is the front wall of the living room showing the new windows that go to the baseboards.  It's so bright in here.  You can almost see me in the convex mirror above the chair.  I'm sitting in one of the Louis XVI chairs that I showed you a while back.  I've not done anything to transform them as of yet because they turned out to be too small for the living room.  I think they may work as a side chair in the bedrooms or as a formal arm chair for the dining room.  So that's project on hold.

Are you getting an idea of how the guest bedroom will look by the ideas I've discussed?  Is this a place you'd be comfortable visiting?

R. Jorgensen Antiques...and Flowers?

Whenever a friend visits from out of town, I always like to take them someplace they've never seen before.  My friend from Upstate New York who was visiting for Thanksgiving had never been to Maine before so I thought that would make a perfect day trip.  

Our first stop was R. Jorgensen Antiques in Wells, Maine.  The building and property alone is worth a visit.  This 1685 building in on the National Register of Historic Places.  And check out the incredible espaliers on the outside of the building.

Check out the birds' nests.

This is what it looked like last summer when I visited with my mom.

The inside has been lovingly restored with paneling from a Portsmouth, New Hampshire mansion and the antiques are some of the finest quality I have seen anywhere...ever.  Every piece is spectacular and in perfect condition.

As amazing as their collection of antiques is I wanted to show you some the most incredible bouquets of dried flowers they had throughout their two buildings of showrooms.  These aren't your mother's dried flowers.  These arrangements, usually presented in layers, seem more modern, elegant and fresh.

So check them out with this amazing antique shop as their backdrop.  I think you'll enjoy them.

photo: R. Jorgensen blog

photo:  R. Jorgensen blog

You'll notice that almost every arrangement has a magazine under it to protect the surface of their antiques.  This is a perfect example of the level of quality you'll find at this shop.

Okay, not an arrangement, but I love this mirror.

I think this green and orange combination was my favorite.

The dried arrangements unfortunately aren't shippable--I was going to send you one--but I think there's a lot of inspiration here.

And if you're ever in Wells, Maine, R. Jorgensen is definitely worth a visit to see their treasures.

R. Jorgensen Antiques

502 Post Road

Route 1

Wells, ME  04090

phone:  207-646-9444