Pecan Cinnamon Rolls from Frozen Bread Dough | Brunch Recipe

Sorry for being away so long! Emma's been out on Christmas break, which limits my computer time.  Substantially.  I have been taking photos of our dinners and holiday to share in the next couple of weeks, though, so stay tuned.  As soon as we get back to our regular schedule, I'll be able to get them on the blog.

PHOTO : Christmas Eve finery 

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a last minute idea for a New Years Day Brunch... as I'm searching my own files planning our menu for tomorrow morning.
 

As I re-posted last week, one of my all time favorite things to do is to make "homemade" cinnamon rolls from frozen bread dough.  We had friends over for brunch this week and, in addition to the classic cinnamon rolls, also made Pecan Cinnamon Rolls.  With just one extra step, you can create these sticky, pecan glazed cinnamon rolls.

Pecan Cinnamon Rolls
from frozen Bread Dough 
6-8 rolls

1 loaf of frozen bread dough, thawed (it comes 3 to a bag)
3 tablespoons of butter, softened
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of cinnamon
1/4 cup of sugar
..........

Pecan Schmear :
4 tablespoons of butter, softened
1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of pecans


Thaw the loaf of frozen bread dough in the refrigerator or on the counter (there are directions for thawing on the bag).  Allow the thaw dough to rise for 1-2 hours in a warm area covered with a damp cloth.  Roll the dough out into a rectangle onto a floured surface.  Spread softened butter on the rolled out dough.



Sprinkle sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon over the dough.  Roll up the dough into a log.  Slice into 2-inch thick rolls.

Create the schmear by creaming together 4 tablespoons of butter, salt and 1/2 cup of brown sugar.  Scoop the mixture into the bottom of a round pie dish or baking pan.  

Put pecans on top of the schmear mixture.

Place the rolls, spiral side up in the baking pan.


Cover with a warm damp towel and allow to rise 2-4 hours (or overnight) in a warm area.  When the rolls have doubled in size, bake them at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes until they begin to brown.  Let them cool for 5 minutes, then invert them onto a plate or serving platter.

Great Things at New Years

First, I'd like to tell you about the Great Reads series hosted by Rambling Renovators.

Jen was kind enough to include me as one of her great reads along with

several other blogs that may be totally new to you.  Two rounds of "great reads"

are already posted and I should be showing up sometime today.

And if you don't know Jen's blog, you'll certainly enjoy seeing her home renovation.

Her project gallery is filled with amazing before and after posts.

Be sure to check out her laundry room renovation.  It's incredible!

We had our first measurable snow Saturday through Sunday.  Since we had almost

no snow or rain all last winter, it's a great thing.  And it makes even the

scrappiest garden look like a winter wonderland.

This is the trouble with boxwoods in our area.  A little snow and they splay right out.

A rose bush.

The upstairs Christmas tree waiting to be picked up for recycling.

Across the street.

But inside, I'm looking ahead to spring.  I'm planting a new round of "yellow paperwhites" (seems like an oxymoron) which are said to have no scent.  I think they're just daffodils.

A few hyacinths, conifer and hops off the tree are ready for New Year's brunch

and fill the dining room with an aroma of spring.  They promise great things to come.

And may your New Year be filled with great things!

Happy 2013!

Stop by Jane's last Flowers in the House party of 2012.

You might see an old friend or make a new one.

Operation Pantry Remodel: Phase 2

Hope you all enjoyed your holidays! It was my first year ever with just the two (three) of us. I missed my family but it was nice to be our own family too. 

Here's our one and only holiday photo (in case you missed it on instagram or facebook):

Susie was a good girl and dressed up for the occasion.

Now that the holidays are over, it's that time again...

Yep, we've jumped right back in to our pantry remodel!


Let's go back to where we left off last time:

I came up with a plan, purchased a few boxes and glass jars, and was ready for the next step.

During this month-long hiatus, I was still stuck on what to do with the very top shelf. Should I add more boxes/baskets? Keep everything out in the open? Nothing was really working for me.

And then.... last week... out of nowhere, it hit me.

Ditch the top shelf altogether and get a medicine cabinet. This made perfect sense for so many reasons:

1) I could utilize the otherwise wasted vertical space up to the ceiling
2) Concealed storage without having to pull down an entire basket to grab one thing
3) Items inside would be lined up in a single row, easy to find and sort
4) The shelf below this will have tall jars which I can now easily lift out without a shelf above in the way (the cabinet is only 7" deep)
5) The bottom nook makes a perfect spice rack, which I hadn't yet figured out a solution for.

This cabinet from Lowe's (Estate by RSI) just happened to be the exact width of my pantry and the most inexpensive model I could find. Plus it was white so I wouldn't have to repaint. It was meant to be.

With my dilemma solved, I had new motivation and excitement to get the ball rolling.

I went to Lowe's to find my shelves, and found this 24"x72" ready to paint board for $31. It was perfect because it was the exact width of my pantry, and when cut into 4 pieces, it was also the exact depth I needed (18"):

Here's a closer look:

4 shelves for $32, not bad.

I'm only using 3 shelves, so it's good to have an extra just in case I need it later on. Or for other projects.

I also picked up some 1x2" primed MDF pieces (you can see them on the left in the photo above). These will be my shelf supports—more on that in the next post.

Lowe's had my cabinet in stock so I picked that up also:

I'll be swapping out the stock knobs for cute ones from Hobby Lobby.

After removing the useless bifold door, it was time to clean out the pantry:

Then it was shelf demo time.

I was left with some nasty anchor holes...

The whole thing was basically just a mess from lazy construction practices... so I took some time (but not too much) to patch and sand everything down.

Then, it was time for paint!

I decided to use the leftover paint from our sunroom ceiling—Valspar's Tropical Mist.

Here's a mid painting shot, via instagram:

Once the walls were dry, I added a fresh coat of white to the baseboards:

And finally, Brad installed a couple recessed lights this morning:

They're a little off center because there's some piping in the attic in the way. But the bulb direction is adjustable and you can't see them unless you're on the ground, so no big deal.

We put them on the same circuit as the rest of the kitchen lighting, and they are dimmable as well.

Here's the pantry as it stands now:

It looks *way* lighter in these photos than it does in real life... I hate this lens. Anyone want a Canon 10-22? Bleh.

Here we go... I just ran into the kitchen and took this from my iphone. It's grainy, but realistic:

See... it's very blue in there. A little jarring but it will come together once everything is installed and in place.


Before I jump into phase 3 (the not so fun part of shelf installation), I'll share what I've been scheming for the fun part: fabric.

Luckily, Brad agreed to let me leave the bifold off and hang a curtain. Since then, I've been keeping an eye out at every fabric/home improvement store I've stepped into, hoping to fall in love with something.

Here's my vision: mostly aqua and (gasp, a new color!) yellow. Something floral or organic or graphic (but not too bold). Seems like there would be tons out there, right? Nope. Or maybe I'm just too picky.

I spent entirely way too much time searching the world for "the one", and never really found it. There were countless close calls, so eventually I had to settle for the best option.

Here were the final contenders (all via Etsy):

Which one is your favorite?

Can you guess which I finally settled on?


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I *almost* pulled the trigger on the bottom left, but decided the colors weren't exactly right.

So McKenzie Bohemia in Aqua by Dena Designs it is.

I purchased it here and it came to $22.22 shipped for 2.5 yards. I'll use stitch witchery to make it into a curtain, and of course document that whole process later.

Hopefully it will be yellow enough in person—but if it isn't, I have other plans to add a splash of yellow. And I'm pretty excited about that project.


Cross your fingers for me that all goes well and we have shelves and a cabinet installed next week!

A Peek Around our House the Night (okay, two nights...) Before Christmas

Here is a peek around our house just before Christmas!  Last night Santa (a.k.a. Mike's parents!) made a stop at our house and left this antique sleigh complete with red and robins egg blue paint - isn't it perfect?

I filled our urns with sprigs of cedar and piles of ornaments (non glass, but glass-looking).  The glittered ones look so great and sparkly at night.

Our tree, a Frasier Fir, is decked with upholstery strapping and ornaments, as always.

All of the gifts (but one from Mike to Emma) are wrapped in brown paper and satin ribbon.  I know brown kraft paper is really popular right now, but I've loved it for as long as I can remember.  For the last 30 years my Aunt Lisa has wrapped gifts in her signature craft paper and plaid ribbon.  At some point, maybe 15 years ago, I adopted her wrapping style.

Emma loves to unstack and re-stack the presents.   She particularly loves the packages with the red satin ribbons, which happen to be hers... smart girl!  Maybe she can read her name written on the packages in gold sharpie.

I love this pillow featuring a vintage woody wagon that I picked up at Pottery Barn.

The mantle has fake (gasp!) white pine sprigs with real magnolia leaves inserted in it.

I love the combo of the two AND the real magnolia leaves seem to make the fake pine look real.  Bonus.

A bay leaf wreath in the kitchen.



Potted paperwhites in the kitchen.

Packaged snowflake cookies ready for delivery.

A Bay Leaf Wreath in the dinning room.

A tree in our bedroom dormer.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!