I
felt like it was time to update my blog again, but to be honest I really haven’t
been up to much the past couple weeks so there isn’t too much to report. Last Friday
I hurt my neck. I don’t know what happened, I was just in bed Friday
morning, rolled over after hitting snooze on my Alarm, and as I rolled I heard
the grossest ripping/cracking noise and felt the worst pain in my neck. Joel
took me to the clinic and we found out that I ripped a muscle in my neck. This
was right after Joel learned all about the neck in class so he knew exactly
what was going on. Very exciting, I guess I am just a dedicated wife, going to
such lengths to help him study he he he. I will also just note that the clinic
here is fantastic, the campus clinic is free for students and dependents.
Anything they do for you there or give you there is completely free. They
suited me up with a pretty sweet Neck Brace and sent me home with a good supply
of pain killers and muscle relaxers. But needless to say, I sure haven’t been
up to much since then. For the first few days I didn’t leave my bed much. The
FANTASITC women of the branch took fantastic care of me though! We got meals delivered
to us for every meal all weekend. It was amazing. For the interest of confidentiality,
I won’t name names since this is an open blog, but for those of you who made us
food, we are so grateful, and it was amazing! Thank you ladies so much!! My
neck is doing MUCH better now, and I attribute this to all of you who made it possible
for me to rest and heal. Thank you!!
It has been raining a lot lately. I love the rain, but it certainly makes it
hard to clean cloths when you can’t hang them out to dry. Even when I try to
dry cloths inside the house it doesn’t quite dry everything even with the fan.
It’s just so humid when it’s raining! The air everywhere feels wet, inside,
outside, doesn’t matter. Our Towels were especially getting nasty; we finally
decided to get our laundry sent out. At least just for this week, hopefully the
rain will slow down enough for me to be able to dry my own stuff again. I have
been feeling slightly useless lately. I have been limited due to my neck, and
now with sending my laundry out, I felt I needed to redeem myself a little bit.
Last Saturday Joel and I went to the market together and got a bunch of fruit
and also picked up a bag of Fresh Cinnamon!  |
All the great things we got from the Market!
At church on Sunday one of the Locals told Joel that the 2 best ways to use the
Cinnamon was to boil it in water and drink it, or put a couple sticks in milk
and just let it sit in the Fridge overnight. Joel tried the Cinnamon milk and
really enjoyed it, he had some of it still in the Fridge, and that’s when it
hit me, I ask you – How Amazing would it be to make Cinnamon buns, with FRESH
Cinnamon-Using Cinnamon Milk?! Pretty Darn Amazing right?? I decided
I was going to make them! It is one of Joel’s Favorite treats! Now, when my mom made Cinnamon Buns, she
always put raisins in them, and I loved it, but Joel isn’t a huge raisin fan,
and usually prefers me to leave them out of my baking. I thought about this and
decided the proper compromise was to use Fresh from the market Pineapple. I
thought about this-Cinnamon Buns with Fresh Cinnamon-Cinnamon Milk-and Fresh
Pineapple. Here is what came to my mind as I pondered this thought, imagine
with me, if you will- A White Puffy Cloud Boarder... within the white puffy cloud,
there is me-oven mitt in hand waiting patiently inside my spotless shinning
kitchen for the arrival of my husband. As he walks past the window towards our
door, he catches the delicious smell emanating from our house. He walks inside
and takes a big deep breath, “What is that incredible smell my love?” he will
say, at which time I reply by removing from the oven the most perfect golden,
soft, cinnamon buns anyone has ever laid eyes on. He will stare with mouth
watering disbelief as I drizzle them with perfect creamy frosting. He takes a
bite and his eyes immediately light up “Is that Pineapple?” He will exclaim, unable
to even believe his own senses, how is it possible for something to taste so
good, he will ponder. “I hoped you would like it” I say, awaiting his final verdict.
As he finishes his first bun he grabs me and holds me tight, looks deep in my
eyes and says in his deep wonderful voice “That was the most incredible thing I
have ever tasted. You are such an astounding woman! You know, I always
suspected you were my one true love, at times I was even quite sure of it, But
now, after having eaten this amazing cinnamon bun, I know beyond a shadow of a
doubt that you are the only Woman for me” and with that we Kiss.....Fade out
white puffy boarder and return to reality....and I’m like Yes...I shall do
this!
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| This is a Dramatization of what was in my mind when I started |
Alright,
so first I start out on the internet trying to find a recipe for cinnamon buns
using only the ingredients I have in the house. I finally decide on one I found
that uses Bisquick, now I will note that I use to use Bisquick all the time at
home, loved it. I haven’t found it here, but I did find a recipe for how to
make Bisquick, I have mixed it up and used it already and it worked fantastic!!
So when I say I was using bisquick, I don’t mean actual Bisquick, I mean, my
home made version of Bisquick. Alright got my recipe and all my ingredients,
Lets Rock! Add my ingredients-use cinnamon milk in place of regular milk
because I am AWESOME, following the recipe perfectly...and ugh oh, whats this?
Hmm seems my dough is a little too wet. No Problem...just add a bit more flour,
and a little more, and a little more, and a little more. Woops out of white
flour, no problem I still have some whole wheat flour, add a little of that,
and a little more...and a little more. Hmmm...this dough is really sticky
still! Check the recipe again...yes I followed it perfectly. Okay, just add a
little more whole wheat flour, a little more...and a little more. There is
nothing wrong with making it a little more healthy right? Hmm, but with all
this extra flour it might loose some of its sweet taste, better just add a tiny
bit more sugar too. Okay, a little sugar, and its still super wet and sticky.
Add some more whole wheat flour until Woops. Out of Whole Wheat Flour. Okay, I
know this sounds weird, but you need to trust me on this, I followed the recipe
P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y-. I didn’t add too much milk or anything. I don’t know why,
it honestly doesn’t make sense. I think the flour one the Island is Cursed. It
would not thicken my dough at all, it just made more and more of it! I couldn’t
knead the dough at all, as soon as my fists went into the dough it was like a
living sticky blob that just stuck to anything it touched and multiplied
inexplicably. Well now I have a choice to make. I have crazy sticky dough that
I can’t knead, and no more flour to try and thicken it with. Do I just give up?
Toss the dough in the garbage? The earlier described image comes back to my
head...No, I can’t give up. I can still do this. I don’t have any more flour,
but what about my Bisquick mix? It’s mostly flour anyways. Add a little of
that...its kind of working! Add a little more... and some more, okay this is
getting silly, just dump all of it in! Alright, I am now out of all my flour
and all my bisquick mix, and I have A LOT of dough. The good news is...its sort
of usable. I can sort of handle it now, but its still too sticky to roll out, so I
just start tossing it around in the air like pizza dough, that way I am kind
of spreading it out without it touching anything, so it can’t stick to
anything. (I will also note, there was way too much dough, so I put half in the
Fridge and its still there now). Alright I got somewhat flat, somewhat sticky
dough, now we are getting somewhere! From here on out is the easy part!
Take my Cinnamon and my grader and start grading! Mmmmm Fresh Cinnamon!
 |
Making Fresh Cinnamon
Take my Pineapple and my knife and start peeling. Mmmmm Fresh Pineapple. Spead
them both around on my dough with some sugar, and roll it up (as best I could,
I had to use a spatula to pry it off the counter in most places since it was so
sticky.) Alright, its kind of rolled up. Cut into circles, put in pan, throw in
oven. Now, my tiny oven is run on propane, and thus, it doesn’t really have “Temperatures”
just light the fire underneath and keep an eye on it! Now, I am going to skip
all the fancy word play and just let you all know. I burnt them. I burnt them
bad. I am standing there in my disaster of a kitchen, honestly, I don't how how it got that dirty, I don't even remember using half those dish's, how did that happen? Joel walks past the window, walks in and says “Ugh, what is the smell? Is
something Burning?” I answer this by pulling
out a pan of Burned-yet somehow still Goopy Sticky Dough balls (How is
that possible?) The pineapple juices made it all wet on the inside I guess, but
it also seeped out and like, caramelized and burned on my pan BAD. He stared for a few minutes, and I am quite
sure in that time he was debating on what just came out of the oven, and if he
was going to have to eat it and pretend it’s good to spare my feelings. I am
about to start whipping up some frosting and he insists that it isn’t necessary
(probably hoping he wouldn’t have to eat them). He sees my dismay, and because
he is the open minded and thoughtful man he is, he takes a bite and his eyes immediately
cringe “Was that Pineapple?” He guesses,
unable to even believe his own senses, how is it possible for something to taste
that mushy and yet be burned, he pondered. “I hoped you would like it” I say,
awaiting his final verdict. When he finished the portion of bun he was able to
pull off the burned pan he put his arms around my shoulders, holds me tight,
looked deep in my eyes and said while trying not to laugh. “ I love you, I
think I will keep you” and kiss’s me on the nose.
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Nailed It
If you look in the above picture, you can see the one Joel tried to eat, in the pan to the left, at the very top, he ripped what he could off the bottom. Okay, so maybe I didn't quite nail it. But my Husband still loves me and that's really all that matters isn't it? It doesn't matter that I wasted all our flour, Bisquick mix, fresh Pineapple and Cinnamon right?? Also, I am completely up for any suggestions on the huge blob of dough still sitting in my fridge.
