Orange Christmas Morning Rolls

They are really called Orange Breakfast Rolls, but since I always have tied Christmas morning with them - I'm changing the name when it's Christmas morning. These are one of my all-time favorite bread dishes, ever - and it's silly I haven't asked for the recipe until now. Some part of me always thought they were difficult to make, but they're rather easy!

Special thanks to Melissa and Spencer for the Monkey Bread bowl that subbed for a Bundt Pan. The only bundt shape we had was a silicone one shaped like a rose. Ummm, no. So we pulled out the Monkey Bread bowl and it was perfect!!



Mom, you were right about the gooey aspect, two potholders got slobbered on with the sticky, yummy, orange syrup (with orange peel bits and all).

Time to relax, nap, and enjoy the day off, and play with the little goodies we bought eachother. Our trip to Europe was Christmas (and more...) so we set a small budget for stocking stuffers and that made it a lot of fun! One of my favorites is "Dirty Italian" a language book that teaches slang, swear words, and more. Watch out Silvia, I might be able to talk with your papa after all!

Tschüß!

OMG! Deutschland 2008 is on!

AUS > ATL > MXN
AMS > MEM > AUS

Land in Milan, Leave from Amsterdam, lots of Germany in-between. December. 2008. More to come, but the tickets are booked!!!!!!

Tschüß!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weihnachten Roundup

Ah...the holidays are almost over and here is a final wrap-up of our comings-and-goings over the holidays.



Tschüß!!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always a magical night -- Ryan and I really try to not have anything else going on, since it's so much fun to cook, play with the kids, listen to music, eat and drink! We started a new tradition this year, making Apfelstrudel. Now, there was a little drama when I introduced this...mostly because its a two-page recipe and a several hour commitment...but we got over it, got into it, and got it done!



The strudel dough was very interesting...you beat it up a ton to stretch the glutens. (Oh we had stretched our own glutens earlier in the day with a walk around the lake...in preparation for the Scalloped Potatoes that have 4 cups of heavy cream.) I have no idea how to bake; this was very apparent early on and Ryan thankfully took over and saved the dessert. Luckily, I did get a glamour shot in...see below:




It turned out beautifully. Ryan also whipped up a vanilla creme sauce (I don't know how he does it...double boiler and everything!) and the whole dessert was delicious!

I was spoiled with a new kitchen gadget...a Mandolin! I was about to handcut four potatoes for the Scalloped Potatoes and he pulled a gift out of the tree...it's beautiful and will make isaac food preparation very easy and fun! I also see Waffle Fries in our future.

Take a gander at our Xmas Eve photos...

Käse-Schinken and Chicken Cacciatore

This was a GOOD one -- we had ordered a "packet" from www.germandeli.com called "Käse-Schinken" but I wasn't sure what the package had in it...the picture looked like a Chicken Cordon Bleu sort of a roll with tomato sauce on it. Come to find out, the packet is simply a tomato sauce that goes on top of a turkey/gouda/ham roll-up.



Mmmm it was really good. The deli counter at Central Market recommended a Smoked Gouda and he was right! Perfect flavors. Next time I'll skip the packet since making my own tomato sauce is very easy.

Also made a Giada Laurentis recipe for Chicken Cacciatore and it turned out really good. Sadly it didn't compare to Buca di Beppos' dish.....



Christmas/Weihnachten is fast approaching -- I picked up our traditional Honey Baked Ham and today need to plan our dinner. We're thinking Scalloped Potatoes....hmmmm...I need to think about this!!

Tschüß!!

Gearing up for Schönes Weihnachten

Xmas cards...done.

Xmas treats...done.

Xmas tree...done.

We're on our way...!