Cinnamon Rolls and Christmas Tree Stories

Every year, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the Palma family goes to a Christmas Tree Farm about twenty minutes from our home. It has become one of my most favorite traditions. We get up early, have breakfast, and go pick the perfect tree. Sometimes it takes only a couple of minutes, and sometimes it takes awhile because we all have to agree. We listen to Christmas music on the way there and on the way home. I love this day. It’s not always a perfect day. Sometimes there are arguments, a year where most of the trees look like Charlie Brown, and then sometimes straight up sitcom type situations.

One year, we had just completed the finishing touches on the decorations and were all sitting around admiring the tree, when suddenly it started falling. I was sitting on the floor, closest to the tree, and the point of the star landed a couple of inches from my neck. I was literally almost impaled by the Christmas tree.

The chaos that ensued was insane. Every person in the room reacted differently according to their personalities – everything from hysterical laughter to indifference to springing into action to hysterical tears. I’m sure a psychologist could have had a field day with the whole situation. Another year, we burned some food that we were making, so we opened the back door to let some of the smoke out of the house and a bird flew into the house and sat right in the tree. It was like the squirrel in the tree on Christmas Vacation. I am not even kidding.

My son and I tried to chase it out of the house with a broom while laughing our heads off. Daniel finally got it to fly out of a window, but not before it had flown pretty much all over the house and also pooped on the windowsill. Fun times. But I love the smell of a pine tree in the house and just the coziness of it. I really believe traditions are so important to have with your family. Start some of your own today!

I always make something special for breakfast before we go to the farm, so in honor of Christmas tree farm day, I give you my cinnamon roll recipe. These take awhile, but the result is SO WORTH IT.

You’ll need: (for about 24 rolls)

2 c. whole milk 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 c. butter 1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 c. sugar 1 1/2 t. salt

1 pkg. yeast (I use rapid rise) brown sugar and cinnamon

4 c. all purpose flour

For the frosting: About 2 c. confectioner’s sugar, 1 t. vanilla, 1/4 c. milk, 2 T. melted butter, pinch of salt

The first step is to mix the butter, milk and sugar in a saucepan and heat it up until it is about to boil. So, just when you start to see bubbles form around the edges, that should be good. Stir it up and remove it from the heat and let it cool until it’s warm.

When it feels lukewarm to the touch, add the yeast and mix it in. I usually use a fork to do this step. Now, transfer the liquid to a bowl and add the flour, baking soda and salt.

Cover with a towel and let rise for an hour.

After it has risen, put about a 1/2 of a cup more of flour onto whatever surface you are going to use and then knead the dough, adding the floor as you knead.

Once you have that additional flour mixed in, roll it out into a rectangle shape.

Now, melt some butter (about 2 Tablespoons) and pour it all over the dough.

I use a pastry brush to smooth it out all over the dough, but you can use any kind of spreader if you don’t have one.

Cover the dough with a pretty generous layer of brown sugar and then sprinkle cinnamon all over the brown sugar. This is not a measured thing, just do as much as you want.

Starting with the longest side of your rectangle, start gently rolling the dough like this…

Keep tucking it in as you go so that it’s pretty tight. You don’t want them to fall apart. When you are done rolling it up, just start slicing! Use a pretty sharp knife for this and dip the blade in flour if it seems to be sticking to your dough.

Place the cinnamon rolls on a greased baking sheet. Let them rise again – around 20 minutes or until they are pretty much doubled in size.

Bake them at 400 for about 20 minutes or until they look golden brown. While they are baking, put together the frosting, which is this simple. Whisk all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. If it seems too thick, add a small amount of milk until it in thin enough to drizzle.