Rise and Shine

We eat breakfast together every morning.  6 days a week it's a relatively hurried affair.  We let Thatbaby meander over his meal, but Thatboy and I eat with an eye on the clock so we can get out of the house on time.

The exception to this is Sundays.  On Sundays we all sleep in - Thatbaby comes into bed with us around 6 and the three of us sleep together until around 8 in the morning.  Then there's some general tomfoolery in the bed as Thatbaby uses us as his personal jungle gym - climbing, jumping, tossing his little body from one side to the other. 

Eventually we all get out of bed and Thatboy takes the baby for a change while I head to the kitchen to make us a nice breakfast.  Sunday breakfasts are leisurely and enjoyable.  I like to make us something a little fancier than our weekday fare - waffles, poached eggs, or in this case - cinnamon rolls.  These are fabulous for the whole family, not being as sweet and cake-like as many recipes.  There's no cinnamon sugar paste rolled in the middle, instead the cinnamon and sugar are in the dough itself, making them true rolls and not a sugary breakfast treat.

Which of course, Thatboy and I rectified by putting icing on top of ours.  Thatbaby was happy enough to gnaw on his un-iced version.

Cinnamon Rolls (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

1 pkg yeast

4 1/2 cups flour

1 cup warm milk

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp cinnamon

2 eggs

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup raisins

milk

3/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1. Stir the yeas into 1/4 cup warm water and let it stand 5 minutes to dissolve.
2. Add the dissolved yeast and 3 cups of the flour to the milk and blend well.  Cover and let rise in w arm place until light.
3. Add the granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, eggs, butter, and 3/4 cup flour and blend.  
4. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead gently, slowly adding the remaining 3/4 cup flour until the dough can be easily handled.
5. Knead in the raisins.  
6. Pull off pieces of dough the size of medium lemons, roll each about 8 inches long, and wind it into a coil.  Arrange on two buttered 9-inch cake pans, cover, and let rise until double in bulk.
7. Preheat oven to 375. Brush tops with milk. Bake rolls for 25 minutes.
8. Mix the confectioners' sugar and vanilla with 4 tsps warm water to make a glaze and spread a thin layer on rolls immediately after removing from the oven.