cinnamon roll joy

Ok, so I might have had two of these for breakfast this morning:

Every Saturday, Andrew and I do a special breakfast together, and I usually keep what I’m going to make a surprise. This morning, it was cinnamon rolls from Joy the Baker’s cookbook. Susy gifted the book to me last year and every time I open it I want to bake my way through it, a la ‘Julie and Julia.’ Seriously, everything in the book is mouthwatering.

Let’s just say these were a hit, filled with a cinnamon, sugar, maple syrup mixture with chopped pecans and golden raisins. The gooey liquid was bubbling away as I pulled them out of the oven. The picture above was taken before they were iced; I actually incorporated Pioneer Woman’s addition of maple flavor into the milk and powdered sugar icing.

*Note: I’ve been using PW’s cinnamon roll recipe since I got her cookbook awhile ago. They are amazing and wonderful and to die for. Her recipe also makes about 50, but she offers helpful freezing directions, so it’s all good.

The best part: the other half of the cinnamon rolls are in the freezer, just waiting to be devoured another day 🙂

how I spent my Friday morning

Guess it all worked out that Hadrian got me up AN HOUR EARLY this morning at 4:45 a.m… I had plans to make these:

Brioche!

I needed an egg bread for Saturday morning’s French toast, so I figured I’d just go ahead and make my own. (Just call me Martha; I’m now on my third set of friends who have spontaneously started calling me Martha. I must have it tattooed my forehead or something. First college, then the ones in Ohio, and now my school friends. When the guy who sits next to me in Advanced Nutrition called me ‘Martha,’ the other day, I almost fell out of my chair. It’s her homemade food approach I like, not her tablescapes–let’s be clear in that.)

Anyway, so I started the brioche last night:

It was surprisingly easy to make, and turned out quite well. I made myself a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch–delish!

what i made this weekend

Before I get too far, remember that salmon, broccoli carpaccio and wild rice I was supposed to make for Valentine’s Day?

It was dinner Friday.

If you’ve ever wondered what to do with all those broccoli stalks you have left after cutting off the florets, here is your recipe.

And, I’d been waiting to make this Maple Bacon Biscuit Bake for like, EVER. It’s a King Arthur Flour recipe that caught my eye a long time ago.

I mean, it was bacon, with maple syrup and brown sugar and butter—all mixed together! It’s kind-of an upside-down thing; you put the bacon mixture in the pan first, then top with biscuit dough dropped by the tablespoonfuls. On a second go-round (and there will be one), two things: 1) less biscuit-to-bacon mix ratio (more gooey goodness needed) and 2) definitely heed the directions to flip the pan over IMMEDIATELY. I accidentally let it sit for too long and the syrupy mix started to harden. Sad.

And can you believe Andrew said he was “scared” he would get this instead of monkey bread in the future? Scared. REALLY?!?! Who says that?!

I don’t know if he can dig himself out of THAT hole, but he started tonight when he said he liked what I made for dinner–Chicken Artichoke Lasagna. I was kind of shocked, actually. Andrew’s not a huge fan of artichokes, but I really wanted to make it and after going through the usual checklist (cheese? no. olives? no. mushrooms? no. beans? no.), I figured I’d give it a try. I didn’t take a photo, but it turned out quite well. In fact, it’s already in the “favorites” binder. I don’t know that I can say it was fantastic, but it was good and different and easy.