Recession … Are you sure?

After a long trip away for the holidays, I returned to California with some mad shopping to take care of.

My fridge was empty, cupboards were bare, and I was even out of toothpaste.

This past Saturday, I spent my entire day navigating the crowds at Trader Joe’s, Target and Safeway stocking up.

I spent the better part of the day in these retail establishments stopping only for coffee at Starbucks.

What stood out to me most as I traveled up and down the isles loading my cart was the number of people doing the exact same thing.

The weekend after Christmas everyone was out. It was absolute retail mayhem: lines 4 –5 shoppers deep, carts overfilled with crap, displays that were sold out of merchandise.

Who are these people? Where is this recession I keep hearing about?

Fat as a pig in cinnamon heaven

Lord have mercy on me and my hips.

Have you ever seen the episode of Sex in the City where Miranda can’t stop eating the chocolate cake? She’s alone in her amazing NYC apartment and she has a piece, just one piece, of this totally luscious chocolate cake.

After her first bite she can’t stop – she just keeps eating it. In a sheer moment of desperation to stop the madness she throws the cake in the kitchen trash. Later, hours later, she comes back to the trash and eats the cake right out of the can.

The episode is too funny and I know some of us have had this moment.

Cinnamon roles are my chocolate cake.

Once I start, I can’t stop.

I promise you, if you make this recipe, you won’t be able to stop your self either. It’s so good it’s crazy.

Here’s the recipe, in 3 parts. Trust me when I tell you it’s worth the effort.

Ingredients
Dough: (step one)
1 c milk
3 tb butter
3 ½ c flour
½ c sugar
1 egg
1 envelope yeast
1 tsp kosher salt

Filling: (step two)
1 c brown sugar
2 ½ tb cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
½ stick of butter (softened to spread)



Icing: (the best part) (step three)
4 oz cream cheese (soft)
1 cup powder sugar
¼ c butter (soft)
½ tsp vanilla



1.
Melt butter with milk
Mix warm butter / milk combo w/ 1 c flour with sugar, egg, yeast and salt – mix low 3 minutes
Switch kitchen aid to a dough hook and add 2 ½ c flour – mix until well combined dough forms
Remove from mixer on to floured surface and kneed dough for few minutes until smooth
Put dough in greased (non-stick) bowl covered in plastic wrap and a towel – let it rise for 2 hours.

2.
Mix brown sugar and spices
Punch dough – roll it out into a long, wide rectangle
Spread butter on to dough and sprinkle sugar / cinnamon mix
Roll dough into a log
Seam side down slice rolls
Place into a square cake pan
Cover, let rise 45 minutes

Bake these babies 375 for 20 minutes

3. Icing:

Cream butter, cream cheese - get the lumps out
Add powder sugar and vanilla
Mix well

When the rolls are done, let them cool for 5 minutes and then ice.

Good luck stopping at one.

New Year, New Start

New Years is one of, if not, my favorite holiday. The beginning of each New Year seems like a fresh start.

As the clock strikes midnight each year on 12/31, I feel like I have been totally cleansed.

The opportunity to set and achieve new goals always seems so in reach, like planting crops in the most perfect, fresh soil.

This year I am keeping it simple, but at the same time, hoping to achieve a few very important things.

Let me digress before I move forward …

For a few years, actually a lot of years now, I feel like a rat running on a treadmill. I am moving so fast in so many directions but never crossing the finishing line.

I am accomplishing a lot by conventional standards but what do these standards mean to me? Am I living up to my full potential?

No, I know I am not.

Am I contributing to society the gifts and talents that I have to offer, that happen to be unique to me? I know that I am not.

This year I going to stop beating myself up over this – not knowing if I am on the right path. I am going to let my journey unfold without interfering, and focus on doing things to get to know myself a little better, on a deeper level.

I think that once I have a better idea about who I am, I will in turn have more direction.

This year I want to achieve the following:

1. Personal health – go to the gym! I am a member, I pay fees, and I never go. I want to start running again – nothing serious – just a couple miles a few times a week with ease.

I also want to start lifting weights – again, nothing serious – just tone and muscle strength.

2. Meditation – I am a naturally intuitive person. I have been since childhood. I make all of life’s big decisions based on my intuition and I want to further develop this side of myself and see where it goes.

3. Better relationships – I want to actively participate in healthy, meaningful relationships with my family and friends. I want stop participating in negative, unhealthy relationships that have the potential to bring out the worst in me and others.

4. Creativity – take two classes to fulfill some credits, keep journaling, and do something new, like create a new bikini line or something fun.

5. Simplicity – I am tired of consuming. I am tired of stuff that creates clutter in my life. I am going to clean up my space – get rid of the clutter and stop buying unnecessary crap.

6. Therapy – I am going to give therapy an honest shot and in reality give myself an honest shot – and commit 2010 to uncovering who I am.

7. Family – Be more present in my relationship with the two people who are the center of my world – my husband and daughter.