National Sticky Bun Day

Today is National Sticky Bun Day, and it just so happens that sticky buns are the breakfast house specialty at the Blue Plate Café in my new mystery series. Kate arrives at six-thirty every morning to make them, and I like to think she makes them the way my mom used to. Here’s Mom’s recipe for roll dough and then directions for turning it into sticky buns. I’m sure Kate makes the basic dough every night before she closes the café and then she’s ready to go in the morning and have sticky buns hot and fresh when the café opens at seven.

Basic roll dough

2 pkg. granular yeast

½ c. warm water

Pinch of sugar

1 12-oz. can evaporated milk, plus enough water to make 4 cups

1 scant c. vegetable oil

1 c. sugar

Dissolve yeast in water (add just a pinch of sugar to help the yeast work) and let it rise about five minutes. Mix milk and water, oil, and sugar. Add dissolved yeast. Stir in enough flour to make a thin batter, the consistency of cake batter. Let this rise in a warm place until bubbles appear on the surface (probably 1 hour—check it at 30 minutes).

Separately, mix

1 c. flour

1 tsp. salt (or less)

1 heaping tsp. baking powder

1 level tsp. baking soda

Sift seasoned flour into first mixture. Keep adding more flour until it is too stiff to stir with a spoon. Knead well. Don't let the dough get stiff with too much flour, or your rolls will be heavy. This dough will keep a week or so in the refrigerator.

To make good, gooey pecan rolls for breakfast, roll the dough out to a flat rectangle. Sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar and dab with butter. Roll up into a tube and slice into pieces of about 2 inches. Grease the bottom of an 8x8 pan thoroughly and then cover it with Karo white syrup and pecan halves. Place rounds of dough, cut side down, on the Karo/pecan mixture. Bake these at 350^o until brown and center rolls appear cooked. Be sure to turn out of the pan immediately, while still warm. Cold cooked syrup turns to concrete. Rinse the pan immediately with very hot water.

 

 

 

Valentines Day? Too much chocolate.

I have gotten over-tired of chocolate on the Food Network in the last few days, and I'm the original chocaholic. But enough is enough. However, my neighbor Jay (you know, the good-looking one) brought over three heart-shaped double fudge buttermilk cakes--each a more than generous serving--with butter cream frosting. The man is trying to sabotage my diet! But it was delicious. At Jordan's request, since Christian was just returning home tonight from a business trip, I fixed salmon (Christian doesn't eat it) with green goddess dressing--oh so good! Had that cauliflower/vinaigrette dish and a green salad. Jacob would have none of it, of course.
Made a lunch reservation last week with a popular bistro that has just started serving lunch. Their sign says 11 a.m., Tues. through Fri. So I left a message making a reservation, along with my phone number. It was a good friend's b'day and we wanted to be festive. Got there and the place was locked, not a soul in sight. Too late to try a couple of other celebratory spots, so we went to King Tut--and I ate too much!
It's been a food day. Made another batch of lemon-basil cookies, but cut back on the lemon and added more basil--these did look kind of green before they baked. Also made a Bundt cake, scrubbed the grill, and  fixed that dinner. No yoga but I probably got my exercise in--and my back hurts a bit tonight.
Darn--can't find the Westminster Dog Show tonight--I thought it went on all week. Guess not.

Taxes and dog shows

Some things are good, some are not so good. On the not-so-good side, it's tax time. I have spent more time than I wish for about a week trying to gather information for the accountant. Every year, I think I'm being so organized--but what I really do is dump things into a folder that says "Taxes." Then of course by the time I hold this piece of paper or that in my hand, I wonder what it's about. For instance, I found an the stub for an honorarium payment that I can't identify--why don't institutions put their name on their check stubs? And every year my accountant's questionnaire changes. In truth, I think it's my interpretation of it that changes. I found a whole new section tonight. I forget what is deductible and what isn't, though I've finally learned political contributions are not. So what's that presidential fund on the questionnaire? And when you gather all the figures together, it's appalling how much you spend on some things--like utilities! I finally get to a point that I just give up and send it to him--but at least I've made a start. My accountant is a patient and gentle man.
The good tonight is the Westminster Kennel Club Show--love watching it. Of course, my Scooby is better looking than the Aussie in the show. And when are they going to start a show for all the "doodle" dogs like Sophie. I do like hearing the history of the breeds--and loved just seeing a bearded collie. We had them once, but believe me ours were never groomed to the fare-thee-well that this dog was.
Did some baking tonight--lemon/basil cookies and chocolate mini-muffins.I'm preparing for a Sunday afternoon fund-raiser for good friend Lon Burnam, for his re-election to the Texas legislature, and I'm a little awed by the prospect. People will pay to come to this party--will my food make it worthwhile? I give a lot of parties, but people don't usually pay--hmm, maybe I should rethink that. I'll save the menu discussion until after th event. I was sort of proud of the lemon-basil cookies but after I got started on the recipe I was startled to realize it only makes sixteen cookies. I made them smaller and got twenty-six but I'll have to do it again. Nervous about making a totally unfamiliar recipe, I rebuffed Jacob's offer to help--which sent him into tears. He eventually settled for getting to "squish" the round balls of dough--recipe said to use bottom of a cup, but he liked his palm better. Yes, I made sure he washed thoroughly first.

brain overload, cooking, and good food

My brain is overloaded tonight with all that I'm trying to read and learn about self-promotion on the internet. Tried and tried today to register with a list called HARO--Help a Reporter--where you can list areas of knowledge that you might be interviewed about. Never could get the link to work and yet now they're sending me messages, so they must think I'm registered. And, can't get my Twitter password to work--though I have a plain record ofwhat it is. Problems now that I'll put off until tomorrow. One positive thing accomplished: I made contact with a service (one person, I'm sure) who scans books much more cheaply than Kinko's, and after exchanging e-mails and reviewing her independent contractor agreement, I'm ready to send her a copy of Mattie, my 1988 title from Doubleday that won a Spur Award. So inch by inch I'm making progress in this brave new world of publishing. I'm really leaning toward self-publishing my mystery, but the logistics of promotion still scare me. I have been a guest on several blogs lately, and I think bit by bit I'm increasing my internet platform. As one friend said, it's a lot to wrap your mind around.
I was also quite domestic today--besides the mundane chore of doing a wash, I started baking for the holidays. Made 42 mini muffins with a Weight Watchers recipe that mixes 1 box chocolate cake mix, 1 can pure pumpkin, and a half cup mini chocolate chips. If you bake it in regular muffin cups, it makes 18 and they are only 2 points each. Then I made the dough for gingersnaps--will bake them tomorrow, and Sunday's project will be chocolate chip squares.
Had lunch with Sue, my former neighbor, today at Carshon's and splurged (in terms of calories) on lox and cream cheese. A bad thing to do since some new acquaintances took me to dinner tonight at Bonnell's, an upscale, chef-driven restaurant. I love the appetizers at Bonnell's so I had the venison carpaccio, with a side of blue cheese grits. Brought most of the grits home for breakfast.
My hosts tonight were Jean and Charlie Tipps. She is vice-president for advancement at the osteopathic college, and he edited the 40-years history of the school to which I contributed and which is still not published. But, as we worked together, I found he had a background in pubishing and had been at  UT Press in Austin in the '70s. So we had a high old time telling publishing stories. Good food and wine, and very good company.
Truly a pleasant day, one in which I both enjoyed myself and feel like I made a slight dent in the tasks ahead of me.