Here’s a happy holiday PLUS PLUS PLUS! No minuses!

+ I’ve made countless doughs and rolled out a bunch of cookies. + The pestilence that seemed to be making its way through our house got the eff out just in time for holiday hijinks. + Illinois beats Mizzou for Braggin’ Rights; the holidays don’t really start for me until that game is played. + My Solstice slippers are INCREDIBLE. + Solstice = darkness on the wane. + Really fun fondue dinner with excellent friends last night; we did this and were also treated to a secret show from the best new power trio in town. Because we know people, see. + Cats have not knocked over holiday tree! Yet! + It wouldn’t be the holidays in IL without some crazy-ass weather. Today’s: Ice storm! + Barack Obama is really going to be our new Prez! + Have fun, stay warm, enjoy yourselves, & count yr blessings.

xo

NC’s pretty sure that overwork is the reason I haven’t said much here lately. While I’ve had plenty of work - which I still quite enjoy, by the way - that isn’t why, exactly.

Oh - should I expound? Does anyone still even read what I write here? Hm. Just really thinky, really. The economic news makes me grouchy on several levels, but it’s tempered with the desire to DO MORE. Do more in the neighborhood, do more to get information to more people, try harder to get away from the machines for awhile and just take care of business. I don’t handle holding patterns very well, unfortunately, and while I’ve learned to deal with it on the job (more or less), my personal life is another thing entirely. This reconnecting with Real Live friends, neighbors, and kindred spirits and putting some ideas out into the community at large (and then having face-to-face dialogue come out of it) has been nothing short of awesome. It’s good to share and be shared with, and from where I’m standing (not sitting! So much sitting!) that means both doing the tappity-tap and dealing with the risks involved with sharing face-to-face.

[For the tappity-tap, I can often be found updating in bursts at Twitter. I’m Wordydiva.]

Getting through the next two years will require a certain amount of discipline, though, and I lack it. I’ve gotten comfortable, and that makes me uncomfortable. I get tired of having the bootstraps conversation with myself; I need new ways of motivating myself that don’t involve self-hatred or ulterior motives. Should be interesting.

So… go bake these, OK? They make a questionable day better. Just ask Kelly.

Mom’s Cinnamon Rolls 4 1/2 - 5 C (unbleached/organic, if you can) flour 4 t active dry yeast (2 packages) 3/4 C milk 1/2 C water 1/2 C vegetable shortening (part butter — also, I use Spectrum’s non-hydrogenated shortening — it works very well) 1/2 C sugar (or rapadura, or ecocrystals, or turbinado) 1 t salt 2 eggs, room temperature Measure 1 3/4 C flour into yr large mixer bowl. Add yeast and blend. Measure milk, water, shortening, sugar, and salt into saucepan. Blend. Heat until warm (about 120-130 degrees F). Pour into flour/yeast mixture. Add eggs. Beat 30 seconds with electric mixer at low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 3 more minutes at high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Stop mixer. Gradually stir in more flour (by hand) to make a soft dough. It will be rather sticky. Knead on lightly floured board or counter until nice an’ smooth, about 5-10 minutes (it’s good exercise!!). Cover with bowl or pan and let rest for 20 minutes. Shape as desired. Here’s what I do: I cut the hunk of dough in half, roll out one of the halves until it’s flat and rectangular and large, brush it with butter, sprinkle it with a cinnamon/sugar mixture, add raisins (sometimes), and roll it up. Then I cut off the ends and cut the rest into 1″ wide slices. They usually fit nicely into 2 9″ greased cake pans. Then I put them in a warm oven (I usually warm it to 200 degrees for a few minutes, then turn it off) with a pan of hot water under them and a foil tent over them and let them rise for 40 minutes, or until doubled. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. You can ice these with powdered sugar icing after they’ve cooled off, but believe me when I tell you that they’re wonderful just plain and warm out of the oven. Cool them on a rack. When they’re cool, you can wrap them in foil, and freeze. Just warm them in a 250 oven for about 45 minutes and oooh baby! It’s like you just made ‘em. Enjoy them — the recipe is from a cookbook called Homemade Bread, published by the Farm Journal folks in 1969.