We’ve had to divide up the family parties since covid. One faction believes in vaccines and the other does not. It’s not a problem in the summer so much because we can gather outside, but during the winter when we can’t do that, we have to take everyone’s choices into consideration and make the necessary adjustments to holiday festivities.

My bonus son and his family came yesterday for lunch and to exchange gifts. When I joined the family, I introduced a Colorado tradition of chili and homemade cinnamon rolls. I’ve been baking cinnamon rolls for decades. As a matter of fact, I used to supply one of the local coffee houses in Glenwood Springs with my cinnamon rolls once a week. They were always a big hit and people would call ahead to reserve them. Well, I thought they were good, but they couldn’t hold a candle to the new recipe I tried yesterday!

The 2021 Recipe of the Year for King Arthur Flour is Perfectly Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls. OMGosh! These things are HEAVEN ON A PLATE! They are light and pillowy soft thanks to an extra step at the beginning of the recipe where you make a Tangzhong…a cooked paste of flour and milk to which you add the wet, then dry ingredients. The recipe sounds complicated, but it is surprisingly easy to make. You know how wonderful Cinnamon Rolls taste when they’re fresh from the oven…but within a very short while, they get hard and dry? Well…these will last up to a week (although I cannot imagine them making it that long the way we eat them!) They are SO good…I will never make a different recipe when I want this particular yummy goodness. They were a major hit…so much so that the youngest grandchild wants to come out this week and learn how to make them!

We exchanged gifts and had a wonderful visit. I felt much better yesterday and having family around did me a world of good. I didn’t get to see all the family in person, however we at least got to talk with all of them either over the phone or on video chat. It turned out to be a Merry Christmas after all! Inviting Jesus into every circumstance has really helped me feel so much better. That being said, I’m still not terribly excited about the upcoming procedure this week, but I know He’ll be there with me so I have nothing to fear.

❄️

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

Revelation 3:20 ESV