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a food holiday, A sweet Christmas, Catherine Castle's Holiday blog series, cinnamon buns, Home for the Holidays with Author Traci Tyne Hilton
A Sweet Christmas
When I say my mom can cook, I’m not just being polite. Once, her food was described as “magical” by a woman whose own mother was a home ec teacher! She has “the touch” for want of better word. A way of making simple food glorious and fancy food taste like it came from finest restaurant in the world. I suspect cooking is her spiritual gift.
Growing up with that kind of talent meant that every holiday was a “food” holiday, and none more so than Christmas. I could sing raptures about the seven or eight kinds of Christmas cookies we had every year, or the broiled sweet potato spears she invented a few years back, or the double-stuffed overnight mashed potatoes, but those are second tier foods when compared to the one thing that says Christmas to our family.
Cinnamon Rolls.
These aren’t your normal fluffy bread and frosting things you can get at the mall. These are decadent, gooey, caramel covered pieces of heaven. Once, while traveling across the state on vacation, I came across one restaurant who made cinnamon rolls that rivaled my mom’s, but that was the only time I have had anything as good, ever. In my life. I know I should share the recipe with you now. That is what you came for. But how can you share a spiritual gift? You have the touch, or you don’t!
Her recipe was one she learned in high school, and hasn’t changed much since. She makes the sweet bread “to touch.” When it looks right, it’s ready. She lets it raise, then butters it and sprinkles it liberally with cinnamon and sugar, in proportions that look right to her expert eye. Then she rolls it up, slices it, and lets it rise again. She bakes it with a special brew of butter and brown sugar to make the caramel, as I can’t eat corn syrup any more, though it used to be Karo Syrup for the caramel.
That’s it. Some sweet bread, some sugar, some butter, and some cinnamon. Anyone could do it, right? Sure. If they are magic! Want to try it anyway? (and who wouldn’t?) Here’s a link to a similar recipe. If it tastes like magic when you are done, I suspect, just maybe, cooking is your spiritual gift as well! Caramel rolls
About the Author:
Traci Tyne Hilton is a Christian Cozy Mystery author with over 13 novels out, three of which are pretty darn wintery. She and her family are praying for a white Christmas—a rare treat in their part of the Pacific Northwest! Learn more about Traci’s work at http://www.tracihilton.com and come by and say hi on facebook at Facebook.com/tracithilton.
Catherine Castle 