Cinnamon Rolls, V.1 Alpha Release

 Decided to try my hand at a batch of cinnamon rolls, something I've been threatening to do for a year or so. Found an easy recipe over at the King Arthur Flower site, and set about gathering the ingredients. Almost said "chemicals" there, but hey, baking is Applied Chemistry, isn't it?

Mixed everything up, and let the dough rise.

Mistake #1 - didn't turn out the dough and grease the bowl before letting it rise in said bowl. Wasn't a huge mistake, but made it "interesting" to get it all out so I could then roll it out and butter it up.

Then cover it with brown sugar and cinnamon powder.

Getting it rolled up, and sliced into approximately equal sections, was a Charlie Foxtrot, but Sweet Little Wife helped me out, and we eventually got to here after allowing the rolls to rise about 45 minutes.

While they were rising again, I mixed up the ingredients for the cream-cheese icing.

Mistake #2 - grabbed the wrong measuring spoon, and added twice the amount of vanilla that was called for. OOOPS!

After baking for what was deemed an appropriate amount of time, at an appropriate temperature as adjusted for the altitude, we we rewarded with these.

 

Mistake #3 - picked the wrong combination of time and temperature. I made adjustments to the time and temp based on published guidelines for adjusting your recipes to a 5000' altitude, and my bread baking, which confirmed the guidelines.

In short, you increase the temperature and decrease the time to avoid drying out your bread.

Guess what? This ain't bread. It's pastry dough, and bakes differently than just a straight yeast bread does. The extra butter and eggs change the chemicals enough to make the reaction go in an unexpected way. In this case, while the outside 2/3 of the roll is completely cooked, the inside 1/3 "core" of the roll isn't fully cooked. It never developed into the nice, light, almost flaky crust a Good Cinnamon Roll has through-and-through. They're not raw, just not fully cooked, and a bit doughy. They taste pretty good otherwise, although the icing has a bit too much vanilla for my taste.

Next time I'll make sure to use the recommended 400* oven, and let the time run the full 15 minutes. We took the pan out once to inspect the bottom, and it looked like the sugar was caramelizing nicely, but we just flat took it out too early, based on the rolls looking "Golden Brown". The higher temp got the outsides done just fine, but the shorter time didn't allow the heat to fully penetrate the denser dough and completely cook it.

Happy New Year, and Carving Almost Complete

 SOOOoooo....here we are, which is most likely not where we'd thought we'd be. A staged pandemic, an election with absolutely breathtaking amounts of fraud, and economy in shambles, and all the other stuff I can't be bothered mentioning, but we endured.

Yes, "endured".

No, it's not The Great Depression or a World War. Those may be Coming Soon To A Former Republic Near YOU!, but it's still not 100% decided. I don't know what's coming up this year, but I don't think it's going to be "pretty", for given definitions of "pretty".

So take care, keep your head on a swivel and your powder dry, and we'll see what comes.

On to more mundane matters....

Trevor The Tree Carver has been busy since the last update. He's just about finished, and has only some final detailing, sealing, and clean-up to do. It should look quite nice this summer.

Awwwww....RATS! Booger uploaded my pix in the reverse order I selected them in.

And I'm too lazy tonight to correct it.

A fitting end for 2020! Think I'll be down in The Bunker with a portable radio until 2020 is out of here.....

A Bit More Tree Carving....

 Took this today after Trevor left due to blowing snow!

He's been working on the trunk, turning it into a stack of boulders with roots growing down through them. The baby owl on the small limb was supposed to be a squirrel, but as he carved away the wood, a crack in the limb started to open up, and he was afraid it would break apart in a few months, so he cut the limb back, and carved the owl.

Should be pretty impressive when he's finished carving it, burning in more detail, and sealing it.

Tree Carving Resumes....

 At least for today and tomorrow.

Trevor is almost finished, and the next few days will be devoted to finishing it up, burning in some details, and then slathering the whole tree in boiled linseed oil to seal and preserve the wood.

The new figure is another owl. He started roughing in a squirrel, was a pretty far along on it, and the trunk split along a line he was worried about. So, we another owl instead of a squirrel.

Christmas Eve aftermath.....

Yes, the wrapping paper has been stuffed in a bag, or we'd be waist-deep in it!

Merry Christmas!

To you all. Christmas has always been special for me, like most people. The family gatherings, the food, the presents, and all the other things that go with the season.

But let us never forget the most important reason we celebrate this day.

Cold and Windy....

 Going down to the low teens tonight, and it's been pretty windy since about noon. Winds have been pretty steady at 25~28MPH with some gusts to 40+.

All the snow has melted, so no White Christmas, but the backyard is now dry enough I can gather up the one trunk of the crab apple tree the arborist removed and cut up for me. I'll drag it in to the garage to let it dry out and season until next winter. The sections I saved from the big branches that broke off last winter are really great firewood. Burns very cleanly, and throws off a lot of heat and light for the size pieces I wound up with.

TLG will be here Wednesday, and we're going to bake some bread for when he comes back with his Mommie and Daddy for Christmas Eve dinner.

Wishing you all the best for a Blessed Christmas and Joyous New Year, just in case I don't get off my duff and put something up for Christmas.

Farewell, Old Friend, Hope to See You On the Other Side....

 Rest in peace, Diamond, my big, lovable moose of a dog.

Diamond 2008~2020

Snow, Finally!

 Been very lightly snowing for a bit over an hour, and there's maybe 1/2" on my snow gauge.

NWS is forecasting 1~2" accumulation tonight, and possibly 1" on Friday. This is good, as we desperately need the soil moisture. Saturday is forecast at a 40% chance, and I'll watch that closely, as I have to go down to the airport to pick up SLW Saturday afternoon. I'll use the next two days to "test" the difference my 4WD system has between "4-HI Auto", which electronically controls when the front axle engages, and just "4-HI", which has the front under power all the time. The rear differential is an electronically-controlled locker, and it's been a while since I drove a vehicle with a locker-style rear end. 

Back In The Day, lockers could/would engage at inopportune times, causing the handling to change, sometimes radically. The people on the Chevrolet Colorado forum say you can tell when these lock-up, but the electronic controls make a world of difference compared to a mechanical locker. And they've said pretty much the same about 4-HI Auto and 4-HI, in that you can tell when the front axle engages, but it doesn't jerk the steering wheel or make the handling change dramatically.

My Jeep was true All Wheel Drive, and was very sure-footed in bad weather. If I flat-footed it on a slippery surface I could force all four tires to spin, but I don't drive like that. It'll be interesting to play with the Chevy in the snow to see how it feels. In dry weather it handles better than it has any right to, and the brakes are very good with outstanding pedal feel. GM's chassis group really has a handle on things in this department, and I'll see how it does in snow the next couple of days.

Unflipping Believable! WELL DONE SpaceX!!

 I watched the entire launch and "landing" of the SpaceX SN8 flight test today, and I'm pretty near speechless.

This is so close to the Big Silver Rockets of Bradbury and Heinlein that I grew up dreaming about that it's.......huh....not sure what to say other than some adjective I can't think of. It's one of those "American Exceptionalism" things that aren't supposed to exist, are hugely Politically Incorrect, make liberal heads go nova, and prompt questions like "How Many More Teflon Fry Pans Will We Get Out Of This?" (I actually heard that at a NASA presser) from the "press", and make me smile and feel a sense of pride.

I won't analyze the landing, other than when I saw the plume go bright green, I knew something was wrong, and remembered the line "All Hand Brace For Impact!" from the movie Destination Moon.

Here's the broadcast, courtesy of a link the Silicon Graybeard provided. The launch starts about an hour and 47 minutes from the beginning, so you can skip forward quite a bit.

Chuck Yeager Has Passed.....

 God Speed, General Yeager.

L.A. City and County Force Closure of Battleship Iowa.

 Gruesome Newsome and his Evil Minions strike again.

A partial quote from the management aboard the Iowa:

While we have operated safely outdoors since the end of May without a single Covid-19 case, we have been ordered to close. This resulting closure will undoubtedly set us back and without an immediate increase in donations, we will have to cut expenses and wages during the holiday season. Without your support, the decision on how much we cut and where we cut has to be made no later than December 13th.  

 

If you can afford to during these times, please consider donating to The Pacific Battleship Center.