Sole Obsession

This wouldn't make the news in a city but in my little Lynden I find this to be noteworthy. We have a shoe store. Yay!
Sole Obsession had their Grand Opening this weekend and it's going to be a great addition to our little town. Kelly has done a nice job with the space, it's close to the museum, on Third Street. She has mens, womens, and children's shoes. Her focus is on shoes that feel good. Clarks, danskos, Merrills are a few of the brands. See Kai Run for kids. Cute.

Shoe shopping has never been fun for me. I have horrid feet, no joke. Several surgeries have made them better but still they are not easy to fit. If Kelly doesn't have your size she'll order it for you. Mine came in within two days. And she ordered several for me to try. I bought some sweet mary janes to wear with tights and skirts or with jeans.

And running shoes, my, they are comfortable. With boot camp I wear out my runners rather quickly. No joke. So, this is a nice resource for me. Kelly's husband Robb runs the boot camp, where I work out. Quite the racket they have going, the more he makes me run, the more I'll need new running shoes. Nice.

Never Fail Cinnamon Rolls

That is the name of the recipe however; some friends, family and coaches I know have failed with this recipe. So, I use the name loosely... One friend accidently grabbed a lemon cake mix, I don't recommend that!
In the fall and winter I usually start a batch first thing on Saturday mornings. The kneading is for 5 minutes and I urge you to watch the clock. I try to get rid of any frustrations for the week while kneading my dough. A bad week can result in some lovely, light rolls!
Lots of cooking and cleaning can be done while these are rising. Don't be a afraid of yeast. You can do it!

Never Fail Cinnamon Rolls

2 1/2 c. warm water
2 packets of yeast or 4 1/2 tsp. (I buy mine at Costco and keep it sealed tight in tupperware.)
Mix and let it get going a bit, then add one Super Moist White cake mix and 5 cups flour. Stir together. Then butter your hands and knead. I rebutter during the five minutes of kneading.

Cover the dough with a tea towel and let rise. I let it rise in my oven with the oven light ON. The light keeps it just the right even temperature and it doesn't get bumped in there. I used to let it rise on the heat register but toddlers stepped in it and now we have a wood stove.
After it rises it looks like this:

Flour the counter and dump out your dough.
Spread it out and then spread with a soft cube of butter.

After you've buttered the dough cover with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll and slice into about one inch rolls. I use either two 9X13 pans or a combination. I always make some in a foil pan to have in the freezer, ready to share.

Then let rise again, in the oven with the light on until double in size.

I went to the Methodist Church Bazaar during this time and found some treasures to buy including new scrubbies and some cute gift tags. I love these homemade pot scrubbers.
Take the rolls out of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Then bake for 20 minutes.
Frosting
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup soft butter
a splash of half and half
Mix and frost. Then enjoy and share!

I hope I wrote out the recipe correctly- it is in my head, I know it by heart and am on auto pilot on Saturday mornings with these rolls. My family is not too keen on raisins but they would be a nice addition. Sometimes I add orange peel to the brown sugar part and orange juice to the frosting for orange rolls.

I have a Julie Bag

http://juliejac.typepad.com/crazy_little_thing_called/

Julie's blog is a delight of family fun, keeping it real and her creativity. She sews purses and then hangs them over a chair, photographs them and shows them on her blog. Yesterday she came to my house with friend Alissa, daughters Belle and Shelby. They were all dressed as witches and took some great photos. She brought me a purse, a Julie purse. So, I hung it on a chair, snapped a photo and am blogging about it. After all that is the way it is done. Isn't it cute? Love the button 'T'. It fits perfectly in my bike basket. Makes me happy.

Also, I must print a retraction. Starbucks won't be getting in the Cranberry Bliss Bars until after Thanksgiving, even for moi. Sorry. An employee was misinformed and so sorry...

We may have to have another Sip 'n See with Cranberry Bliss Bars in December. I'll keep you posted.

Sip 'n See

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman is a very popular blog. Ree posts the best recipes, most beautiful photos, she's funny and she lives on a ranch. Many of you probably read her blog, she gets thousands of comments. Recently Ree wrote about a Sip 'n See. In the South, women get together and sip (tea, punch, wine or whatever) and see either a new baby, old friends, someone's redecorated room etc. I thought, "Ooooh, I want a Sip 'n See of my own." Then it dawned on me, I have one planned! Already!
Thursday evening the Lynden Merchants have their stores open for a holiday shopping night. The Lynden Pioneer Museum Gift Shop is open until 8:00 p.m. And y'all are invited. And Starbucks is coming with something to sip. And I have lots of new Christmas inventory to see. And Jerrie is wrapping gifts for y'all! A Sip 'n See! Oh, and I'm baking. And Starbucks is bringing the...drumroll...because now the holidays may begin...Cranberry Bliss Bars!

Cute gifts and luggage tags for the traveler on your list.
Stocking stuffers!
The wall o' Legos and Playmobil for the kids.
And my new favorite, Swaps, little watches with a choice of bands. Also, photo charms. I love this line.
Oh and at seven the museum is featuring Tams Alan. Tams will be showing us how to set a table for 12 courses, just like Victorian times. And the manners to go with the dinner. She puts on a nice program.

Regroup and Revamp

Think it will rain? Yikes. Our Fall was so beautiful this year, dry, no wind, the leaves took their time turning color and falling. Lovely. But now it is over. Rain and wind are here. Of course, we waited to finish our gardening for the year and so now we have a big ol' wet mess.
Football is finished for the season. It was so fun, I'm sad without it.

It is time to come inside and I like that time of the year too. It's too early for Christmas prep. I feel a bit lost. I need to regroup and pick some projects. Time to change things up a bit. Yesterday I rested up, actually just crashed. Now I am ready to get going again. Just can't decide what to do first. Any ideas?

Remember to Vote

This is the first Presidential election that Sam can vote. We sat down last week and all of us voted. I mailed our ballots in last Thursday. I do kinda miss going to the polls. We took our guys with us when they were little so they could see for themselves how voting was done. We wore our, 'I Voted" stickers. If you now have small children what do you do to teach them to vote? Just wondering.

Sam voted right.