Time Savers

So, I have a lot of ideas floating through my head - all the time... maybe combine a bit of this with a bit of that. Do I make each and every sweet roll from beginning to end all the way all the time? No. Too time consuming and I don't want to throw too much product away. So, here is an easy way to come up with different flavor combinations, or at least, this is how I do it. I take some bread - usually a white bread roll - something similar to a sweet roll - and I spread it with whatever I'm thinking of. This really only works for possible filling combinations or toppings. Take for example my lunch. Today I had some whole wheat seedy bread - very yummy with soup - but I used it to try some different combinations:

The combination on the bottom is marshmallow fluff with shaved chocolate sprinkles. Looks the yummiest right? The marshmallow fluff could have been better - with real chocolate perhaps and maybe some cinnamon :)


The middle one is cream cheese with forest fruits sprinkles. It was alright tasting, perhaps cream cheese and jam or fresh fruits would be the way to go.
 
The top and far yummiest, in my opinion, is hazelnut and chocolate spread with anise sprinkles. Who would have thought that chocolate-nut spread would go so well with anise? Well, it's good. And that means, I'm going to do something with that combination... in the near future. Anise really reminds me of Halloween so I think I'm going to use that combination around Halloween time for some very special Halloween sweet rolls.
 

Blurb

So, a while ago I came across the Blurb community. This is a website where you can download software to make your own photo books. Lots of websites have them. I could even create the book through Hema - or any site where you can make a photo book. The thing I like about Blurb is that there is a whole community around the site. It's different from say a Hema, Kruidvat or Foto.com where you are just ordering a photo book of your kids photos because some people are using it to publish books - like cook books.

I will probably do more research as the time goes on as to which site I will use to publish Sweet Rolls that Rock but it may be that I use Blurb. Or if it's as popular as I hope it to be - maybe some savvy publisher will contact me... wouldn't that be great?!

Okay here is a list of books that I like the layout of:
Induldge your tastebuds with Hong Cho
The Yummiest Cookie
I Cooked That
temptations
No Empty Chairs


and finally a link to the blurb blog for tips and advice, etc.

From what I saw from the books above that I liked most was good photography. And from other cook books that I've seen my favorite thing is when there is a photo for each recipe. I think that's the way it should be done. So remember this Melissa - and do it right!

I love sweet rolls!

On Monday, June 14, 2010, I announced on my other blog: cUte Kitty pUnk that I would begin a cook book. This cook book is all about sweet rolls. My initial love for sweet rolls is really my love for cinnamon rolls because everything tastes better with cinnamon! I started over a year ago experimenting with different cinnamon roll variations. I tried pumpkin cinnamon rolls and from there I created a unique recipe: zucchini cinnamon rolls. And they were suprisingly good and a real hit with my friends that tried them.

Today I begin the blog - the sweet rolls blog. What I plan to do through this blog is record how I make and come up with different recipes - I will also freely share these recipes with you. And I have a panel of taste-testers ready to share their opinions on the quality of the recipes. Then eventually, over the course of five years, I hope to share sixty unique sweet rolls recipes. Yes - 60 - that's one new recipe a month over the course of 5 years. 

I am like many bakers and home cooks, I find many recipes on the Internet for free. So I give the recipes for free. But I also love cook books. I like being able to flip through the pages and find my favorites so accesible at my fingertips so I will compile the recipes into a book for purchase.

I am really excited about this new challenge for myself. I love to be creative and to create something new. Usually this has been something I've done before - painting or crocheting. Baking is a whole new arena for me in a way - although I've baked many delicious treats over the years, to really come up with something new every month is just so NEW for me. So, of course, it's fun!

I already have many interesting ideas for sweet rolls that rock... now to try them all... I want to begin very soon. One of my all time favorite holidays is right around the corner: 4th of July - America's Independence Day... and I want to make a red, white, and blue sweet roll in honor of it... so I'm putting on my thinking cap for this one - and  I'm thinking blueberries, strawberries, maybe watermelon... perhaps coconut... and all this into one delicious sweet roll... oh yeah baby - here I come!