Bruffey Easter 2012 - Part #1

It has been an amazing time of family these past 2 days! This post includes tales from our Good Friday and Easter Saturday, including some yummy Easter baked goods and some home projects that Josh completed for our family!

GOOD FRIDAY:

Our long Easter weekend started with Josh having to work on Good Friday. It was originally a paid holiday, but they needed him to come in (we found out Thursday night), so he stepped up and worked 10am - 3:45pm and was home around 4:45pm. It was SO nice having him home during an EVENING (since he normally works until 11pm or 12am)! We had dinner together, Josh did bath time for Jacob, we played with Jacob and then, once he was in bed for the night, Josh and I enjoyed watching comedy and old videos on Youtube before retiring for the night. It was nice to have a family night at home!

GREAT SATURDAY:

Breakfast

Saturday, I had plans to bake for my boys! I made pancakes for breakfast - a first for Jacob! He LOVED them (but, hey - what's not to love? His breakfast is normally oatmeal or eggs and fruit... so carbohydrates with butter is a super treat!). 

Our Morning

Then, we spent the morning playing as a family - Jacob wore himself out! He ran after our dog Kylee getting her toy, throwing it (which, since he can't throw it that far yet, he's figured out to run to where he wants it to land, then drops it and she runs and gets it - pretty creative boy!), then getting it again and running, running, running! By about 9:45am, he was beat! He's down to one afternoon nap a day, but we could tell he was just TIRED - on the verge of a meltdown as he cried at his diaper change, we snuggled him and decided a rest time was in order. Josh did his whole nap time routine while I worked on a baked treat - and Jacob crashed! He slept for almost 2 hours! Not sure what this means for his afternoon nap or the Easter Egg hunt we plan to attend this evening... but I am glad he got some rest! 

Resurrection Rolls

In the mean time, I had started making Resurrection Rolls - we have decided these are a new Bruffey Easter Family Tradition! 

Things we found challenging about making these: 

1. Plastic wrap: it really is the most irritating thing that is used in any kitchen! I often end up with a wad or 2 of plastic before I get a nice, laid out, usable piece torn off and covering anything... and for this recipe, you have to spray the plastic with cooking spray, making it SO much more fun to handle! That was the part we liked the lest - handling greasy plastic wrap that wanted to get all tangled up... good times.

2. Getting the dough to stick closed around the marshmallow: The author of the recipe we used did say that you should not put any butter on any of the rolls that are closed with a marshmallow inside BEFORE closing up all of the rolls... because butter that gets on your hands can cause the dough on subsequent rolls to not want to stick together. So, we did not use any butter until we had all of the rolls closed with a marshmallow inside. However, we still had difficulty getting our rolls to stay closed... I can't help but wonder about the cooking spray you are supposed to use. You have to spray the cookie sheet with it before putting the frozen rolls on it to thaw - then you cover them with plastic wrap that is sprayed with cooking spray while they thaw so the crust doesn't get hard... so the rolls end up covered with cooking spray - to me, it seems this would have the same effect as butter - that it would make it harder for the dough to pinch together and seal...?

3. Letting the frozen rolls thaw but NOT TOO MUCH before you start putting marshmallows inside them! The author of the recipe we used said it took about an hour and a half for them to thaw at her house. So, I just sat my timer for 90 minutes and spent time with my boys. The recipe also says to work with the rolls before the dough starts to rise. Well, apparently we should have started flattening the dough and putting marshmallows in at about 60 minutes, because ours had already started to rise when we started working with the dough! This lead to HUGE rolls by the time we had put marshmallows in all 36! And then by the time we had rolled them in butter and then the cinnamon/sugar mixture and then put them back on the greased cookie sheet and covered them with the same greased plastic wrap to rise - well they were HUGE! Needless to say, the first batch that came out of the oven - well, each roll was ENORMOUS! And the few that had not stayed closed had exploded! 

For next year, we think we will thaw the rolls for much less time - maybe even checking them at 30 minutes, then 45 minutes, etc. and start putting marshmallows in sooner. Also, Josh had a great idea that we put out say 1/3 of the rolls to thaw, then 30 minutes later put out another 1/3, then 30 minutes later another 1/3 - so we work with 1/3 and by the time those are rising, we are on to the next - and bake them 1/3 at a time. This should avoid them getting so MONSTROUS. I'm also thinking of using coconut oil on the cookie sheets rather than spray and maybe less spray on the plastic wrap so that the dough isn't as greasy when we try to close it around the marshmallows. Josh also thought we might try cutting the marshmallows in half so they weren't so big for the dough to close around. If anyone else has made these and has tips, we are open! 

Here's some pictures of ours while they are rising before baking (they are already SO big):

The rolls rising before baking

Some of ours turned out PERFECTLY and stayed closed like they should...

But a few, like this guy, went rogue and started to open before baking...

I did my best to pinch him closed... here's hoping!

Here's how our first batch came out (we cooked them 15 minutes at first, but realized they needed the full 20 minutes):

HUGE - but they look delicious! 

You can see a few didn't make it!

An explosion!

A REAL explosion! Josh said this is one where you can see that the stone is rolling away!

This is one of the exploded rolls - but it still made a pretty decent empty tomb!

Here's the second batch - we cooked them straight for 2 minutes and they turned out much better. The first batch we took out too early so they were still a bit gooey. These were pretty much perfect, though still big!

Pretty good!! Only 2 that kind of opened.

These look just awesome!

I let them cool a bit, then cut one open with my striated knife - a beautiful empty tomb!

"The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.  Come and see the place where he lay." 

Matthew 28:5-6 

JOSH - OUR HANDYMAN:

My parents gave Jacob a swing months ago and Josh hung it on our porch today! He also hung two hooks that I can hang some plants from soon! Other than mowing and treating our yard, this is the first outdoor project we've done to make our backyard more "homey"! 

Jacob's swing! Thanks Grandmother and Granddaddy Parish!

Our yard! Yay for the swing and Kangaroo Climber!

Jacob Swinging

Loves it! After 20 minutes, we asked if he was "all done" and he said "NO!"

My boys! This picture says it all!

WEEEEE! What a day!

My plant hooks

One of the hooks Josh hung - now to get a hanging plant!

My other plant hook!

Thanks baby! What a great day so far!

~ Mama Bruffey

Wife to 1, Mother of 2