Lulu's Bakery and Cafe

We all enjoyed spending New Year's Eve at Sea World!!  It was fun doing something different.  It was especially strange to be at a theme park in Texas and have beautiful weather.  Instead of smelling sweaty people, you could smell laundry detergent.  It was quite refreshing to stand in line and be happy and not all sweaty and grumpy!!

We watched the Sea World fireworks and then headed to our favorite Mexican eatery in San Antonio - El Taco Tote.  We headed for the hotel which was downtown and hard to get to with all the traffic.  Tim can't stand to get lost and he was soooo frustrated when turn after turn took us out of the way and then finally the street we were supposed to turn on to get to the hotel was blocked off by police.  We eventually made it and rang in 2010 in our hotel room while watching Dick Clark's New Year's Eve.  Tim took the kids to watch fireworks that were over downtown San Antonio. 

One of my favorite things to do is eat, so finding cool, one-of-a-kind hole in the walls in different cities is tops on my list.  On New Year's Day, our first stop was Lulu's Bakery and Cafe.  David had told us he saw it on the Travel Channel on Man vs. Food and said they had a 3-pound cinnamon roll.  We had to check it out.  The rolls were huge.  We had a sample and I thought my Paula Deen cinnamon rolls were better.  We had chicken fried steak that was soooo delish!  The girls behind the counter were the nicest ever.  We had a spilled drink and they though nothing of it, real nice gals!!

Check out the size of that thang!

I'm so excited that Lulu's made the top 25, it will be airing on Sunday.

Paula Deen's Cinnamon Rolls

I loooove Paula Deen!!  I adore her accent, her stories, how she loves her family, how she loves butter and how she makes really good (bad for you food)!!  I watched one of her shows early last year and she had a friend on and they were making these awesome looking cinnamon rolls.  I knew right away that I wanted to make them for Christmas morning along with mom's traditional sausage breakfast casserole.  So, I made up two batches on Christmas Eve and used cream cheese on one of them.  They were a hit!!  Very rich, warm and gooey, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm!!  Knowing it would be so cold this weekend, I decided to make them again.  They are just so good and I don't even want to know how many calories or fat are in each one!!   Here's the recipe, you have to try it.  I know it's so much easier throwing the Pillsbury ones in, but these are to die for and super easy to make, it just takes some time and you have to make them the day before.  Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:

Dough:
1/4-ounce package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup scalded milk (I just put the milk in the microwave til it starts to bubble)
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
3/4 cup sugar, plus more for pan
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional

Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl, mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough (this part is messy when you get your hands all in it)!!  Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices with a sharp knife.

Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. I stick them in the fridge at this point and then the next morning, bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

Pure heaven!!