Traveling With Food

Not only is it fun to find new and delicious foods when traveling, but it's a blast to bring great foods with you. Many moons ago when I lived in Berkeley I was a regular Peet's Coffee customer. The store was in the Gourmet Ghetto near Chez Panisse and The Cheese Board, Cocolat and other noteworthy places to eat and purchase good food. At the time they didn't have any other outlets, nor any retail outside that one small store. You walked in the and coffee aroma was intense since there was always coffee brewing and it was usually strong. They had a huge brewing machine that turned in a circular motion, releasing hot water over the grounds. I still use that circular motion when I brew coffee using a Melita filter system, still my favorite way to brew coffee, although a French press also produces a fine cup. I loved that when you bought a pound of coffee (and bags of coffee always used to be a full pound), that you would be offered a full cup of brewed coffee on the house.

So what does this have to do with traveling? Well, every time I went back East to visit I would bring a pound of Peet's coffee. My siblings became very fond of Peet's, so sometimes I would bring extra so that it could be kept in a glass canning jar in the freezer for their visits home. At least once I sent some as a birthday gift to a sib, but that was much later when Peet's did mailing and other retail. Starbucks (which got a lot of technical help from Mr. Peet himself before they began as a business) got a jump on Peet's and was into the many outlets and the retail long before Peet's Coffee spread out to sales other than at the Vine Street original place which is pictured at the top. Now you can even find Peet's as K-cups.

Another West coast food that I often took back East was sourdough bread. It was so easy to find sourdough bread in Berkeley (Acme Bakery still has the best baguettes as far as I know) so a loaf would go into the carry on. One year the bread never made it to Virginia. I was flying during the winter with Max and our plane sat on the runway in Chicago for three or four hours, probably due to de-icing or something like that. Max was three or four and kept asking for a 'little piece' of the bread. By the time we took off there wasn't even a little piece left. Still, it kept him occupied during the long wait and he went right to sleep when we arrived at Mom's sometime after 10 pm. So glad that I remembered to buy sourdough for that trip!

The braided bread reminds me of a time when the family was visiting here. I sent them home with a braided sourdough loaf from my own sourdough starter. Even better than the commercial sourdough according to my Mom.

These days it is a whole different ball game with food on airplanes. For carry-on if it can be spread, is liquid, or is runny or squeezable it won't be allowed. Other food should be placed in a separate bin if you are taking it through security. Putting it in your checked luggage is still OK, but I would do a triple Ziploc for most things! You can still buy airport food once through security and take it on the plane, but who knows how long that will last?

One year my Mom had pneumonia and was hospitalized. I went back once she got out of the hospital to help care for her. Before I left (and this was in January but not the same trip as the sourdough one) I packed up a very large box with Costco size bags of spring mix, lots of fresh oranges and tangerines and lemons, and shipped it off overnight FedEx so that it was there when I arrived. It is super hard to find good quality spring mix lettuces in January on the East coast. The citrus is so plentiful here in January that it seemed like the best thing to do to include some of that, too. I enjoyed that produce while I was there, but my Mom was in heaven and I think it helped with the healing, too. Not exactly traveling with food, but close.

Do you have stories of traveling with food that are memorable? Wanna share?

Italian With A Touch of Lemon

I've made focaccia bread before and shared it with you, too. I love that it is the kind of bread that is easy, delicious, and can be made ahead. This time I kept the beloved Italian features of olive oil and Parmesan cheese, but instead of herbs or grapes or other adornments, I celebrated citrus season with fresh Meyer lemon zest on top.

Because I needed to keep this bread for a number of days before I would be serving it, I froze it and then defrosted the loaf in the microwave on low power, then heated it at 225 degrees F. right before serving.  It makes a deeply flavored, moist bread and doesn't need any additional oil or butter. The recipe actually makes two loaves, so you can keep one in your freezer for when you need a bit of Italian delight.

Fast Focaccia with Lemon Zest

1 (1/4 ounce) packet active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)

2 3/4 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

Toppings: olive oil, zest of 1-2 Meyer (or other) lemons, colored part only; Parmesan cheese, grated; sea salt (optional)

Directions:

Mix the yeast, sugar and water in a small bowl. Let proof for 10 minutes (until bubbles begin to form).

In large bowl, stir together flour and salt.

Add the yeast mix and olive oil to the dry ingredients and combine.

When dough has pulled together, turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Gather into a ball. With hands coated with olive oil, oil the surface of the dough ball. Turn the bowl over the dough ball. Let dough rise in a warm place for 25 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put 2 tablespoons olive oil into bottom of 9 or 10 inch diameter cake pan. Swirl to coat bottom and sides with the oil. Repeat with another 2 tablespoons olive oil in another pan.

Punch dough down. Divide dough in half.  Place one piece of dough in each in oiled cake pan. Spread dough toward sides with your fingers, pushing fingers down into dough to create dimples or pockets.

Drizzle top of each pan with 1 tablespoons olive oil, then sprinkle with lemon zest and some Parmesan cheese or sea salt, if desired.

Bake for 13-15 minutes until golden brown.

Spring Fruits in Scones

If you read through some of my blog posts it probably seems like I bake all the time, just because. In truth I used to do just that, but for a while now I've had to curtail my impulse to bake for a couple of reasons, but mainly because as we get older it seems to be harder to burn off those extra calories and so fewer calories are needed. While I would love to eat nothing but baked goods, good sense encourages me to fill up on fruits and veggies and quality protein instead.

That said, I still love to bake, so it is wonderful when I have a reason to bake something as delicious as scones. This past weekend I attended a P.E.O. conference in LA and we had a very early flight, so I made scones for Sweetie and I to enjoy at the start of our trip, plus I made a few extra to enjoy with committee members during our early morning committee meeting on Sunday. Since I had fresh blueberries and apricots on hand, plus a bag of sweet, moist dried apricots, I decided to make scones with them, some sliced almonds, and to use buttermilk for the liquid. It's tang goes so well with those fruits and it helped to keep the scones moist until Sunday morning, even though I baked them on Friday. P.E.O. supports women in their educational goals through scholarships and low interest loans, plus we own a college, Cottey College. The effort is almost all done by volunteers, like my fellow committee members, so they deserved some fine scones for getting up so early, right?

These were rough looking because I barely gathered the dough bits together, similar in technique to making Irish soda bread. The upside of that is they were tender and almost flaky. There was enough butter that you didn't need to add any and the flavor combination with the apricot, blueberry, lemon and almond flavors, combined with buttermilk, was excellent and hit the spot in the early morning with a cup of coffee. These don't take much time and would take even less without the dried apricots and if you left the peel on the fresh apricots, so mix up a batch yourself. You'll be glad you did.

Blueberry and Double Apricot Scones
Adapted from a Ladies Home Journal recipe March ‘97
Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet or use parchment or silicone mat.

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (no substitutions)
1/4 cup finely diced dried apricots
½ cup chopped fresh, peeled apricots½ cup fresh blueberries, dusted with a bit of flour
½ cup sliced almonds
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Glaze: 2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons sparkling sugar

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. With pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add diced dried fruit, fresh apricot pieces and the blueberries and sliced almonds. 

Combine buttermilk, egg and lemon peel in a bowl or measuring cup. Pour over crumb mixture. Stir together with fork just until mixture comes together. Gather dough gently into a ball; it might be crumbly...that is OK. Divide dough in half and transfer to prepared cookie sheets. Shape each piece into a 6 inch x 1 inch thick circle, 2 inches apart. Using floured knife, cut each circle into 6 wedges.

For glaze, brush tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake 20 – 25 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 scones.

Assertive Citrus Chicken

I grew up to be a shy person, up until I went to college. No one would have called me assertive. It came as quite a revelation to me, when I finally shed my shy behaviors and blossomed, that being assertive could be fun. Understand, I'm still shy inside, I just don't behave that way. I suspect that there are a lot of people who do the same.

Ducks and geese are very assertive, but chickens seem to mostly be silly. Recently Sweetie and I took care of our neighbor's flock of chickens, all 30 strong, and had the devil of a time getting them to go into the hen house at night, not because they were being assertive but because they were being distracted by the goat who wanted to play with all of us. One of us would chase them toward the door and the other would try to keep the goat away and wave the chickens into the doorway at the same time. I'm sure it would have been a hit on YouTube if anyone had filmed it.

A good time for a chicken to be assertive is when it is cooked. In this recipe the fairly forward flavors of cilantro, garlic, scallions, citrus and soy join up in a marinade for chicken thighs that is full of zestiness but not heat. I served it with steamed rice and steamed broccoli. The marinade went pretty well with those, too. There is an Asian sensibility to the marinade that I really enjoyed. The flavorful crispy skin was a nice bite of luxury, too.

As with many recipes I made a few changes. For one thing it has been a warm day. Sweetie offered to grill the chicken, instead of broiling it, to keep the kitchen cooler. Had my vote! I also found that I only had half a lime, so I added extra orange juice and zest for plenty of citrusness. I used a sharp knife to cut strips of the citrus zest and let the food processor chop them up instead of zesting the skin.  The finished chicken was pretty salty, so next time I'll cut back on the salt some. I also marinated it for about 4 hours, but it was absolutely delicious (other than salty), so that is not a problem.

I think that this recipe could easily be doubled if you are going to have  a larger group than 4. With those assertive flavors, the piece we have left over will probably taste even better tomorrow.

 

Citrus Marinated Chicken Thighs
from Bon Appetit magazine, Aug. 2013

"An aggressively seasoned marinade delivers big flavor"

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 bunch cilantro, leaves and tender stems only, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 lb. bone-in chicken thighs with skin left on

Set aside 1/4 cup of the sliced scallions for garnish.

Pulse cilantro, garlic, zests, juices, soy sauce, oil and salt and remaining scallions (green onions)in a food processor or blender until a coarse puree forms. Set aside 1/4 cup of the marinade. Place the remaining marinade in a large reseal able plastic bag. Add chicken, seal bag, and turn to coat. Chill at least 20 minutes. If chilling longer (up to 2 hours ahead), occasionally turn bag over to redistribute the marinade. Keep chilled.

Preheat broiler or prepare grill. Remove chicken from marinade and dispose of used marinade. To broil, place chicken, skin side down,  on a foil-lined broiler-proof baking sheet. Broil chicken until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Turn pieces over and continue to broil until cooked through. An instant read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 165 degrees F. - 12 - 15 minutes longer. To cook on grill, place chicken pieces, skin side down on prepared grill and grill 5 minutes. Turn and grill until cooked through, about 12 - 15 minutes longer. Use same technique as above to test for doneness.

Serve chicken with reserved marinade and sprinkle on the scallions. Serves 4.

An Early Spring Salad

Right now is the transition time between winter salads and spring salads. There are certainly asparagus which can be blanched or steamed and added to your salad and avocados are plentiful, too. In general, though if you are going seasonal, there will be a wait for local tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and beans to liven the salad bowl.

One of the great additions to salads right now are beets. One of our local farms have them from thumb sized to super large. The local market had organic Chiogga beets on sale so I bought some, took them home, cleaned them well with a brush and water, trimmed off some of the roots, oiled them lightly, wrapped them in foil and baked them in the toaster oven at 350 until they were tender when pierced with a knife (about 25 minutes). Since I didn't need them for the salad until the next day, I just kept them in the foil packet and put that right in the fridge. I peeled and sliced them when it was time to make the salad.

The dressing for this salad also uses a seasonal ingredient...fresh orange juice and zest. I'm not sure why but oranges and beets go really well together. The greens are mixed organic baby greens and I tossed them with the dressing, piled them on salad plates, then coated the peeled, sliced beets and some peeled, separated mandarin orange slices in the dressing. Arrange the dressed fruit and beets over the dressed salad greens, then scatter some candied pecans over it all and serve.

The tender Chiogga beets are really pretty with the rings of color, plus they don't 'bleed' while you are preparing them like red beets do. Their flavor is a bit more mellow, too. Do try this easy salad while you are waiting for future bounty from the garden. You may not even miss vine ripened tomatoes (too much).

Here's some spring flowers to get you in the mood.

Citrus Vinaigrette

Juice from one large orange (about 1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons orange zest, colored part only
1/2 teaspoon Dijon type mustard
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients into a jar with a tightly fitting lid. Fasten the lid and shake until the dressing emulsifies. Remove the lid, taste for seasonings and adjust as needed. Keep chilled until you use it and chill any left over.

Lemon Caper Sauce for Pork

Now that it is citrus season I'm looking for ways to include lemon, lime, orange and tangerine flavors in my cooking and baking. Add garlic and capers and you really wow your taste buds!

Although you can use this sauce on chicken, turkey (dark meat preferred for both), an assertive fish like salmon, or veal, I chose to use this sauce on some pork chops that I first marinated in buttermilk for an hour. I tried coating the buttermilk slathered chops with a seasoned flour mixture for cooking, but the coating, once browned, slid right off the chops so I don't recommend that method.

If you really must have breading, you could blot the chops, coat with flour, coat with beaten egg, coat with panko or bread crumbs and then let it set for 10 minutes before sauteing. If you use a gluten free flour like potato flour and then some breadcrumbs from a gluten free bread you could easily make this gluten free chops. Potato flour can thicken the sauce instead of the wheat flour, too.

The Lemon Mushroom Caper Sauce uses olive oil but no butter or other fat. It is absolutely delicious with a strong lemon flavor, a bit of zip from the garlic, lots of zing from the lemon zest and capers, and the mellowness of the mushrooms, too. Altogether wonderful! I cooked it up at least 1/2 hour before I made the chops, covered the finished sauce with plastic wrap laid right on the sauce to prevent a skin from forming, then covered the pot to keep it warm. The sauce part is silky and you can adjust the thickness to your taste by adding the last of the broth once the sauce has thickened...just a teaspoon more broth can thin it out a fair amount.

Lemon Mushroom Caper Sauce

an Elle crafted recipe

2 tablespoon olive or grapeseed oil
1 cup prepared mushrooms (wiped clean, sliced)
1 clove minced garlic
2 tablespoons wheat flour or potato flour
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
juice of one lemon (zest the lemon first)

Pepper to taste

zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

In a medium saucepan heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the prepared mushrooms, stir to coat with the oil, and saute' 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, stir, and saute' 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add the wheat flour or potato flour, stir to combine with mushrooms and garlic, and continue to cook for another minute, stirring frequently.

In a measuring cup mix together the broth and lemon juice. Add to the mushroom mixture all at once, stirring constantly, and continue to stir until mixture thickens. You can save about 2 tablespoons of the broth mixture and add some at the end to adjust the thickness to what you prefer. Add pepper to taste.

Add the lemon zest, capers, and Italian parsley. Stir to combine. Taste and add salt and/or pepper if needed. (I avoid adding salt and often by now you will see that it isn't needed, but now is the time to add it if you find you do need to.)

If holding the sauce while you cook what it will garnish, cover sauce with plastic wrap laid right on top of and touching the sauce. Cover the pot. Re-heat (removing the plastic wrap first), if needed, using low heat.

Makes enough to sauce 4 servings.

A Year of Blogging

What a year this has been! Looking back over the posts it seems like it was the year of BREAD for me. Even though I took a break from bread making (mostly) over the summer, there are still a large number of bread posts as well as all 26 posts on the Bread Baker's Dog blog,

which I started in March because all those bread posts seem to be overwhelming Feeding My Enthusiasms.

I found that I enjoy baking bread, especially yeasted bread, that I seem to have a knack for it, and that the creativity and mystery ('cuz 'ya never know if it will rise properly) appeal to me immensely. It's hard to hate the smell of freshly baked bread, either. Over the years I've posted over 50 bread recipes (not all yeasted, but many are) plus 26 more on the bread blog. Of special joy to me has been the fact that I gave yeast breads for Christmas gifts this year and that I spent a day teaching a dear friend how to bake bread from scratch ...helping her overcome the fear of yeast that is all too common. I also met two of my favorite Bread Baking Babes in Seattle this summer - Tanna and Lynn - which has encouraged me to keep going with bread baking.

An improvement to the blog this year has been the inclusion of an Index of recipes. Since I often use Feeding My Enthusiasm as my personal recipe box, and it has grown to have over 200 recipes, having an Index means I can find the recipe I'm looking for quickly...and so can you. Access the Index by clicking on the photo of a set table that is in the upper right on the blog. I tried to break recipes down by category to speed the search since I don't have an actual search engine. Hope it helps you try something new! Let me know if you tried something and enjoyed it, OK? If you post about it, I'm usually happy to have you link and can sometime provide additional photos...just e-mail me.

Many of the post this year were from cookbooks, often altered to suit my taste or cooking style. I usually borrow cookbooks from the library since my cookbook shelf is full to overflowing. Do you have any cookbooks you would recommend?

As often happens because I am blessed with very thoughtful family and friends, this year for the holidays I received a number of food goodies including yummy home made stollen, a gorgeous bay wreath, an assortment of farmers' market goodies ingeniously packaged with garden greenery instead of peanuts (with simply beautiful holly), a delicious persimmon bread, tasty candy and cookies, and little cakes. Mom's delicate and traditional crescent cookies are still being enjoyed! On top of that the generous gifts of kitchen scale, bread mat, instant thermometer, and King Arthur gift cert. will help with future bread baking and are much appreciated. I even received a monkey bread pan...so you know what I'll be baking soon! A cool gift that I used for the recipe below is a pair of herb shears from Sweetie's Super Second Sister...made the chopping of fresh rosemary very easy!

One of the best gifts has been the assurance by family and friends that even though they may not comment, they still enjoy reading the blog posts. Since I was beginning to lag on my enthusiasm for blogging that has made a difference. Thank you all.

Many thanks to readers who do comment...it really means a lot and encourages me to visit your blogs if you have them. You often inspire me and make me laugh and give me insight into other ways of cooking, baking and looking at the world.

I wish each of you a Happy New Year...another day to wake up and greet the morning...or afternoon :)

XOXO Elle

This recipe is a variation of one I've posted before, but this time I used some of the unique citrus from the farmers' market sent to us by Sweetie's Fabulous First Sister.

The orange like citrus had a pink-orange flesh so it wasn't a regular orange nor a blood orange, but it was delicious although milder than lemon, so the mustard flavor was more dominant than with lemon. I omitted the topping and it was still wonderful. The chicken gets very tender and moist by sitting in the marinade. This is a great recipe to make ahead and perfect for citrus season.

Orange Chicken with Rosemary and Garlic
Serves about 8

8-10 boneless skinless chicken pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil for coating pans
5-6 cloves garlic
2 oranges and their zest
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
3-4 branches fresh rosemary, each about 5 inches long, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
Optional topping:
3 tablespoons cup Parmesan cheese (use the real thing for best flavor)
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Arrange the boneless skinless chicken thighs (or substitute some boneless skinless chicken breasts if you wish) in an 11 x 13 inch baking pan where the bottom of the pan has been lightly oiled with the olive oil. Keep the chicken pieces touching each other. Place whole, unpeeled garlic cloves between some of the pieces.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the Dijon mustard, the juice and zest of the oranges, and 3-4 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary. Whisk in the olive oil. Pour the mixture over the pan of chicken. Tuck a few sprigs of remaining fresh rosemary between some of the chicken pieces. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill 3-4 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover the chicken and place the pan in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes or until the juice runs clear when a piece of chicken is pierced.

If desired, about 10 minutes before the chicken is done, mix together the Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and parsley; sprinkle this mixture evenly over the chicken. Return to oven to bake last 10 minutes.

Serve over rice, mashed potatoes, or boiled potatoes, which bread to sop up the sauce. The sauce is mighty good. The chicken is amazing.

Leftovers are delicious, too. You can also freeze this, well wrapped, for a month. Thaw in the refrigerator, then bake in a 350 degree oven until heated through, or in the microwave, reheating at no more than 50% power.

Perfect for Easter Breakfast or Brunch

This recipe makes enough dough for two pans of sweet rolls. The first pan I made was Raspberrry Pistachio Swirl buns. They were good and pretty, too.

To use the second half of the dough, I decided to make something that has flavors similar to Hot Cross Buns. The citrus zest comes off almost like citron and the raisins combine with the pecans and brown sugar for a sweet kick. Somehow the coconut, although only 1/4 cup's worth, ties it all together.

These were so good that it was really hard to stop eating them, expecially when they were still warm from the oven!

If you double the citrus/raisin/nut mixture you can easily make two pans of sweet rolls and be ready for a crowd at Easter brunch. This dough is very easy to work with and has the richness of milk and egg. Very festive and impressive.



Spring Citrus Raisin and Nut Sweet Rolls
Makes 10 sweet rolls in each pan

Ingredients:
6 1/2 tablespoons (3.25 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 tablespoons (2.75 ounces) unsalted butter or margarine
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 1/2 cups - 4 cups unbleached bread or all-purpose flour
1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/4 cups whole milk (I used evaporated milk and water)
¼ cup (4 tablespoons or half stick) butter, melted and cooled
½ cup brown sugar, packed
¼ cup regular raisins
¼ cup golden raisins
zest from ½ a lemon
zest from ½ an orange
¼ cup grated coconut
½ cup pecans, chopped


Making the Dough:
Cream together the sugar, salt, and shortening or butter on medium-high speed in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a large metal spoon and mixing bowl and do it by hand).

Whip in the egg and almond extract until smooth. Then add the flour, sourdough starter, and milk. Mix on low speed (or stir by hand) until the dough forms a ball. Switch to the dough hook and increase the speed to medium, mixing for approximately 10 minutes (or knead by hand for 12 to 15 minutes), or until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky. You may have to add a little flour or water while mixing to achieve this texture. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Fermentation:
Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.

Form the sweet rolls:
Mist the counter with spray oil and transfer ½ the dough to the counter. Reserve other half of dough for another batch of rolls, or double the citrus/raisin/nut mixture and make two pans of rolls.
Using your hands, push at dough to spread it into a rectangle approximately 8 by 10 inches. Spread the rectangle with the citrus/raisin/nut mixture (see below), leaving about an inch around the edges jam free.

Citrus/Raisin/Nut mixture:
In a mixing bowl combine the butter and brown sugar. Add the regular raisins, golden raisins, coconut, lemon zest, orange zest, and chopped pecans. Stir well to completely mix the ingredients.

Shape the sweet rolls:
Roll the dough up jelly roll fashion along the long side, sealing the edges once all rolled up. Pinch the ends of the roll closed. Using a serrated knife (like a bread knife) or dental floss, cut rolls about 1 inch wide.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 inch diameter cake pan with sides about 3 inches high. Put 3 of the rolls in the middle and put 7 more rolls around the edges, evenly spaced, leaving some space between the rolls. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Bake the Buns:
Preheat the oven to 375°F with the oven rack in the middle shelf.
Bake the sweet rolls for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool the buns:
Cool the sweet rolls in the pan for about 10 minutes. Remove the sweet rolls from the pans and place them on a cooling rack. Wait for at least 20 minutes before serving. Delicious when served warm. These rolls are sweet enough that you don’t really need to ice them.

These Spring Sweet Rolls are my entry this week in Yeastspotting event usually at Susan's wonderful blog, Wild Yeast. For a yeast lover this even is a never ending inspiration and delight. This week it's being hosted by Zorra of 1x umruhren bitte blog instead, and you can find it here.