One of my favourite things in the world, my cinnamon buns! (You can find the bread maker version here.) I wanted to make a homemade treat to put in the mail for my Uncle Meinhard this holiday and I knew these would be perfect for him.
We honestly could not have coped with the loss of our mom without her sister Laima and Uncle Meinhard.
So many times Auntie Laima would drive into the city to visit and help us get home after a day with Mom. So tired, barely able to move, every drive was such a relief.
One of my favourite memories was of her and Mom going through old photo albums we did not know existed and they shared so many stories with us that we had never heard before. Especially of the refugee camps in WWII, I had no idea they were there for years with my Grandma!
Even after I came home their generosity did not stop. They drove all the way to Nova Scotia to give me this embroidery machine! Yesterday Auntie Laima via Skype taught me how to get the machine to work. Oh it was so exciting!
While the machine was working I shared a confession with her. I had successfully made a gift for her but there was a bit of a tragedy when it came to Uncle Meinhard’s cinnamon buns.
A vacuum-sealing accident. Thanks to my FoodSaver Vacuum Food Sealer, they got turned into a giant cinnamon bun pancake! Oh the power of FoodSaver!
I had worked on them from the morning, letting the dough rise, shaping them into the buns, letting them rise again… I baked them until they were the perfect golden brown. They cooled and right before bed I cut a bag for them to fit in and started the suction process.
I was thinking, oh they are so light, so fluffy, so perfect and OMG, they are shrinking! I mean, really shrinking and squeezing together and OMG!!! No… No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
I cut open the bag and tried to give them foodie CPR to bring them back to life. I got them into the bag again and tried once more to vacuum seal them and they got even smaller and flatter!
I threw them in the fridge and went to bed wanting to cry but collapsed instead. The next day I packaged up Auntie Laima’s gift and sent it to Ontario. Alone.
Here I am revealing the smooshed cinnamon buns to her live via Skype yesterday! We had a good long laugh about it and I told her I would make Uncle Meinhard cookies instead. Something strong and kind of tough that can handle the “power” of the FoodSaver Vacuum Food Sealer.
Thank you all so much for your support yesterday with my first confession of 2014. I do tend to take life and food very seriously and well now you can kind of see why I ended up getting so sick when I was working in publishing. It is true, I have to remember that I am human and have just gotten through the worst year of my life.
I am glad I am cleaning the slate with all the disasters from the holidays of 2013 because I want 2014 to be as much fun and lighthearted as it possibly can. Oh it was so good to laugh about the cinnamon buns and don’t worry, they will end up in a bread pudding or something! Yum…
Ohhh, they have one FoodSaver that’s supposed to do pastry but I don’t own that one either. Still it will eat just as well as any other.
Glad you had them to help with the rough times, more on the way, I think but from what I know of you now, I know you’ll make it through.
Besides, you got bagels to hit this year, which are so flip flop fun to bake.
Cheers and stay warm.
I would have eaten them anyway. lol
No way! I had no idea there was a different kind of FoodSaver for that kind of thing. Duh Suzie!
Yes, I have an awesome family and am so very lucky. Yes to bagels too! That is totally on my list.
Fran, I am probably going to devour them. They’re so good! My aunt said to send them but I just couldn’t. I’ll come up with something else that is more vacuum-friendly.
yummy and gooey what cin buns. Looks are low on the totem pole.
Coffee is on
Yeah, it’s a nice one too. I don’t have that one. I’ve had now three different FoodSavers and one generic model, but I still haven’t jumped to the higher priced FoodSaver that does pastry. Maybe someday, with a coupon and a sale.
True, it’s the taste that counts Dora!
THW, wow, +3?! That is amazing! I bet if anyone can find a coupon and sale for the pastry FoodSaver, it’s you. 🙂
If I were your uncle, I would want you to send them anyway! Even if not pleasing to the eye anymore, they’d still be plenty pleasing to the stomach!
The model I have now, which is the lowest in the line (or was), I used a coupon for, ended up paying, I want to say under ten bucks with price match, sale and coupon.
Gave the other model I had to my hubby’s mom. It had features I didn’t need, but that she could use.
But the one that’s super nice is that one with the pastry option. I just can’t bring myself to pay the price, when I really only need to freeze meats. So that’s why I went down a level.
This comment might not make any sense.