I’m a fighter. I’m no longer a teenager but I continue to be a rebel. I used to be judgmental but I try hard not to be anymore. And, the times that I still am, I think about it and correct myself later. I’m not perfect. I’m a work in progress.
My friends and family know me as someone who is not afraid to take on a cause. Yet, I abhor rebelling against something for the sake of rebelling. I have a problem with that. I recently had an argument about racism online and even as I offered an option that was Gandhian and talked about smiling at anyone who spewed hatred, I received hatred back. Time and time again after offering an alternative to hatred, to break a cycle, to take the high road, I got called a racist myself. Someone who betrayed her fellow brown men. How can that be? But it can. Because it is about fear. The fear to set yourself apart from the many. Fear to tell the truth. It is so much simpler to be part of the many, to agree and cry blue murder when everyone else is. It is hard to walk the path that is unbeaten. I get wanting to fit in. What I do not get is the inability or the reluctance to listen. THAT I do not get.
This is the season of giving. Especially now… won’t everyone set their differences aside and come together? Can’t just more people smile at the person who is being hateful? It sounds corny yes but things can be solved with a smile. Especially at this time of the year. Please. As much as I may have no problem with walking away from hatred I also have no place in my life for people that are consumed with hate. My baby girl recently said, “if someone doesn’t like something or someone mama, why won’t people just walk away. You can solve a lot with that. What can the person do if you walk away?” How simplistic and how true. Our children have more wisdom than us. Because they are so pure. And so simple. So what happens to us along the way?
I can’t answer that but I can try and change me. And that is all I can do. I tried to weave my view of the world in this bread. My undying optimism and my need to go forward with the utmost positiveness. Its not always been like this but I am trying to change. Isn’t that all we can do?
There is something to be said about working and creating something with your hands. So deeply satisfying. Its like returning to the earth. I may not have anything to do with Christmas but I celebrate it because it brings so much cheer. That is life, to celebrate the good cheer. To celebrate the people you love. Everything, everything else is irrelevant and so silly. Who cares what religion it comes from or from which country. Or from which color of society.
And if you are just looking to impress your friends, that can too! Go with this bread. You won’t be sorry. Doesn’t it look stunning? It’s easy too… π
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- 275 grams flour
- 85 grams butter, melted
- 1½ tbsps sugar
- ¾ cup milk, luke warm
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 sachet dry active yeast (7 grams)
- For the Filling
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 3 tbsps sugar
- 2 tsps cinnamon
- To prepare the dough, mix the yeast and sugar with the lukewarm milk and let it sit for a few minutes while the yeast bubbles. Add the egg yolk, the melted butter, the flour and the salt, then knead the dough and shape into a ball. Place the dough in a large, greased bowl. Cover and place in a warm space and let rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
- Preheat oven to 200Β°C/395Β°F.
- Combine all the ingredients for the filling and set aside.
- After an hour take the dough and divide in to 8 equal parts. On a well floured surface, roll out each dough ball to a 5" circle. With a brush spread the filling mixture on the dough, covering all of the surface in a thin layer. Roll into a log and cut lengthways into half. Now take the 2 parts and twist together and form into a round. Make sure you reveal the cut side up. Repeat with all dough balls. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover with a cloth and let rise for another 30 minutes.
- Brush with the remaining cinnamon-butter mix and sprinkle with sugar. I used a mixture of brown sugar and some crushed walnuts as a topping. You could however just use plain sugar if you like.
- Bake at 200Β°C/395Β°F for around 5-7 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 175Β°C/345Β°F and bake for another 10-12 minutes or till nicely browned. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with a chilled glass of milk or some hot coffee or tea.
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Kahlua Spiced Gingerbread Cake
Cherry Pie with Poppy Seed Crust
Ombre Easter Cake
One should always have something to celebrate and create joy in life! Lovely, lovely bread is a good way of doing just that.
Thank you so much flippenblogarie.
Beautiful post and amazing photos! Thank you for sharing your positive energy and this delicious recipe with all of us! Have a wonderful holidays! π
Wonderful holidays to you too Lili! Thanks for stopping by. π
These are so cute!!! I love anything mini- what a lovely idea to package them up as gifts! I could probably eat that whole bag π
Thank you Emilie! I love everything mini myself since I’m so small myself. Good things come in small packages sort of thing! Hehe. And, I nearly ate the whole bag myself. π
your writing is just beautiful..and yes these wreaths look delicious.
Thank you Dixya. Those wreaths are so yummy!
Beautiful bread! Great as gifts for the hoildays
One of my favorite pastries!
π Thanks for stopping by…
These really look delightful and would make a beautiful gift. I love what you’ve been able to do here with the food styling and your blog–simple and lovely! Your layout and professional tack even inspired me to do some blog layout revamping today π thanks for sharing!
What wonderful compliments Wallflourgirl! Thank you so much. π
These are the most adorable wreaths I’ve ever seen, no joke! And your pictures are gorgeous too! Pinning!
Have a wonderful weekend π
Thank you so much!
These were delicious! They look so intricate, but are so easy to make. I absolutely love your first photo.
Thank you Tara. They really are extremely simple to make aren’t they?!
Wow! Look at them, they are gorgeous.
These look amazing! You’ve inspired me to make small cinnamon roll wreaths. I just made some π
That’s great! Hope they came out great! π
Such a nice and easy recipe! The only downside is that this recipe only makes 8 little wreaths :-). Thanks for sharing!
Haha! Thank you so much Ana!
Fantastic recipe and STUNNING photography Rakhee! We’ll be trying those out during the Holidays, that’s for sure:) Thank you for the amazing post.
Thank you so much. I would love to hear how they turn out! <3