in texas this is how we "cinnamon" roll

Well it's vacation time!  I packed lightly and flew on down to good ole Texas.  Since summer time is so busy at the center the only time I really get to visit home is Christmas time.  So this next blog is going to show you a little bit of what I do while I am visiting Texas.

But first thing is first...what is going on while I am away?

The day I left Girdwood and Portage, Alaska there was a storm that left them with about 30 inches of snow! FINALLY!  Now I can't wait to go to Alyeska and do some skiing or snow boarding!

let's see what the animals thought of this storm....

the musk seem to be enjoying it. After all, their natural environment in the wild is in the Arctic.

Nelson and teddy seem to have a fairly good coat of snow on them.  However, if they didn't like sitting in the storm they have a barn right behind them.....

 The Bison herd also prefers this type of weather.  Instead of laying down in the wind they actually stand right in the middle of it usually and herd together.

All 4 previous photos were taken by Doug Lindstrand.  He is one dedicated photographer!  He is out in the weather on all sorts of days.

Ok so back to Texas....

One of the main things I miss from home is church.  My family goes twice on Sundays and Wednesday nights.  The fun thing about Wednesday nights is sometimes there are suppers before church.  I was lucky enough to run into the lady that was preparing this weeks meal and invited to help.  If you know me; I love to cook and bake.  Also, this week just happened to be my favorite meal: Mexican pile on and cinnamon rolls! Mexican pile on is basically nachos.  One of my favorite foods :)

So as I was helping yesterday; I wanted to show you just how much work goes into preparing a meal for roughly 200 hundred people.

the Mexican pile on part wasn't too difficult.

Dice Tomatoes.

Dice the onions.  Yes, I cried a bit.

And use about 50 avocados to make guacamole.











mmmmmmm. cheese.  only needed 2 blocks of this stuff and 4 huge cans of rotel.

ok here comes the demise of my sweet tooth.

First you need dough.  I was too busy crying with the onions and stealing bites of avocado to pay attention to the dough making part.









Then all the ladies making the cinnamon rolls grabbed their amount and started rolling.  Once the dough was rolled out we added the good stuff.  Butter.

                                                                        Sugar.

                                                                     Brown Sugar.

This is Mrs. Blake the lady that was in charge of this meal.  I think all the helpers were trying to pay close attention to how she makes all her recipes.  They are so good!!!!!!





Once you add the cinnamon and roll the dough up you have the rolls!

 mmmmmm.  We made just over about 200 rolls I think.  they were a hit.  I mean who can resist that smell any ways?

After a full tummy and church I slept very well last night.

goodnight lower 48,
Erin