Cinnamon Rolls

I have the best family ever. My doorbell just rang, and there was this priority mail box sitting on my doormat. I wasn't expecting anything, and was confused for a moment. Who sent me something, and what? I'd already gotten all my Christmas presents. Hm. So I open the box (which turned out to be from my parents), and was very pleasantly surprised. My mom sent me cinnamon rolls!

Now to explain. My Grandma Meneely had her famous "Mazola Oil Roll" recipe, which was passed down in the family to all the sons and daughters-in-law (although the recipe was different... which is a whole other story!). Each Meneely clan does it a bit differently... my uncle Tim makes the dinner roll version (amazing!), while my mom bakes the cinnamon rolls once a year at Christmas. In our house, Christmas Eve is cinnamon roll day. As a kid, I remember watching the dough rise (is it there yet?) and being very excited to help make the glaze. Although I somehow always got the job of cutting the pecans. :) It's a big recipe (hello, came from a mother of 5 boys!) so one pan goes in the freezer for New Year's, and the other pan is for Christmas. Usually we are impatient and completely ruin our Christmas Eve dinner with one straight from the oven, and then we always have them for breakfast on Christmas morning (in later years accompanied by an eggnog latte). The other pan comes out for New Year's Day breakfast. and they are just as good!

I have the recipe, and last Christmas one of my gifts was the special pan necessary. I could have made them this year, but somehow it just wasn't the same. And what was I going to do with a massive number of cinnamon rolls? I am only one person! (Of course, I AM a Meneely, but that totally goes against the whole "losing weight" plan!!)

So you can imagine the smile on my face when I discovered I would have some for New Year's! Pretty cool.