Finally! An oven to use!

Last night’s sleep was DEFINITELY not long enough.  Even though we had classes later today (9:30 wooooohooooo!), I was still not ready for life when I woke up.  I didn’t get up in enough time to have coffee, and we had some guest speakers who did not speak English very well or loudly.  The situation was compounded for disaster.  As soon as we were let out of class at 12:30, I marched home, up the stairs, did not pass go, did not collect two hundred dollars, did not even consider lunch, and passed out in bed.  15 minutes before I was scheduled to wake up, I was awakened by not-so-gentle snoring – not produced by me.  In vain, I waited for it to pass, proceeded to attempt to verbally wake up my roommate, failed, then resigned to frustration.  I must have fallen asleep anyway, because I woke up to silence a little bit later.  That was the drama of the afternoon.

See all that concrete?  I have to remove it with the tools shown below.

Simple hammer and chisel - in my friend Elizabeth's hands.

We began on the wall again, and this time, we were up there for almost two hours before lightning drove us off the scaffolding.  Bummer – looks like Bar Centrale and gelato again.  Snap.  ;)   

and the thunder rolls (yes, a reference to a country song)

As I mindlessly chiseled away at the gate, I contemplated my plans for the evening – shopping for supplies, a shower, and then beginning the long-awaited cinnamon rolls that I have been thinking about for weeks. 

Elizabeth, Me and Susan - tier 3 groupies.  :D

Soon, the thoughts became reality, and I found myself trying to making cinnamon rolls without baking soda, baking powder, yeast, or buttermilk.  Hm.  Baking soda and powder were substituted with beaten egg whites, angel food cake leavening sufficed for yeast, and lemon juice infused milk tried to pass for buttermilk.  A really nervous Cassie and Elizabeth (one of the girls that joined the party) put the “cinnamon rolls” into the oven, and watched them as they slowly rose and baked.  Somehow they turned out.  As I sit here, there is only 4 left out of… about 13.  Elizabeth’s roommates and mine helped out with the taste testing. 

pretty sure this is too thin.... but whatever.

Everyone knows that the important part of these is the sugar and cinnamon, so I maximized the surface area of said ingredients. :D

VERY VERY VERY excited!

Hopefully this weekend I can perfect this American recipe with make-shift Italian ingredients and baking supplies and bring some to class on Monday.  For those of you who have been unfortunate enough to experience my baking – you know what my class is about to experience.  I’m sure they would appreciate the sympathy.  ;)

Bedtime.  Enough sugar for one night.

Babies, you be FINE.