Preparing for Cinnamon Roll Burnout

Was able to get a few things done today that I had been putting off, finishing a crochet hat order was among them. Felt so great to be done, now I no longer feel any guilt when I pick up the knitting needles to practice my knit stitch. But before I could pick up those needles, even before I actually finished the hat I needed to get a handle on something else, give a little practice run to something that I needed to perfect again.
Yep it's that time of year again. The time when I become tired of cinnamon rolls. Who would have thought that could even be possible. (I've never asked a Cinnabon employee but I'm sure it's possible somewhere in their universe.)
The end of January it is my job as a member of this family to make a minimum of four batches of cinnamon rolls and upwards of 6 batches.
See, every January the small family business conducts the annual spawning of the trout fish that we raise. In order to get this done Mt. Hood Community College has students in a fisheries class come to The Ranch and do all of the spawning of the fish for us as part of their educational process, a working field trip of sorts.
Students. Students of every age. Students and instructors that stand outside, some with waders on, and net fish out of a cold pond to spawn. There is a lot of water involved and sometimes the weather conditions of the day are really less than ideal. That is where we come in. After arrival and before they are sent out in the cold wet conditions they are served hot beverages or milk and warm cinnamon rolls. Someone needs to make those rolls. For years my mother in law was the cinnamon roll maker in the family. She slaved over batch after batch of those puppies. All made from scratch. Several years back, when she took over running the main operation I took over the duties of making the cinnamon rolls and...I cheat. Oh do I cheat. Huge bowls of bread dough were kneaded by my mother in law's hands. Hours of mixing and kneading and rolling and rising and baking. Me? Ok, it's a minor cheat but it saves me a lot of time. I use my KitchenAid mixer. And although this is much more efficient and helps immensely I still feel like a cheater. But I digress.
The last few times I've made cinnamon rolls I've felt they are anything but stellar. I still got compliments but I just felt that they weren't quite up to a level that I deemed a great quality. And the batches that I made within the last few months...flops (which my dad confirmed, and I consider him a good judge in the baked goods department). I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. And really it doesn't matter. I think I have it figured out, but I've also switched up recipes. And I can say at this point I'm so glad that I did. (Over kneading btw, that's what the problem was...oh and adding too much flour.)

Kept my eyes on the prize with this one and wasn't disappointed at all. No frosting, just a gooey caramel like coating on the bottom of the pan. Let's just say after delivering some to my parents (to get my dads approval) and the three of us diving in there's not much left. These are Fran's Cinnamon Rolls and they are so good.
Tomorrow's blog post: How To Dust Off Your Treadmill