Cooking Thursday

I have such a good recipe for you today.  Is it good for you?  No!  But I think it's ok for an occasional treat and it is so very good.

This is a cinnamon bread, that has the gooey taste and texture of cinnamon rolls. It starts with frozen bread dough, so it's easy to make. Try it - you'll like it!

Cinnamon Roll Bread

1 loaf frozen bread dough
6 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
powdered sugar frosting

Place frozen dough in large loaf pan and allow to thaw and rise until dough is just over the edge of the pan.
Melt butter and stir it together with the corn syrup. Place in a large flat bowl or pan.
Stir together the white sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon.
Remove dough from loaf pan and make 5 deep slices, diagonally across the top of the dough, cutting almost but not quite through to the bottom. (It will look like a mess at this point, but don't worry.)
Place dough into the melted butter mix, flip over and let butter get into the slits you cut.
Spread sugar mix over the dough, ensuring the outside and all crevices are coated.
Place parchment paper in loaf pan, making sure the parchment drapes over the edge to allow easy removal of bread. Spray parchment with non-stick spray.
Place dough into parchment lined loaf pan, also to rest for 15 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, checking frequently at the end.
Allow to cool and frost with powdered sugar frosting.

3D printing

You may remember that a few weeks ago our son Andy and his wife Nikki came up from Kentucky so we could do family photos.  While here he snuck a little surprise into our houses.
He has a 3D printer and made these...

You may recognize this character as Shaun the Sheep, a British animated comedy series.  Our granddaughters all loved that show and Andy made this - it's a toilet paper holder.  He had it snuck into their bathrooms.

and we found this little guy in our spare bathroom.  

Aren't they cute?  They gave us all a laugh.

Walking the Grand River Trail

Bob and I have been trying to get out and enjoy some time outside before the weather really changes and we don't want to be out there.
We're really blessed in our area by a trail system that's been set up to run near the Grand River for many miles. It's a continuous trail that's 36 miles long, from Grand Rapids to Grand Haven and is designed for walking and biking, and in some areas kayaking and canoeing.

We've walked several sections of this trail, and went walking on it again recently. We did a section we've walked before, but went a little further this time.

Look at this beautiful walkway. It's paved with bridges over streams and marshy areas.

A pretty stream we crossed.

Walking along the river.  Someone was fishing out there.

Getting closer to the city, we could see this apartment complex that was built to look like a castle.

Unique mushrooms we saw along the way.

A big fallen tree we saw along the way.

There were still a lot of wild flowers out there.

More wildflowers.  

It was a great way to enjoy sunshine and God's beautiful creation!