Miller's Impish Mischiefs

As you can see Jacob is extremely excited to be eight! He had two great days celebrating his special day. We went to an indoor playground (it still isn't warm enough to be outside for very long)on Saturday and we had cake and ice cream yesterday. That dragon on his cake was drawn by the birthday boy himself. I was impressed. Happy Birthday to Jacob!!!

For as long as I can remember my mother has made these delicious rolls for Easter morning breakfast. They go great with hard-boiled eggs and freeze well so you can make them in advance. The orange glaze just makes these melt in your mouth. They were also featured in the April Friend. So if you're looking for a good Easter treat, here is the recipe for Bunny Buns, mine are rising as I type this and I can't wait to steal one of their little tails off and eat it. Happy Easter!

(We don't put faces on ours and the tails are not fluffy like the picture but it'll give you a general idea of what they look like.)
Bunny Buns
1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup milk, warmed not quite to boiling

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons grated orange peel

5 1/2 cups flour, sifted

Glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup hot orange juice, 1 teaspoon butter

1. Wash hands with soap and water.

2. Sprinkle yeast in the warm water and set aside.

3. In another bowl, blend milk, sugar, shortening, and salt. Cool until lukewarm, then add eggs, water with yeast, orange juice, and orange peel.

4. Stir in flour a few cups at a time to make a soft dough. Let stand for 10 minutes.

5. Knead dough 5–10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic. Place it in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover bowl with a clean towel and put it in a warm place. Let dough rise for 2 hours, or until double in size. Punch dough down and let stand for 10 minutes.

6. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough into strips 1/2 inch wide and 14 inches long. Roll between hands into rounded snake shapes. Cut one strip into pieces 1/2 inch long, and roll into balls.

7. Place one long piece of dough on a greased cookie sheet. Place one end of the strip over the other to make a loop; bring the end that is underneath up and cross it over the other end. Place a ball of dough on top of the bottom loop.

8. Cover bunnies and let rise in a warm place for 45–60 minutes, until nearly double in size. Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for 12–15 minutes.

9. For the glaze, stir powdered sugar, orange juice, and butter together. Frost bunnies with the glaze while they are still warm.

It's been awhile, I know but well, we've just been reveling in the fact that we are all healthy (it's been a long time)and enjoying the slightly warmer weather (although I can't say it's officially spring yet.)

I thought I would share one of our favorite new kids' books. It's called "Do Unto Otters" by Laurie Keller. A rabbit comes home to his tree to find out that Otters have moved to the river next door and he is a little concerned that they won't like each other. The wise owl tells him to "Do unto otters as you would have otters do unto you." The remainder of the book goes through the rabbit explaining how he'd like otters to treat him in a very humorous but very effective way. My kids love love love it. I am sure I read it about 3 times a week at minimum. A fantastic way to introduce manners and being considerate to others. Apparently you can watch and listen to someone read the book on YouTube and I also found out they are making a movie based on the book.
Enjoy!