There's a New Cinnamon Roll Maker in the Family

Cinnamon rolls are a big deal on my husband's side of the family. My hisband's grandmother started the tradition many, many years ago - coming up with a bread and roll recipe that's been passed down for decades. 

My father-in-law became the hot roll and cinnamon roll maker in the family, continuing to do so for many years before his health declined at the very end of his life. A few have strived to follow in his steps, and come pretty close, but I'm not sure it will ever be a perfect match. I'm certain that his elongated hot roll shape will never be completely replicated. They were special.

Our oldest son, Zachary is probably the youngest and only grandchild (that I know of, anyway) who has even attempted the cinnamon roll feat. His grandmother helped instruct him on the bread, then his Uncle Ken helped him learn to roll them up nice and tight. 

His first batch was wonderful!!! His second ones were good, too, but we had a pan/fire/smoke/oven/liquid/smoke detector malfunction (you had to be there, but most likely you were in bed when the catastrophe happened. Zachary was in bed, too. I was in charge of baking the cinnamon rolls, but the catastrophe wasn't totally my fault. I blame Zachary for part of it. Moms can do that, right??! :) )so they weren't quite as good!  He fed them to his Senior classmates this morning, and they didn't seem to think there was anything "smoky" about them, so that's good!