Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

So glad to see that others recognize that cooking has just about vanished in this generation of my friends. They work, they have kids, but they do not have dinners together at the table every night. I am 37ish and the two of us sit down almost every night and eat together. We cook together sometimes too! It is the only time we spend during the day together and I cherish the one thing that brings us together at the end of the day- food and cooking. I ask my significant other, "How can my friends not cook? What are their families doing for dinner?" I love recipes that my mom gives me that spark memories of our childhood dinners. Keep cooking for cohesion I say.

I have to admit.......I tried Ree's Cinnamon Rolls. Something went wrong. They did not rise correctly. The yeast was new and the temp of the yeast mixture wasn't too hot. I wonder if my kitchen was too cold. I was so excited to be making them and I am not over the failure yet. I still ate them and yes, divine came to mind. I will be giving them another try hopefully before the holidays. I am challenged now.....I'm on a mission!
I had the dough covered the whole time it rose. Not sure what happened, but upward and onward! I WILL try again.
Thanks for all of your comments and helpful hints.

Jerzee tomato,
Do you adjust ingredients to accomodate the extra "liquid" in the recipe?

I haven't experimented with using alcohol as flavorings in baked goods before and I am wondering if the texture changes with the increased amount of liquid (alcohol)?

I would love any other suggestions for using liquors. About how much per recipe do you add....a splash....a teaspoon?

Thank you, Cheyanne. What brand is good to use of both Pastry flour and ww pastry flour?

Great, JerzeeTomato! Thanks. I did go buy bread flour last night (preparing for next weeks cinnamon roll adventure).

I will probably try Ree's recipe with the all-purpose, though, just because that's how it's written. What a riot her site is......I laughed at the blog she wrote about the rolls. The things she wrote most likely to happen if you make the cinnamon rolls.... that just cracked me up!

The brown sugar was a choice last night also...I bought light brown.
Thanks for the input.

Thank you all so much! This is so much fun. I finally jumped into the real world of message boards and find that it's so enlightening. It makes me want to cook again and experiment with food. I love to cook and got a giggle from your replies....I will try all suggestions and see where I get.
Before I tried message boards, I always had questions, but didn't know where to find the answers because my friends don't cook and those that DO cook, don't go beyond a box or take out. None of the people I know cook anymore. It amazes me. Thanks again for your time everyone.
I won't be able to try any of these recipes until after next week, but I will post about my experience....