Big Cooking Weekend and Saffron Buns...

So my date with my son's kitchen went really well.  I think I would like to see it again :)

My plan to make Honey Mustard Pork Loins in the crock pot, got a little deterred by the fact that my son did not get the beef stew he made from the package I got him, out of the crock pot.  AND also by the fact that his roommate decided to thaw out 2 huge salmon fillets.

So the red potatoes and broccoli I got to go with the pork loins, went with the salmon and the Friday dinner was delicious!  The boys cooked the salmon on the bbq, one was marinated in a teriyaki sauce topped with fresh pineapple (from our Christmas dinner centerpiece), one topped with mayonnaise, onion and s&p, and another piece topped with lemon, fresh chunks of garlic and lemon pepper.  They all three were delicious but the lighting was not so good when I took this pic after we had taken big bites out.  This is really a horrible representation of the  wonderfully delicious, wild, Oregon coast caught salmon...

  

On Saturday morning, it was Santa Lucia Day!  And I got around to making the sweet saffron buns that a very traditional in Sweden in celebration of this day.  I got several recipes, but most were in European measurements.  I found one from Better Homes and Gardens, December 1963.  I will post it at the bottom.

I am not very good with yeastie-beasties, and I tend to mix them in too hot of water or too cold of a bowl, as they never seem to rise like I think they should.  I believe baking, like fishing, is a God given talent... I didn't get much of either of those talents.  They didn't rise much in the bowl the first time around, and after I made the buns I set them out to rise a second time.  They didn't do much until I managed to get them sitting in the sunshine.  They sure were cute though...

Finally, they baked up nice and golden.  And were of a dense flaky texture, the same as you might find in a scone.  They were very yummy.

I worked hard at setting up the just the right look for the picture.  I got a wonderful square plate, material and red ribbon.  The light coming in the windows from the dining room were just as I had hoped.

Although I took about a dozen pics, this is one is my very favorites...

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I already see all sorts of things I would do a little differently with the photo, so I am looking forward to the free online food photography class I found.  I think it will begin in January some time.

:)