I'm Down To Just Rolls

For many years Dennis and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for my extended family. The house was full of happy children and adults. We ate all the traditional dishes, from appetizers to pie. We played games, notably “Honky Touch,” an outdoor running game. Later everybody ate more food.

Those years are over now. Two of the children live far away and the third is going to his mother-in-law’s house for this holiday. My brother and his wife host her extended family. It’s just as well, for I no longer have the stamina to put on a big dinner.

Now only one Thanksgiving tradition remains. I make the rolls I’ve been making since I was in my twenties, although I have modified the recipe over time. I made them today to take to our friends’ house, where we will share their Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving Dinner Rolls

½ cup lukewarm water

2 tablespoons yeast

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1½  cups lukewarm buttermilk

8 tablespoons soft butter

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup sugar

4 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups unbleached flour

Put ½ teaspoon sugar n a large mixing bowl and pour in the lukewarm water. Sprinkle the yeast on the water. Go away and eat breakfast while the yeast proofs. When you come back the yeast will be bubbly.

Add the remaining ingredients except for the flour and mis well. Then begin adding flour, starting with the whole wheat, one cup at a time and mixing after each addition. Today, when the air in the house is dry, I used only 2½  cups of unbleached flour.

Dump the mixture onto a floured pastry cloth and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Put the dough into a large, oiled bowl, cover with a heavy cloth and go away. The dough will need to rise until it is double in size. You have time to wash some dishes, read the paper, or take a short nap.

When the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a floured cloth and knead it a few times. Working with part of the dough (put the remainder back in the rising bowl and cover it with a cloth so it doesn’t dry out) form the rolls.

This is where the fun begins. You can make cloverleaf rolls, which are three little balls of dough in a buttered muffin cup…

Or crescent rolls….

Use plenty of butter. After all, this holiday comes only once a year. I use a bench scraper to cut the circles into triangles.

I couldn’t figure out how to form a crescent roll and take a photo at the same time, but stating at the wide side I stretch and roll the triangle. Be sure to tuck the tail of the triangle scurely under the roll.

When I’m  down to the last chunk of dough I make cinnamon rolls. Roll the dough into a long rectangle, butter it liberally (remember, it’s only once a year), sprinkle it with brown sugar, cinnamon, and some raisins that you’ve soaked in hot water for a few minutes. Then, starting at a long edge, roll the dough into a coil.

Cut the log into relatively even pieces and put them in a buttered pan. No matter which form you choose to make, cover the rolls with a cloth while they rise again.

After the rolls have risen for about 45 minutes, bake them in a 375º oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

See how the crescent rolls have expanded?

And the cinnamon rolls do the same. After they have cooled I'll drizzle them with a little powdered sugar frosting.

Sorry I didn’t photograph the cloverleaf rolls. I was pooped out and ready for a nap. Yep, I'm down to just rolls, and grateful that I don't have to roast a turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope we all have many reasons to give thanks tomorrow.

Copyright 2013 by Shirley Domer