Speaking of Thanksgiving!

I MADE THE ROLLS!!

OK, for those of you who don't know my family personally, we have a family recipe for rolls that gets busted out every holiday season. You know the type of rolls I'm talking about - light and fluffy and totally bad for you and incredibly addicting. They usually get brought out at holidays, as they are good special-occasion rolls, and also because they make a batch of about 8 dozen (they're tiny, but that's still a lot of rolls!!) Holidays are usually the only times of year when we have enough people in one place that a batch of so many rolls will actually all be eaten.

We call them Grandmother's rolls in my family, though it's really my great-grandmother's recipe. We call them Grandmother's rolls, because that's what Mom calls them (her grandmother). My great-grandmother actually called them Icebox Rolls, as the dough freezes very well, so you can keep the dough in the fridge or freezer for a while, to be used when you need it.

Anyhoo, I digress. The important thing is, I successfully made the rolls yesterday! There were phone calls to Mom a couple times in the process (only 2!), but I did actually make the rolls. It feels like a rite of passage into adulthood in the family, or something like that :)

I do have to admit that they weren't perfect. They tasted right, something of which I'm very proud, but they kinda turned into the Monster Rolls Who Ate Manhattan (or the CA High Desert, as the case may be). I probably should have let the dough settle a little more before trying to cut out the rolls. Or maybe I let them rise too long? I'll figure it out. They just kept rising and rising and rising as they baked... They taste fine. They're just a little.... big. :)

So, after all this, and as I'm very proud of my first effort at The Rolls, I'm sharing the recipe with you all. Enjoy.

GRANDMOTHER'S ROLLS

Ingredients

• 2 packages yeast
• 1/2 c. lukewarm water
• 2/3 c. shortening
• 2/3 c. sugar
• flour (sifted) - several cups, as much as needed to produce soft dough
  
• 1 T. salt
• 1 c. mashed potatoes - can use powdered mashed potatoes; if using real potatoes, make sure they are very well mashed
  
• 1 c. milk, scalded
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• butter, melted

Directions

1. Dissolve yeast in water.
2. Add shortening, sugar, salt, and potatoes to milk.
3. When potato-milk mixture is lukewarm, add yeast water. Mix thoroughly.
4. Beat eggs well. Add to mixture.
5. Stir in enough sifted flour to make a soft, spongy dough.
6. Turn dough out onto floured board and knead well.
7. Put in large bowl to allow for rising. Dough will double in size.
   
8. Note: dough can rise in microwave. Set microwave on 10% power and 15 minute intervals, checking regularly. Add 3 cups water in container in microwave (for humidity). Make sure microwave has space for both bowl with dough and water container (particularly important if microwave has a turntable).
   

Baking Options

• Baking that day: Let dough rise, punch down, and roll out dough to desired thinness. Cut into 2-inch rolls (or desired size). Bake 10-12 minutes at 425 degrees F. Dip in melted butter before baking.
• Refrigerating dough: Cover dough with cloth or bowl lid and refrigerate. Pinch off dough as needed and shape. Let rise until doubled. Bake as above.
• Freezing dough: If you have more freezer space than fridge space, the dough also freezes well. Let rise, punch down, roll and cut dough as for fresh baking. Dip in butter. Put on pie tin or baking sheet, and then in a plastic bag. Freeze tin/baking sheet. When preparing dough, pull tray out of freezer with enough time to thaw totally, then bake as above. For example, for brunch, pull out tray from freezer the night before, and bake the morning of the brunch.

Makes a whole lot 2-inch rolls. Mom can make about 8 dozen, and I got about 4 dozen, but mine were probably 2-3 times as big as hers. :)