On A Roll - Friendsgiving

Tuesday night we had a pre-Thanksgiving Friendsgiving, and for me Thanksgiving is all about the sides.  It's about the roasted vegetables, the stuffing, the rolls.  Oh, yeah, the rolls.  My dad is famous for these rolls, they only come out 3 times a year because they're kind of labor intensive (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) but everyone always stuffs themselves with them whenever they make their rare appearance.



Since my dad is across the country, I decided to try my hand at these rolls...such pressure! Not only was I raving about them to friends before attempting myself, but I had a lot to live up to in order to protect the family name.  I'm kidding, but not really.  These rolls are famous in my circle. 

So, after an emailed recipe and multiple phone calls discussing logistics, I was off.




1. Proof the yeast! This step included 3 calls to my dad..."Do I need to proof the yeast," "how do I know if my water is hot enough," "is the sugar in the proofing counted in the total sugar for the recipe," "now it's all foamy, what do I do, just dump it in?"

2. Mix ingredients...text to dad, "it says 5 1/2 to 6 cups flour, the 6 is circled but I think 5 1/2 looks like the right consistency, do I stop now?"

3. Turn out into greased bowl, form a ball.  Text to dad, "is it supposed to be a plastic bowl or glass bowl? I have both and remember you prefer one over the other"

4. Put it in refrigerator overnight and hope it rises...text to dad, "Now cross your fingers, I hope it rises."

5. Text to dad...it rose!

6. Keep your house very warm.  Pull dough into clementine sized balls and put on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Then knead each ball into a smooth roll. Sit in warm area for at least 2 hours.  Dough will rise....text to dad, "What size? Where do I put them to rise? How long? I don't think they're rising.  Do you think they look like they're rising?  Mine aren't as smooth as yours are, does that matter?"

7.  Bake until nice golden brown on top...text to dad - "you win some, you lose some." "They came out perfectly but my disposable cookie sheet burned bottoms :(" "Picking off bottom now"

 

8.  Laugh about the snaffu, and enjoy bottomless rolls with friends!  They were still a big hit, picked off bottom and all.