22 Nov Mari’s mothers homemade roll recipe

November is here and it’s time to welcome family and friends to one (as many would suggest) of the “richest” food and drink holidays of them all – Thanksgiving!  A real favorite for those chefs or just chef “wanna-be’s” in the family and for all of us who simply love all the flavors Thanksgiving food offers.  It is the time to bring on the “feast of feasts” – and one which I personally have always found entertaining and sometimes stressful.

Most of my own family holiday recipes are written down on various scraps of paper.  Many favorites are handwritten (often in cryptic code) in the covers of old cookbooks or on envelopes stuck in those books that have been handled with love over the decades with greasy and floured fingers. But, admittedly, they are the foundation of some of my best prepared meals.  There is one which became a challenge after my mother passed.  It was her signature strawberry, pineapple and pecan jello salad, which she always served in a green casserole dish purchased in the Ozark Mountains.  I don’t recall liking it as a child or adult or even my children liking it, but it was one of those traditional dishes that I attempted to make year after year and served it at every Thanksgiving celebration in her honor.  However, now after several years of complete disasters from the jello never jelling (and honestly how hard can that be) to dropping the dish (not once but twice) before it ever made it to the table, I have decided to let it go in peace and officially cross if off my thanksgiving menu – which I am certain will thrill the rest of my family who either played a role in attempting to make this dish (since at some point I decided it was just me she was cursing from her grave) or simply watched the train wreck from a safe distance with Kleenex in hand.  I admittedly am a slow learner or just plain stubborn.  A normal person, after breaking the green casserole bowl and watching my daughter trying to recover the pieces from the floor to glue it back together, would have thrown in the towel.  But no, we continued year after year until finally last year my daughter made it and the jello actually jelled!

Again, please remember no one in the family even likes the dish, but everyone had a moment of collective relief that maybe we had turned the corner.  And then the curse returned as I was removing it from the refrigerator it dropped mysteriously out of my hands and on to the kitchen floor (which made the dogs happy).   While I feel cursed, my daughter on the other hand believes it’s just her way of keeping her spirit alive (and she did have a wicked sense of humor).  Either way I am done with jello salad, but many other food traditions remain and hopefully will be passed on from generation to generation.

My mother’s crescent rolls recipe (hard to beat when you make them with lots of butter) is handwritten on the inside of the “All About Home Baking” cookbook published in 1933 – leaves out a few steps and is somewhat vague but over the years I have perfected it.  I will warn you upfront that they aren’t the easiest to make and they take patience and time.  But they are definitely worth every caloric bite!  The recipe is included below.

This may be the year for you and your family to start a new tradition as we did a couple of years ago.  Thanksgiving morning, after rolls are started and yeast (and hopefully sun) are rising, we all head out for the local Turkey Trot. It is a fun way to start the day and the only people worried about their time is my daughter and son-in law – the rest of us just trot along at a nice, gentle pace.  Crossing the finish line and making memories with family are the trophies!

So, think about making some new traditions or doing something different this Thanksgiving or the weekend that follows.  Our walking Food and Craft Beer tours may be just the thing to get people out of the house and moving after the big Thursday feast.  Or you can just visit local merchants to help support the community.  Or go down and helping to serve Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless or the poor. It is the time of giving and the time to be thankful for all we have.  I am blessed to have most of my family here for the holidays and to be able to share these blogs with you.  Have a wonderful festive feast!  And share your favorite tradition or dish with us so we can share with others.

Ingredients:

2 packs yeast powder (I prefer standard and not quick rising)

Roughly 4 cups flour

2 Tbs. sugar + ¾ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

¾ cup butter at room temperature

½ cup additional melted butter for later.

Dissolve the yeast cakes/powder in ¼ cup lukewarm water – (I usually do two just in case one doesn’t work so well)

Add to water and yeast 1 tsp salt and 1 – 2 Tbs. sugar

Set aside and let it rise

In separate pan quickly scald milk and remove from heat.  Add ¾ cup butter and ¾ cup sugar and allow it to cool

Beat eggs in small bowl.  Put about 3¾ cups of the flour in large ceramic mixing bowl (not metal) Add in eggs and milk mixture and stir together.  Add yeast mixture and stir in slowly.  Dough should be a little sticky to the touch and usually requires about 1/2 cup more flour but if it becomes too heavy it won’t rise properly.  Clearly, this is the trick of the entire recipe and is why I encourage you to go slow with adding the additional flour.

Cover with towel and allow it to rise in warm sun or a spot without cooling air.  Once it has risen (about 4 hours) divide into four balls and roll out to thin layer.  Brush with melted butter.

Cut dough into triangles and roll up to make crescents.  Let rise again for about 1 hour.  Put in 400 -degree oven for about 7 minutes.  Keep an eye on it since you only want them to brown lightly.  Remove from oven and brush with melted butter and serve!