Grandma's Rolls

One of my favorite childhood memories is going to my Grandma Meikle's house on Sunday afternoons/evenings and eating dinner with my cousins. We did this for many years and every (most?) Sundays my grandma would make her rolls. Oh, those rolls were heavenly! And if I went over early (which I'm guessing I probably begged to do every Sunday) I could help make the rolls. It was so fun, she would take those extra little pieces of dough and put them into the middle of a couple of rolls and they would be the "baby", we all hoped we got one of those.

No one else could duplicate the way Grandma made them (my aunt Jill says she can, but I've never tasted the evidence - maybe she'll have to invite us to dinner ;) ). About three years ago I decided that I would try, I'm a pretty good baker so I thought I might as well try. I did it for Thanksgiving dinner and my grandma was there and gave me some tips. They worked pretty well. Although I didn't give them enough time to raise so they weren't perfect. The next year, at Thanksgiving, I tried again- no luck this time. Then this year for Thanksgiving dinner I tried once again. Oh, they were terrible, hard as a rock! I talked to my mom and grandma (although she claims she can't remember how to make them) and I analyzed the recipe and what I had done wrong. We decided two things 1- the yeast was probably too old 2- if the yeast wasn't old, I probably killed it by using too hot of water. I sent Doug to buy new yeast and the next day (really Thanksgiving) I decided to try again. They worked beautifully! They were about perfect! Woo Hoo! So, I decided that I can't wait a year to make them. My goal is to make them once a month. I made them this last Sunday, success again! Hooray, it wasn't a fluke! Doug and the girls love them so the left-overs only lasted a day but I was thrilled to be able to pass on this lovely tradition to my family.

Oh, I was able to pass on the tradition of letting Maddie help me make them. That was hard for me, I like things to be "perfect" but I let that go and enjoyed making them with Maddie. She helped roll them out, "pinch" them together and dip them in butter. (maybe the dipping them in butter is what makes them so good... Nah, it's probably the love! ;) )