Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful for all of you who visit here. 

Time is precious and I'm honored that 

you choose to use a little of yours visiting this space. 

May today find you doing something meaningful.

Maybe it's spending time with family,

or serving in your community, 

or having some quiet time alone.
It's all good.

 Wherever we are, whatever we do today, 

let us all pause and give thanks for our many blessings.

"I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content."-Philippians 4:11

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Giving Thanks And Sweet Potato Souffle

"Mimi, if you miss me, you can look at this. That's me in the red nightgown."

Like Batman who always responded quickly to the bat signal, this grandmother headed out as soon as she saw the "signal." It's part of the grandmother gig. As soon as I got home from a wonderful, relaxing knitting retreat with friends (old and new) in the mountains last weekend, I got a call that Little Sister was sick. Not critical like Baby Girl was last fall, thankfully. But sick enough to need extra hands. You always have to remember that when one child is sick, the others still have a regular schedule to keep.

Knitting retreat friends.

Someone got clever with the popcorn at the retreat.

I had not unpacked from my knitting trip yet, so I threw the suitcase and knitting bag back into the car and headed out. And almost a week later, I am back at home. Little Sister is improving. Recovery will take a little longer but it's coming.

Next week, we will be hearing lots about thankfulness. We should be giving thanks each and every day, but we really do talk about it more in November. If you asked me today, these things are top of my list...

• I am thankful for the interstate highway that let me make the trip down quickly and safely.

• I am thankful for doctors and nurses who work odd hours at urgent care offices and answer night phone calls.

• I am thankful for paramedics. (And I'm thankful no one scowled because she was better by the time they arrived.)

• I am thankful for airline personnel who got J-Daddy on a return flight 90 minutes after his plane landed on the other coast.

• I am thankful for the ER staff that finally sorted it all out days later.

• I am thankful for all-night pharmacies where prescriptions can be filled in the wee hours.

• I am thankful for children playing loudly because that means things are better.

• I am thankful that as bad as it sounds, it wasn't quite as scary as it reads here. Although in the moment, it was scary enough.

• I am thankful that Daddy-O can manage without me here when I am needed there.

•  And today I am thankful to be at home. But I am ready to go again if needed. Just put up the "grandmother signal." I'll answer as quick as Batman responds to his signal!

In the midst all of the craziness of the week, Mommy was trying to make lists and get Thanksgiving things planned. She said, "Mom, your sweet potato recipe isn't on the blog. I was at the grocery store and looked for the recipe. Why haven't you posted that one?"

So in the interest of collecting all of my favorite recipes here in one place, I'm sharing our sweet potato recipe. I grew up with sweet potato souffle with marshmallows on top. With raisins in it if we got fancy. Then my mother switched to this recipe and made it for years. When I started making it, I cut down the amount of butter. (She used a half cup of butter in the topping.) And no one has ever complained.

(I will try to pop a recipe photo in here soon.)

Just so you understand, this is not really a souffle. But that's what this recipe was called back then. That's what my mother's recipe said, so I'm leaving the name as is.

SWEET POTATO SOUFFLE

5 medium sweet potatoes, cooked (3 cups mashed)
1/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon flour

Mash sweet potatoes in mixer. (Hand mixer is fine.) Melt butter and add to potatoes. Add sugar and salt. Beat in eggs and add vanilla and flour.
Pour into a greased 8x12-inch casserole. (2-quart) 

Topping:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar

Mix and spread crumbly topping over sweet potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. 
Can be made a day ahead, refrigerated and baked the following day.

You can substitute 2 medium cans of sweet potatoes, drained, in place fresh sweet potatoes. I think it's worth peeling the potatoes, though.

We worked on many art projects while home from school.

It's Time To Start The Starter

I have just enough time to get this started so that we can have bread for Thanksgiving. Yes, the rolls are great, but this is the recipe that everyone looks forward to. I've been using this sourdough recipe for 25 years now. Even if I make rolls, I need to make this also. Someone saw the roll recipe here and said, "But you're bringing the loaves, too, aren't you?" And the granddaughers call this "Mimi bread." How can I not bake it?

It takes 5 days to make your starter. So I mixed it today and can bake by the weekend. On VERY rare occasions I had ended up with bad starter. It happens. And I have not allowed time for a redo this year. Good thing the roll recipe is good, too.

Make a note somewhere of the day you started and the day that you are to add the yeast. My memory is short these days.

I wrote the feeding recipe on the lid of my container to make things easier. (I have been known to buy a large Cool Whip just to get the plastic container. Yep. Threw out the Cool Whip and saved the bowl. But don't tell anybody I did that.)

To make starter:  Double the feeding recipe.  Put in a glass or plastic container, loosely covered.  Let set out for 4 days.  Then add one pack dry yeast.  Let stand another 24 hours.  Use 1 cup for the first batch or store in refrigerator for up to 7 days.

To feed starter:  

Remove 1 cup for baking (or discard) and feed with:

1/3 cup sugar, 

3 tbsp. instant potatoes

1 cup warm water 

Mix well and let stand 8-12 hours. Then refrigerate. Store in plastic container with slits cut in lid. Feed every 3-7 days. (My favorite container for storage is a large Cool Whip container. Cut an "X" in the lid to let the starter breath.) 

SOURDOUGH BREAD

1 cup starter

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup oil

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1-1/2 cups warm water (just beyond lukewarm)

6 or more cups bread flour (use the extra to flour the surface for kneading)

Mix bread ingredients. (I use a wire whisk to mix in the first 3 cups, and then use a spoon for the last three cups.) Place in large bowl sprayed with PAM.  Lightly spray dough with PAM.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Let stand and rise at least 8 hours.

Punch down dough and knead on floured board about 10 times.  Divide into equal 3 parts. (I have started weighing my dough to get the loaves the same size. But I guessed for years and years and that works, too.)

Spray three [8-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch loaf pans with PAM.  Shape dough and place in pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let stand and rise until pans are full, about 5 to 6 hours.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until brown and bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack.

Whole wheat bread variation:  Use 2 cups whole wheat flour and 4 cups bread flour.

This bread freezes beautifully. It makes a great gift. 

I have friends who have used this to make rolls also. And some have done cinnamon bread. One adventurous friend mixes all manner of herbs and cheeses into hers for a wide assortment of breads. I need to ask her one more time how she does that and if I can share her tricks.

And just so you know, this is not true sour dough. I've done that, too. True sour dough would not include instant potato flakes. But this is the recipe we like best. And it's nearly foolproof. Barely requires kneading. It's a good beginner recipe if you haven't tried yeast breads.

So what IS the hardest part? Making all of the wait times fit into your schedule. Once the starter is going, I often will mix the bread right at bedtime and let it rise overnight. Then in the morning it's ready to punch down, knead and put into pans for the second rising. I'll do that soon after I get up and it will be ready to bake around lunch time.

And I've used all sorts of other baking schedules. You'll have to figure out how to make it work in your house. But do think about it before you get started. There have been times when I set my alarm for 4:00 AM because that's when the bread was ready to go into the oven. That was not my best planning. But the bread was perfect. You'll figure it out.

So How Old Am I?

The most fun birthday card from a dear knitting friend

Today is my birthday. 67 years old. That's a long time. I thought it would be fun to see what was invented, discovered and developed AFTER I was born.

There were the obvious computer-y things like social media, all the digital stuff, touch screens and iAnything. And then there were the things, like 8-track tapes, VHS players, Atari game systems, and Instamatic cameras, that have already come and gone.

I found some surprises. I thought air conditioning came along after me. It was not a standard for buildings where I grew up until after I was in college, but it was invented and was in use before I was born. I guessed that paper towels hit the market after me—but no, they were an item earlier than 1949, as were asphalt and styrofoam.

No, I am not older than dinosaurs or steam engines even though the granddaughters think I came over with the Pilgrims. They also think Daddy-O is 28. They don't have a strong grasp of age yet.

So what has happened in my 67 years? Here is a list of things that have come along after I was born. Most of them feel like they've been around forever.

I AM OLDER THAN...

     

1.      Color television

2.      Remote control TV

3.      Flat screen TV/digital TV

4.      DVRs

5.      Push button telephones

6.      Portable telephones

7.      Cell phones/Smart phones

8.      Personal computers—laptop & desktop

9.      Handheld calculators

10.  Velcro

11.   Post-It notes

12.  Super glue

13.  Ziploc bags

14.  TV dinners

15.  Instant grits & oatmeal

16.  Ketchup packets

17.  ICEEs/Slurpies

18.  Frosted Flakes & Sugar Smacks

19.  Jif peanut butter, Jiffy Pop, & Cheese Whiz

20.  Cake mix

21.  Microwave ovens (for home use)

22.  Ebooks/Kindles

23.  GPS guidance systems

24.  Drive-thru fast food windows

25. Online shopping

26.  ATMs

27.  Banking drive-up windows

28.  Internet

29.  WiFi

30.  Text messages

31.  Email

32.  Google

33.  Answering machines

34.  Spandex

35.  Panty hose

36.  Corning Ware

37.  Tupperware

38.  Non-stick cookware 

39.  CDs/DVDs

40.  Plastic bags

41.  Bubble wrap

42.  Con-Tact paper

43.   Bar codes

44.  AA batteries

45.  Smoke detectors

46.  Cordless power tools

47.  Polar fleece

48.  MasterCard & VISA

49.  Radial tires

50.  State of Alaska

51.  State of Hawaii

52.  Power steering

53.  Automatic sliding doors

54.  Sharpie pens & Magic Markers

55.  Diet soda

56.  Barbie dolls

57.  Mr. Potato Head

58.  Hula hoops

59.  Silly putty

60.  Play Doh

61.  Commercial jet liners

62.  Weather satellites

63.  Hydrogen bomb

64.  The “I Love Lucy” television show

65.   Mad magazine

66.  James Bond  (the novels & the movies)

67.  Rock ‘n Roll

I have always thought that if I were six weeks younger, I would sound much younger. Being born "in the 40s" just sounds older to me than being a child of the "50s." If you are much younger than me, you're thinking, "That ALL sounds old!" You are right. We all are.

When You Need Cookies Fast

Glorified Grahams

This has been one busy week. I drove into my driveway late yesterday. And I'm headed out again today. This time to a knitting retreat in the mountains. Looks like the temperatures will be much cooler than anything we've seen so far this fall. Which means I need to think about packing more carefully than my usual throw-a-few-things-in-a-bag approach. This is the first time I've had to think about jackets and socks and sweaters in a very long time.

My information also said to bring something for the snack table. Snacks are a big deal at knitting retreats. Snack foods, coffee, knitting and friends. Maybe not in that order, but that's what knitting retreats are about.

It just isn't in my soul to take store bought cookies to a retreat, but goodness I didn't have time to bake. And then I remembered this recipe. It is as old as the hills. I found it years ago in my 1971 Better Homes & Garden New Cookbook in the section marked "Easy Cookies."

Man, I don't know how many times this recipe has saved the day for us. Mommy who is our family's expert baker made a cake for a church function a few weeks ago and the cake was a "throw away" (her words.) So she quickly whipped up a batch of these and sent them instead. Every time we've every taken these, someone wants the recipe. Many of you may already have it. But if you don't, here you go.

 
I usually have the four ingredients on hand. It only takes minutes to put together. The note in my own cookbook says, "This is my go-to recipe when I need just one more thing to serve."

I feel better about my snack contribution now.

GLORIFIED GRAHAMS

24 graham cracker squares, divided into "sticks"(that's about two packs from the box)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans

Line a 15-1/2x 10-1/2x1-inch pan with aluminum foil. Then line up the the graham crackers on the bottom of the pan. Mix butter and brown sugar. Spoon over graham crackers and spread to cover if necessary. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. Let cool. Break apart.

I lift the foil from the pan to easily remove cookies. One pan of these fills an 8-inch square foil pan if you are taking them somewhere.

So Who Is Lillian Hellman And Did She Make This Roast?

Lillian Hellman's Pot Roast

Since last year when Mommy and her family moved 11 hours closer to us, I have spent much time driving up and down a very busy interstate highway when I go to visit and babysit. Three hours down there. Three hours back. (In fact, I'm sitting at their kitchen table right this minute.) Satellite radio is wonderful for long trips because I don't lose radio stations as I travel.

But in the last several months, I added audio books to my listening. Pride And Prejudice was terrific entertainment for a couple of trips. It was about 13 hours of listening. And it had me laughing from the first few sentences. People haven't changed much over the years. I have seen the movie more than once, but I had never read the book. Listening to it was great fun.

I listened to The Martian (11 hours.) I still haven't seen the award winning movie but can't imagine it's better than the book. This one kept me....well, I can't say "on the edge of my seat" because I was driving. But you get the idea. It was a thriller. I also listen to non-fiction books and feel more informed. I am listening to Just Mercy right now.

But when I had a chance to get a free book several weeks ago, I picked Nora Ephron's Heartburn because, (#1) it was much shorter than the others—under 6 hours, and (#2) Meryl Streep was the reader. Meryl Streep rode in the car with me for hours! If you don't know Nora Ephron from her books, you'll know some of her movies—Sleepless In Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, and her last film, Julie & Julia.

While the book Heartburn is very 1980s, it was pleasant entertainment for one trip down and back. What I had not expected when I chose it, was that it was filled with recipes. As Meryl Streep read the book and read the recipes, I kept thinking, "That sounds good. I would make that." But this was an AUDIO book. I couldn't go back and look at the recipe. And I was driving. I couldn't jot them down as I listened.

The very last recipe in the book did sound good and easy. It was nearly easy enough to remember, but I wasn't sure about the herbs. Thanks to the powers of Google, I found the recipe easily. One blogger said this recipe was "just this side of white trash." I'm guessing she said that because of use of condensed soup and dry onion soup mix. I think I feel insulted. Those ingredients are still in use where I live. (Although people do use them less and less now.)

Well, I had to try this recipe. And you know I often tinker with a recipe when I use it. I could not find a 4-lb roast at my store, so I bought the biggest chuck roast they had. It was 3 pounds, so I reduced the amount of liquid a little. My changes are in italics. And years ago I found that browning a roast before cooking improved the color and the flavor. But if I were running short on time, I still might skip that and just put everything in the pot, like the recipe says.

So, who was Lillian Hellman? And did she really make this pot roast? She was a dramatist and screenwriter at a time when "writers were celebrities and their recklessness was admirable." You can google her name and read more if you're interested. And did she really make this roast—who knows? All I can tell you is that it's good.

LILLIAN HELLMAN'S POT ROAST (from the book Heartburn)

4-lb beef roast, the more expensive the better (I used a 3-lb chuck roast)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped (I used 1-1/2 tsp jarred minced garlic)
2 cups red wine (I used one soup can wine)
2 cups water (I used one soup can water)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil

Put ingredients in a large good pot and cover. Bake at 350 for 3-1/2 hours until tender. Remove bay leaf before serving.

How I cooked it:  Now, I browned the meat first in a heavy Dutch oven. I tossed the onion in on top of the roast, then mixed soups, wine, water and herbs and poured over all. I put the lid on the Dutch oven and baked it. I turned the roast over about halfway through the cooking time.

Daddy-O, who loved the roast, asked if I could have used the slow cooker. When you use a slow cooker, the big difference is that the liquids aren't reduced. See the photo above with the roast still in the pot? You can see that the soup/water/wine mix has cooked down into a thick rich gravy. I don't think the end result would be the same if you go the crockpot route. Probably still good, but not the same.

If you have tender ears, be forewarned that The Martian uses words that are not in my own vocabulary. Kind of surprised me. But if I had been stranded alone on Mars, I might have needed some of those words.

Light And Luscious Cake

Pumpkin Angel Food Cake

For years I have had a standing lunch date on Wednesdays with cousins who are among my favorite people on earth. We skip nearly as many Wednesdays as we meet because of schedule conflicts. These are busy people! But when we have Wednesdays without other obligations, we will spend an hour over a Chick Fil A lunch catching up on family news.

This week when I met them, I had a treat for Jack. I had baked this angel food cake just for him. Many years ago, Jack had a major heart attack. When he came home from the hospital, he came with the instructions from the doctor to "follow a low-fat diet." Jack is one of four people in this country who has followed those instructions to the letter for years and years. (You know I totally made up the "one of four people" thing. There might be seven or eight.) He has been committed to this in a way most people are not.

Most other people (a) try hard and start backsliding after a few months, (b) do it halfheartedly, or (c) never try because they don't want to give up food they like. But I've watched Jack and Audrey change how they shop, how they cook, and how they eat. And it was a good decision. Jack is 82 now. It's been about 25 years since that frightening heart attack.

But a "legal" treat for him has always been angel food cake. So when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it for him. Because they are family, I cut out a slice before I took the cake to him. I wanted to make sure it really did taste as good as the pictures looked. And I needed to make photos for this post. Let me say this is a first for me—delivering a cake with a slice missing!

Some things you need to know about angel food cake...

• Mix your cake mix in a large glass or metal bowl—not plastic. (Don't forget you can use the bowl from your stand mixer. It's big.) Plastic will retain a film of grease or oil from your last recipe no matter how well you wash it. I just used my hand mixer to mix up the angel food cake mix.

• Use an ungreased cake pan because the cake rises by "crawling" up the sides of the pan. 

• I like to use an angel food tube cake pan—the kind that has a removable bottom. You'll need to use a knife to go around the sides of the pan and around the tube to be able to turn it out. Then run the knife between the cake and the bottom of the pan. My pan is ancient, but you can still buy a tube pan with the removable bottom. They cost anywhere from $12-20 and should be fairly easy to find.

• You can bake angel food cake in other pans  Read the cake mix box. It gives baking times for other pan shapes. I've made the Mock Macaroon Cake (angel food + pineapple + coconut) in a 9x13-inch baking dish and baked it for 25-30 minutes.

• Fold in 1/4 of cake batter into the pumpkin first. That lightens the heavy pumpkin, making it easier to fold in the remaining batter.

• Use a serrated knife, cutting with a sawing motion, to cut angel food cake. A regular knife will just smash it.

Final thoughts? This cake was delicious. I got an excited email from Audrey late the night I took the cake to them. She said, "I wasn't expecting to like it. But it is REALLY REALLY good!" It's a beautiful color. And it gives you a light dessert option for a season that focuses on rich, heavy foods. Remember, we aim for balance.

PUMPKIN ANGEL FOOD CAKE

1 box angel food cake mix
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, vanilla and spices. Mix thoroughly.  In another large mixing bowl (glass or metal) mix the angel food cake according to directions on box.

Carefully fold in 1/4 of the cake batter into pumpkin. (This lightens the heavy pumpkin, making it easier to blend.) Then gently fold in the rest of the batter. Pour into ungreased 10-inch angel food cake pan.

Place in oven on lowest rack possible (Remove the other rack.) Bake for 38-45 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and springs back when touched. Immediately invert cake pan on a wire rack or place upside down on top of a glass soda bottle.

Cool for 1-2 hours, until completely cool. Run knife around sides of cake pan and around the center tube, then turn out. If you have a pan with a removable bottom, run knife between cake and pan bottom. Remove to a serving plate.



In my typical fashion, I made this when I was in a hurry and didn't read the recipe thoroughly until I wrote it up here. Then realized I didn't exactly follow the directions. I did fold some cake batter into the pumpkin (which I had mixed with spices in a small bowl) and then folded the pumpkin into the big bowl of batter. Thinking about it now, I think it would be easier to do it properly. But it still worked when I did it backwards.

Homemade Dinner Rolls - Take #2

Homemade Dinner Rolls

I have made yeast breads for years and years, but I had never made rolls. And all of a sudden I had an urge to make them. Like right now. Maybe because Thanksgiving is racing toward us? I wanted to master homemade rolls. I found the recipe for The Best Homemade Dinner Rolls Ever! online. She said she worked for years to perfect her recipe. Sounded like a good recipe to start with.

So last week while I was Mommy's house, we mixed up these rolls. (Take #1) They were not what I was hoping for. Not bad, but I knew I could do better. I needed to add a considerable amount of extra flour to get the dough to pull away from the bowl at all. And that much extra flour made for a dry roll, although they were beautiful. I also knew this would be easier in my own kitchen. I know how my oven works. (Mine browns faster in the front.) Mommy's oven bakes with gas which is a little different.

THEN I remembered Jessica having similar trouble with the cinnamon rolls we like so much. We finally figured out it was the flour that we were using. Where we live, the common flour brands are White Lily and Martha White. Southern flours perfect for making biscuits. But for yeast rolls, King Arthur (which is now readily available in our stores) is infinitely better. It has to do with the protein content of the different flours. If you live up north, I'm sure there are other brands that work, but I only know about King Arthur.

When I was in college (home economics major here) I remember a professor saying that cooking was all chemistry and physics. I think the chemistry and physics of the different flours do make the difference here. I don't know where the creator of the original recipe lives, but I'm guessing it's not where White Lily flour dominates the store shelves.

You should take the time to look at her recipe and watch her video if you are new to yeast dough and read all of the questions & answers about the recipe. She has great tips there.

She makes 24 rolls. I cut the amount in half here. If you have never made breads before, it's easier to work with a smaller amount. And if you don't need two dozen rolls, make this smaller batch. The hands-on time is not that huge, but I allowed a morning for the entire process. (Takes about 3-1/2 hours, beginning to end.) Daddy-O got hot rolls for lunch!

Here are a few photos I made along the way that might be helpful:

Top left:  The dough should be sticky to the touch after adding the last of the flour.
Top right:  Dough put into large greased bowl.
Bottom left:  Dough after rising 90 minutes.
Bottom right:  Push into the dough and when it's ready, it will leave a dent and not spring back.

Top left:  Shape dough into an even circle and cut into quarters.
Top right:  Divide each quarter of dough into even thirds.
Bottom left:  Pull edges of dough to the bottom, leaving the top smooth.
Bottom right:  Pinch edges together and place in pan, smooth side up.

Shaped and on the pan

Second rising, ready to bake

These are tremendously better than my first attempt...which weren't bad. These were wonderful. I give credit to the improvement to changing flours. Yes, it matters that much. I could feel the difference in the dough. And next time, I'm switching to a dark baking sheet so that the bottoms cook more. Then I think I'll have it!

Yum...

If you've ever wanted to make yeast rolls, just do it. This is the easiest yeast dough recipe I have ever made. And you've got time to practice before Thanksgiving. If you have a crowd coming, go back to the original recipe that makes two dozen rolls.

HOMEMADE DINNER ROLLS

1 cup warm milk
1 tablespoon instant dry yeast (I used a jar of Fleishmann's Bread Machine Instant Yeast)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 large egg
3 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon melted butter, for brushing tops

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm milk, yeast, sugar, salt, butter and egg.

Add in 2-1/2 cups flour. Using dough hook, turn the mixer on to a low speed (don't want to throw flour all over the kitchen!) Once the flour starts to mix into the dought, increase the speed to medium. Slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. The dough should be slightly sticky and soft.

Transfer dough to a lightly greased mixing bowl. Turn dough in bowl so that the oiled side is up. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 90 minutes.

Lightly grease baking sheet. (Use a quarter sheet pan, about 9x13 inches.) Punch down the dough, turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Form into 12 rolls. (Divide dough in half. Divide each half in half again. Then make three rolls from each of those pieces.) Place rolls, smooth side up, on greased baking sheet in rows—three across, four down. Cover and let rise 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (Turn on the oven during the last 10 minutes of rising time.) Bake the rolls for 12 to 14 minutes, until lightly browned.

Remove from oven and brush tops with melted butter. Serve warm. Or, to cool, let them rest on the pan for 15 minutes, then move to wire rack and cool completely. After they are completely cook, store in a plastic bag.

It's a Daddy-O approved recipe!

LAST WORDS...

• Yeast dough is not fragile. Don't be afraid to handle it. And if the first batch isn't perfect, don't be afraid to try again.

• I took the egg out of the refrigerator when I took the butter out to soften it. Then it wasn't so cold when I used it.

• To warm milk, put in microwave for 30 seconds, stir, microwave another 30 seconds. Should feel as warm as baby bath water.

• Measure all the dry ingredients before you start. It's just easier that way.

• Take time to smooth the rolls when shaping to make prettier rolls.

• I used a quarter sheet pan. If you don't have one, use a 9x13-inch baking dish.

• Keep your jar of yeast in refrigerator after opening.

• If you don't have a mixer with a dough hook, you can mix this by hand and knead it some. Start with a spoon until it's too stiff to stir, then finish with your hands.

• Next time I'll use a dark baking sheet so that the bottoms brown a little. This was a new shiny baking sheet. There is a difference between dark and shiny pans. This time I turned the cooled rolls (after we ate three) over and put them under the broiler for just a bit. Cooking is about making adjustments when you need to. 

• Find a good spot for letting the dough rise. I put my bowl on top of our cold toaster oven. That puts the dough close to the under-cabinet lights which give off a little heat. You can turn your oven on low for 3 minutes, then turn it off and place your bowl in the oven. If you need to know more, look at these tips on best places to let bread rise.

• Make a note of how long the rolls cook in your oven. Mine took 14-15 minutes.

• Understand that even though this is easy, you might need a couple of times before you get it just right. It has to do with understanding your oven, and learning which pan you like best, etc. Give yourself permission to mess up—but I'm betting you won't!