12 Projects of Christmas: Holiday Rolls

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite parts of the holidays is the food.  Not just the yummy desserts (well hello there, Christmas cookies...) but all the food in general: mashed potatoes, Mom's green bean casserole, turkeys and hams, all of it!  My favorites are usually the ones high in carbs--which is definitely no bueno for my waistline.  But here's my excuse:  if it's only one small period each year, then it's okay to indulge a little, right?  :)

Today's project is one of my favorite parts of the meal--the rolls!  I know, I know...with all the other delicious food, why in the world do I go for the rolls?  Maybe it's the carbs, or the fact, that it's a total comfort food for me, or maybe it's just because I can't resist a warm roll or piece of bread straight out of the oven.  But either way, I look forward to a warm gooey piece at the beginning of each meal.  So here's one of my favorite recipes.  I do mine in the breadmaker because I have no patience for the kneading and rising, but this can be done the traditional way, too.

First, the ingredients:

1 1/4c of milk
1/2c sugar
1 1/2tsp of salt
4Tbs butter
1/4c warm water
4 1/2c bread flour
1 packet (or 2 1/4tsp) active dry yeast
1 egg (not shown)

Whether you're doing this in a breadmaker or not, the first step is to make our warm milk mixture.  Over medium heat, warm your milk until it gets a skin on the top that wrinkles when you wiggle the pan.  Don't boil the milk, though!!  Add the butter, sugar, and salt, turn off the heat, and stir until it's all dissolved.

Set it aside until it's cooled to lukewarm.
Breadmaker: Put the warm water and lukewarm milk mixture in the bottom of your breadmaker inner chamber, then add all of the flour, and finally put the yeast on top.  Set your breadmaker to the DOUGH setting (you don't want to bake it in the breadmaker, just let it mix, knead, and rise in there)

Traditional: Combine lukewarm milk mix and warm water in a large mixing bowl and stir in about 4 cups of the flour to begin your dough.  Put the remaining flour on the board and knead it into the dough.  You should knead until the dough looks like satin--if it's a little too sticky, you can knead more flour into the dough about 1Tbl at a time, but don't add too much flour or your dough will break and not stick to itself.  When it's ready, put back in the mixing bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place (I like to use the stovetop oven vent while it preheats) until it doubles--usually 45-50 minutes.

Turn out onto floured countertop.  If you are doing this in a breadmaker, do not punch the dough down.  If you are doing it traditionally, punch the dough down slightly, but not so that it's flat.

One recipe will make about 20 rolls, so divide your dough into 20 pieces.  I do this by cutting the main dough ball in half, then halving each section until I have 20 equal-sized pieces.

Take each piece and roll until each one is about a 7 inch snake.  Take each snake and tie a knot in the middle of the dough, then fold the extra ends over itself and tie in a second not.  Place each dough knot in a lightly greased muffin tin cup.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350*, then brush the top of each with an eggwash (1 egg and about 2Tbls of water whisked together) and bake for another 10-12 minutes.  The tops should be shiny, golden yellow/brown.

These rolls are slightly sweet and very dense, but so delicious!  They go great with my homemade apple butter :)  Hope these bring a new flavor to your holiday meals and that your family enjoys them (carb-load and all! haha)

Happy holidays!
xoxo, Melissa

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Happy Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for this year, and while I know I should sit and look at all of wonderful things God has blessed me with every day, I admit that I pay more attention to it as Thanksgiving approaches.

Here's my 2011 list of what I'm thankful for:
-Of course, having a brand new husband and being able to spend the rest of my life with my best friend by my side
-A nephew who may not have been expected, but who is probably one of the most wonderful blessings for our family this year
-My family, who has been supremely supportive in during my not-so-amazing job at the beginning of this year, not to mention everything else they have done for/with me including giving us an amazing wedding and honeymoon
-A wonderful new family of in-laws who are so loving and who considered me part of the family a long time ago
-A job that gives me some semblance of hope in the educational system, in our future children, and in getting support from the parents of my students
-The new financial opportunities that have come my way through being an Avon representative
-Reconnecting with old friends and staying in touch no matter the distance between us
-My husband finally being able to sign his contract with the Army and having some idea of where our future in the Army is starting out

I think I'm going to make it a goal for 2012 to keep track of my daily blessings in my paper journal (Yes, I still have a paper journal on top of my blog!  In fact, I've kept a paper journal since roughly the 5th grade.  I'm a nerd.)  God has blessed me with so much, and I don't want to only remember those blessings one month/day a year.  Goal for next year (but really, starting tomorrow): be more grateful every day for what I've got.

I hope everyone has safe travels for Thanksgiving, and that you have a chance to remember what blessings have come your way this year.  Happy Thanksgiving!

And just for giggles, here's my Google hand turkey from the logo this week:

Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

Traditions

Family traditions are something that have always been very important to me. I don't know why---maybe because I'm so close to my family? For whatever reason, I like the idea of traditions. I like the emotional appeal to them, and I like that it's something that I can continue to pass down to my children one day.

I like that I have used the same stocking (It's an original Rainbow Bright...hehe) since I was a toddler.
I like the recipes for Grandma Bread and Grammy's pumpkin pie are only used for Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, and that they are passed down through the generations.
I like that my family would go out and cut down our own tree every year.
I like getting up at 8am on Thanksgiving morning to watch the parade with my sister and help my mom cook dinner.
I like all of these little things that to other people might seem like no big deal, because these are the little things that bring my family together every holiday season, no matter how far apart we are the rest of the year. I don't expect other people to really understand why they mean so much, but I hope they can at least realize that no matter how silly they might seem they are the things that I look forward to every year; without these little traditions, it just doesn't feel like the holidays to me.