Granma's Rolls

I could never survive on the Atkins Diet.

My paternal grandmother was famous for her homemade rolls. She made these for the "Sunday Before Thanksgiving Family Dinner" and the "Palm Sunday Family Dinner," both of which she hosted, and other family special occasions such as graduations and the like. We always could count on Granma to show up with a paper grocery bag full of fresh, fragrant rolls. As kids, we would have contests among the cousins to see who could eat the most rolls at a single meal. I believe the record was 7, and that was before any of the boys hit their teenage years!

Granma was never much of a "by the cookbook" baker but one of my cousins did manage to get something of a recipe for these rolls from Granma before she passed away in 1994. It took me a few years to get that recipe from my cousin, but I finally did. Turns out it was little more than an ingredient list, but that's enough if you know a little about baking bread.

I think my sister has the recipe too, but it seems that in my branch of the family, I have become the one designated to carry on the tradition of "Granma's Rolls." Normally when we are invited to a family dinner and I ask what I can bring, the answer is always the same.

Tomorrow is no exception. So while I won't be cooking tomorrow--though I'll happily pitch in and help my sister--I'm wearing my apron now, and the smell of yeast dough is in the air. The dough is rising and getting ready to shape; then it's off to the back porch to rise slowly all night and be baked fresh in the morning.

Of course, I'll deliver those rolls in a paper grocery bag. Granma wouldn't have it any other way.