Grandma’s Rolls

 Originally posted by Modern-Day Ma on November 20, 2018

My grandma was amazing. She was not only the quintessential farm wife and the mother of five boys, but she was also an independent woman, who made the most of her life when she found herself single and living in the Colorado suburbs, which (I imagine) felt lonely and foreign to an Iowa farm girl. 

When I was growing up, she had already remarried a kind, gentle man who I grew up calling, “grandpa,” and who both relied on and appreciated her amazing culinary skills.  When she passed, I vividly recall him asking if he could freeze and then defrost the leftover salad from the family luncheon after her memorial service. The kitchen was her domain and she ruled it with a quiet grace, never settling, always tinkering with a recipe to make it a little bit better, to make it her own.  

I have her recipe box, which, rather than being stuffed full of handwritten cards (it does contain many of these), actually overflows with clippings from Cook’s Country, the newspaper, or her other favorite food magazines.  

When I first received the recipe box, I was devastated.  Lost are the recipes for many of her blue-ribbon desserts and her ever-hearty “kraut burgers,” which I have attempted to recreate from my father’s memory to only mild success.  As my dad and I sifted through the box, we would find a family-favorite here and there, but mostly we couldn’t tell whether she had made the clipped recipes. They weren’t the dishes her boys remembered from the farm or the traditional foods I remembered her making from my own childhood. 

I came to realize that what made my grandma amazing, more than her culinary prowess, was her adaptability.  She fed her family well through both lean and prosperous times.  She brought her five sons and their families together, year after year, despite death, divorce, and heartache. She refused to live in the past, but made it a point to love each family member in the now. 

In her tiny kitchen, she remained true to her roots, often serving variations on “meat and potatoes.” Whatever storms life might send, grandma’s kitchen could be relied upon to provide seasonal staples and family favorites, which brought brothers home again, in both person and heart. 

We were never without her rolls.  Just the smell of the dough, both raw and baking, can instantly transport me back to her home, with cousins running about and aunts and uncles coming and going, talking and catching up. They were the manna she offered to weary travelers and generations of hungry family members. I offer them to you now.  May love, forgiveness, and gratitude abide in your families this Thanksgiving.

Grandma's Rolls
1 cup milk
½ cup butter
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups unbleached bread or all-purpose flour
2 eggs at room temperature

Heat milk, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan until butter just melts, then remove from heat and let cool until lukewarm.
Dissolve yeast in warm water in bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl (if mixing by hand).
When milk is lukewarm, add to bowl. Add 2 cups flour and beat slowly, then on medium speed 2 minutes.
Beat in eggs.
Slowly add 1 ¾ cups flour, beat on low 2 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Add remaining ¼ cup flour (if needed). Dough should be very soft and sticky. It will become tacky as it raises.
Put dough in oiled bowl and cover to raise until double. I normally do this in the fridge overnight, but you do not have to.
Shape into rolls, let raise on greased pan until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 375° F and bake 10-12 minutes, until tops are golden.
Brush with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven.