Hopefully it’s not breaking news that Thanksgiving is next week. We’ve had 11 months to prepare, yet, as always, it was a sneaky little turkey, and now we are shuffling around trying to make holiday plans. I don’t really go too crazy because my (highly talented) mother-in-law takes care of the heavy items.
She just asks that I bring a side and a dessert. The turkey, ham, cornbread stuffing, greens, homemade macaroni and cheese, vegetables and fruit salad are all taken care of. God bless her. In the past, I’ve brought the (extremely easy) green bean casserole and some kind of pie. This year, I’m thinking about making some type of fall-friendly cupcake like sweet potato or pumpkin. I ran the idea past Parish, and he seemed to like it. When it comes to family dinners, keeping with traditions is very important, i.e.: don’t stray too far from the regular menu.
I would love to bring something really wild like a tofurkey or a mango-infused cranberry delight upside down cake. I have to resist in the name of tradition. I’ve been a part of this family for almost five years, and this is my fourth Thanksgiving with his family. If you want to be invited back next year, you don’t fix a dish that’s not broken. This year my MIL threw me a little curve ball – she asked me to bring homemade rolls. I froze in my domestic diva in training high-heeled shoes … homemade rolls? Don’t you need professional training to construct a classic roll?
I looked at my husband for support and he said, “Mom, I bet you are hungry. How about we take you out for lunch.” He deflected the roll request, but I didn’t know for how long. I thought it would be best to research how in the heck you make the round balls of goodness in case she contacted me again before Turkey Day. I consulted the head honcho – Miss Martha Stewart. Why not?
I searched for dinner rolls on her user-friendly Web site, and after I clicked on the link for the recipe, the little chef on my shoulder said, “Umm, you can’t make these.” The recipe called for a fourth of a cup of warm water, no big deal there. But then there are parentheses behind that read “(115 degrees).” That sounds a little specific, don’t you think? Then there is the active dry yeast, one and half cups of warm whole milk (115 degrees) and one stick of unsalted butter. I felt like I was taking my home ec exam all over again. I kept reading, and again the chef on my shoulder was waving his spatula and saying, “Go to Whole Foods, buy rolls, put them in a basket with a cloth napkin!”
The directions looked even more complex – cover bowl with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about one and quarter hours. Sheesh. Then there was another step that required me to wait over another hour. I closed the page and gave in to my shoulder chef’s prompting. I would go to Whole Food, buy the prettiest rolls I could find, take them out of them plastic bag and gingerly place them in a basket. If my MIL asked for the recipe, I would smile nicely and say, “Of course, but not before I top your iced tea and clean all the dishes.”