Delicious Buttery Dinner Rolls

Yum! 

These rolls were easy and yummy!

Another great recipe via pinterest!  They were posted around Thanksgiving time, but I haven't had a chance to try them until this last Sunday.

I will definitely make these again!  They make about 48 rolls, so definitely great for a crowd or to share with a neighbor or friend!

Delicious Buttery Dinner Rolls

(www.howdoesshe.com)

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• about 9-10 cups flour (I did about 4 cups of wheat flour and the rest white)
• at least 1 cup butter

Scald 1 1/2 cups milk, 3/4 cups sugar and 1/2 cup of butter in a microwave safe bowl for about 2 minutes.  Cut the butter into pieces so it will melt faster!  There will probably be small pieces of butter floating, but that is OK.

In another bowl combine your 2 cups warm water, yeast, and 1 tbsp sugar.  Let sit until it gets bubbly.  While it is sitting put your egg and 1 tbsp salt in your butter mixture to help it cool down a bit.  It was also recommended to add about 2 cups of flour to the mixture in order to cool it for the yeast.

Once cooled, add your yeast and mix.  At this point, I transferred it to a bigger bowl.  The recipe said the rolls turn out so much better if they are hand mixed, so that is what I did!

Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in your 7-8 more cups of flour.  Add about 2 cups at a time and stir in order to not add too much flour.  You may want to knead or incorporate the flour with your hands after a while.  When the dough is no longer too sticky (it will pull away from the sides) place plastic wrap over the top and let rise in a warm place.  I let it rise for about an hour.

Cover your working space with flour and place your dough on your surface.  Next cook your dough in half, and then in half again so you have 4 balls of dough.  Try to make them even, but don't stress about it!

Using 1 ball of dough at a time; roll the dough into a circle on your floured counter.  Once it is rolled out, spread some softened butter all over it.  I had some room temperature butter that I grabbed with my fingers and spread.  You will use about 2 tbsp of butter per circle.

Cut your dough with a pizza cutter into quarters.  Next cut your quarters into 3 pieces.  You should end up with 12 triangles.  Roll each triangle starting at the widest end and then tuck the smallest end or tail underneath.  Place each roll on a buttered cookie sheet.  You will make 3 rows with 8 rolls per row.  You will have 2 pans with 24 rolls per pan.  (Two balls of dough will fill each pan.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Place the pans in a warm spot and let them rise again.  Let them rise until the rolls are touching each other and full in size.  Cook one pan at a time for 10-15 minutes (My rolls took about 20+ minutes).  Keep an eye on them and cook until golden brown.

When they come out of the oven still hot, run a stick of butter over the tops to give them a wonderful buttery glaze! 

Enjoy!!

Sweet Potatoes or Yams

We had Thanksgiving in California at Todd's brothers house!  We had a great dinner and even experimented a little!

Heather found this recipe on Allrecipes.com.  They were super yummy and a really good flavor adding the spices to it!

Sweet Potatoes or Yams

(adapted from Allrecipes.com)

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 bag large marshmallows
• about 6-7 medium yams or sweet potatoes

Boil your sweet potatoes with the skins on until the skins start to crack.  Peel the skins off (or the skin will just peel off to the touch) and slice.  My mom always peels the sweet potatoes or yams first and chunks them.  She then covers them and boils them until tender~just like regular potatoes.  I don't think it matters what way you do it, just make sure your potatoes are tender.

Put your sliced yams in a 9 x 13 pan.  We then sprinkled brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg over the top.  Next we dolloped the butter over the tops of them.  Next cook this in a 350 degree oven until the butter and sugars are melted, about 10 minutes or so.  (Next time we were going to try putting the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a saucepan.  Melting it all together and then putting it all over the cooked potatoes and skipping the baking part again?) 

Now add your marshmallows all over the top and broil until they are golden!  Don't take your eyes off or you will have burnt mallows!  YUMMY!!

Pomegranate Mold (or Penny Jello)

This is a Thanksgiving tradition at our house!  My mom has been making this jello for a long time and this year Heather and I made it!

We have nicknamed it the Penny jello because when I was a kid we always ate Thanksgiving in the dining room.  We never ate in there but on special occasions.  My mom invited this lady named Penny over for Thanksgiving and we had this jello.  We were always told to have our best manners and you can say were sternly told to have our best manners!

So this year we were in the dining room having our best manners when Penny started eating the jello.  She proceeded to pick the pomegranate seeds out of her mouth and not eat them or eat around the seed or something.  She used her hands and everything in the dining room!  My sisters and I were all a little shocked to say the least!  We now can't eat this salad without thinking of her and laughing about the dining room episode!

It is a very good jello and a yummy way to use pomegranates!

Pomegranate Mold Salad

(source unknown, been made for years at my house!)

• 1 3 oz pkg strawberry jello
• 1 3 oz pkg raspberry jello
• 1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 medium can crushed pineapple, drained
• 2 cups pomegranate seeds, about 4 pomegranates
• 1 can whole cranberry sauce
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

Dissolve jello in 3 cups water~1 cup hot, 2 cups cold

Mix together remaining ingredients in a bundt pan or jello mold or even a 9 x 13 pan.  Make sure to grease the bundt pan in order to get the jello out.

Pour jello over mixture and refrigerate.  We always make this the night before so it has adequate time to set up!  If using a bundt pan, you may need to soak the pan in warm water to get it to come loose!

Rice Krispy Turkeys

I found this idea on Pinterest.  I love that site and would recommend it to anyone for great ideas!

It was a simple fun way to get the kids involved in helping to make place cards at the table.  We didn't add eyes or a beak, but I really liked the simpleness of this anyway!

Rice Krispy Turkeys

• Rice Krispies
• Marshmallows
• Chocolate for dipping
• candy corns
• white frosting if making eyes
• Sucker sticks

Make your Rice Krispy treats in a 9 x 13 pan.  Once made, form into balls, we made about 17 small balls.

Melt your chocolate.  We used yummy See's candy chocolate bars, but any dipping chocolate or chocolate chips works.  Use a double boiler.

Dip the tops of your balls and then let firm up a bit.  Decorate and put onto your sticks.

We filled the cups with pretzels, popcorn and candy corn which looked very fall and festive.  The turkeys were a little top heavy, so next time I may add more candy corns on the bottom.  Write your guests names on the cups and they look super fun on the table!