Directions: |
Directions:* Put water, milk & shortening in bowl.
* Add yeast, salt & sugar.
* Sift in flour, roll out on board & knead till smooth.
* Cover in bowl & work down every 30 minutes.
* Make out buns 1 1/2 hours before ready to bake & let rise to double in size.
* Bake @ 350ºF for 20 minutes.
Centenary Church Cookbook
Mrs. Miles was a neighbor of Grandma & Grandpa in Universal.
Grandma made these every time our family got together. She taught me that you never cut a roll with a knife, but tear apart instead.~Beth
I remember Granny making yeast rolls & strawberry jelly. ~Larry
Grandma’s Rolls, 4-H and the Science of Yeast and Heat
During one of the years in 4-H, the cooking project was yeast rolls. Since I was also enrolled in Demonstrations, my mom suggested that my demonstration should be about making yeast rolls. Afterall, I was already making them for cooking and yeast rolls, thanks to Grandma was an easy thing to do. Fast forward to the day of the demonstrations. It’s July in Indiana. It’s hot. It’s humid. We’re at Otter Creek Jr High School and there’s no air conditioning.
My mom and Aunt Jane are in the audience and I’m prepping for my demo. There are towels to keep the area clean, ingredients including yeast and extra flour to use to keep the outside of the rolls dry as they’re shaped.
The studio lights go on and the demonstration begins. I’m combining my ingredients and talking about each step. The yeast is combined with the sugar and flour; extra flour is patted on the top of the roll and covered and allowed to rise. I look over and wow, everything is great. That mixture is rising and it’s rising fast (did I mention that it’s hot, humid and there are studio lights focused on the display space) . I remove the towel to “punch down” the dough. A little sticks to the towel but that’s not a big deal because I have extra towels and extra flour. I add some flour and cover the dough with a new towel. I talk about something else. Next step is to divide the dough into small balls to make the rolls.
I punch the dough and reach into the center of the dough to divide it. Dough sticks to my hands – after all , it’s hot, humid and studio lights are on. I still have extra towels and flour so I use them. A little dough sticks to my hands and wow it’s hot under those lights. I wipe the sweat from my brow only to have dough stick to my face.
I keep adding flour, wiping my hands and the dough keeps rising.
All of the dough. Whether it’s still in the large ball, the formed rolls or those pieces on my hands and face. Aaack, I’m growing dough eyebrows.
I reach to grab a towel and yikes, dough is growing on the towels too.
At this point, I feel like Lucille Ball at the chocolate factory. And when I look in the audience, I see my mom and Aunt Jane biting their lips and holding back outright laughter.
Finally, my time is up. Whew. There is dough everywhere but I made it through. And I can assure, I’ve never made yeast rolls in the summer since then. And for years, this memory could bring tears of laughter to my mom, Aunt Jane, Susan, myself and Kate (and she listened to us to tell this tale.)
~Marty
The recipe:
3 ½ cups flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 ¼ cup milk
¼ cup sugar
½ cup shortening
1 tsp salt
1 egg
In large bowl, combine flour and yeast.
Heat milk, sugar, shortening and salt till warm. Stir constantly till shortening almost melts.
Add to dry mixture
Add egg.
Shape into ball.
Place in lightly greased bowl, turn once to great surface. Cover. Let rise in warm place till double.
Punch down. Turn out on floured surface and let rest 10 minutes.
Shape into desired rolls.
Cover. Let Rise in warm place till double
Bake in hot oven (400 degrees) for 10-12 minutes. |
This recipe for Mrs. Miles Buns is from