We have had Thansgiving with my mom's side of the family at my grandparent's house (Mama and Poppa) for as long as I can remember. Anyone who is remotely related to our family shows up for this event, meaning there are at least 50 people if not more. Last year we moved it to my mom's house for the first time. The number of guests has cut back a bit, but it is still in the 30-40 range. So what do they come for - turkey, dressing, desserts? Nope! Although all of that food is wonderful, they come for the ROLLS! Mama's rolls are one of a kind and nobody misses out on a chance to eat them. I have been helping make these rolls for years, that has always been my way to help. I would take the dough and form it into the 3 balls to put together in the pan to form the perfect roll.
So for the first time ever, Mama was sick and couldn't even get out of bed. Mom realized that someone had to make the rolls, and I am of course the obvious choice since I've been helping for so long, right? WRONG! My brother Brandon and I quickly informed Mom that we have never actually seen how the dough was made and didn't have a clue where to start, because that perfect piece of dough has always been handed to us. So when all else fails, I took my chances and googled the recipe. From there we recruited JT and sprung into action!
We had our system down and it was working fine. We got the dough ready, and then we had to let it sit and rise for an hour. We had finally been able to discuss our situation with Mama and she said we were probably okay despite using the wrong flour and our other little mishaps. While we were waiting, Mom sent JT to the store to buy something, and in his cleverness (and high-level of doubt in our ability to pull off these rolls), he picked up a couple of packs of Bake in 10 minutes rolls. Genius!
Finally the dough was ready to the point Brandon and I were used too. So where do you make rolls in a house full of people and there is no more room in the kitchen?
The laundry room of course! We were so proud of ourselves and then we realized that these rolls had to sit for another hour before being put in the oven. Thank goodness we could smell the store bought rolls cooking in the oven, because lunch was being served in less than 10 minutes.
Everyone ate lunch, dessert, and then we were able to announce that our rolls were finally done! They looked like Mama's rolls, but they didn't taste 100% like them. But we were proud, and she was proud of us.
What an accomplishment! Now, I do not want to have to do this again, so we're handing the rolls back over to Mama next year, as that is the way it should be. I must say that I was a little disappointed to learn that this wasn't some super secret recipe of hers to be handed down to me...afterall, I found it on google. But hers are special because of the love she puts into them, and they will always be the best rolls ever made!
On a serious note, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we definitely have so much to be thankful for! We love our family and friends!
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