October 5, 2017
Rolls. Garlic bread. Cinnamon rolls. Bread sticks. French bread. Croutons. Sourdough. White. Wheat. Pizza crust.
They are all bread. Hot, soft, sweet bread. Each delectable in their own way.
At Italian restaurants I could make a meal just on the bread they bring out dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. And don’t get my started on the biscuits at Red Lobster…!
I have never comprehended how anyone could complete the Atkins Diet. Isn’t that the one where you can’t have any carbs? And while I love to eat bread, I have never–I repeat, NEVER–made my own. I honestly never gave making bread much thought. Maybe once when my mom bought a bread machine but that’s it. Bread is always in the Bakery section of every grocery store with an assortment of kinds to choose from. Or in the refrigerated/freezer section if I want to go the extra mile and actually “make” some bread.
But, NEVER did I ever have a reason (and let’s be honest – a desire) to make my own. Even my mother-in-laws amazing homemade cinnamon rolls and sour dough bread never enticed me to want to make my own. I just savored every bite of what she made and was thankful every time she gave us a new loaf. Sandwiches and toast certainly tasted better with homemade sour dough bread than the Food Lion wheat bread I usually bought!
Fast forward to a few weeks ago and we were at our friend’s Joe and Nicole’s for dinner. Nicole loves to cook and the last three times we have been to their house for dinner she has made some type of homemade bread.
It all began with “the rolls”. She had underestimated how much time they’d take to cook so they ended up out of the oven after dinner was finished. But after taking them straight out of the oven, the four of us hovered over the counter and ate them as if they were our dessert.
Hot rolls. Melted butter. Need I say more?
After the next two evenings of fresh, homemade bread (and Nicole saying how ‘eaaaaasy’ it was to make) I decided I would try. First step: find yeast. I didn’t even have a clue what I was looking for. I thought yeast was a liquid for starters. After failing to find it at the grocery store and admitting defeat to Nicole, she surprised me with a jar.
So armed with the correct ingredients, I decided to make the rolls for dinner yesterday. J (the boy I watch) was home sick so Liam and I had a free day.
Now I have to be honest. When it comes to cooking, I tend to ALWAYS make some kind of mistake. Matt says it’s attention to details. I’ll admit that is usually the case. I have a bad habit of skimming directions or skipping around. It’s like I have ADD when it comes to cooking. But in this case it was simply trying to make sure Liam didn’t pull out Tippet’s hair as he chased the poor dog around the house trying to put her leash on her. I ended up leaving out three–yes, three–very important ingredients: milk, eggs and butter. I’d hate to think of what the bread would have done if I hadn’t realized this gigantic mistake!
In the end, the rolls turn out great! The original recipe made 48 rolls. Who in the world would ever need 48 rolls?!? It did say you could use half the recipe to make homemade cinnamon rolls but I decided tackling one new recipe was enough for me. So I halved the recipe. I still didn’t need 24 rolls so I froze 12 of them. Still, though, we didn’t need 12 rolls so that evening I took four of them over to the sweet, elderly couple who lives close by.
Now I know why so many woman seem to give bread as a gift around the holidays! It really wasn’t that hard and it certainly does make a lot.
Next, I may try to make Nicole’s pretzel bread. With a little bit of cheese sauce and making the bread into bite size pieces I imagine it will be like eating my very own Auntie Anne’s pretzel!
You know you want to try to make some now, don’t you? Click here for Nicole’s ‘secret’ recipe.
If you do, let me know how they turn out!