When you are married to a carb addict, you have to put up with their high expectations when it comes to bread. Gus was very specific about the type of rolls that he wanted me to serve with our Thanksgiving dinner, so when I informed him that I would be making the rolls from scratch, he asked that I purchase back up rolls, just in case. Well, I certainly don’t like to be doubted in the kitchen and I didn’t want to jinx myself, so I bought myself some yeast and flour, and walked right past the bakery aisle in our grocery store. This recipe turned out to be easy peasy and my husband was shocked when he found out that the delicious, crusty roll that he sunk his teeth into was actually homemade. I just love it when I prove him wrong.
Dinner Rolls (no back up necessary)
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup Butter, softened
- 1/3 cup Sugar
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 3 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 package (.25 oz) Active Dry Yeast
- 1/4 cup Butter, softened
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the water and milk in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Pour the liquids into a mixing bowl and add the sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar then add in the yeast and let it sit for 10-20 minutes to proof. (The mixture will be foamy, so don’t think that you’ve screwed it up and need back up rolls.)
- Mix on low speed, adding the egg, butter, and salt. Once it’s well mixed, add in the flour 1/4 cup at a time. Remove the paddle attachment and add the dough hook. With the machine, knead the dough for 5-10 minutes or until it’s smooth and elastic.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and shape into desired shapes. Cover with a clean towel and let them rise for an hour.
- Once the rolls have risen, gently brush the tops of the rolls with half of the softened butter. Bake for 10-15 or until golden brown. Upon removing the rolls from the oven, brush the tops with the remaining butter.
Cornbread Casserole (or Spoonbread for my Southern friends)
If you forced me to pick a favorite Thanksgiving dish, I couldn’t…but if you said that I had to or I wouldn’t get any Thanksgiving food, than I would pick this one as my favorite. I just love cornbread, and this is even better than a regular, ole cornbread, as you get to eat it with a spoon and that aids in maximum portions and efficiency when compared to a wimpy little muffin. Some people make this with canned corn, but I just can’t stomach the thought. My Mama tried to serve me canned corn once as a kid and just one taste of that stuff has scarred me for life. She stuck with frozen or fresh corn after that. If you have fresh corn available, then I recommend using that, but frozen is the next best option. Trust me, you don’t want to scar anyone with that canned mess.
- 2 packages (8 oz. each) of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
- 2 cups of Corn (if using frozen, than use barely steamed frozen corn)
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 1/2 cup Butter, melted
- 1/2 cup Cream Cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
- 1 egg
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the corn muffin mix, corn, egg, sour cream, cream cheese, butter, and heavy cream.
- Pour into a greased 9×13 baking dish and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for at least 5 minutes and then serve warm.
