Faith, Folklore, and Friends

I love making yeast rolls.  I started making them about forty years ago, and I never get tired of it.  If the rolls turn out well at a holiday dinner, it really doesn't matter about the rest of the things you serve, because the rolls are all your guests will remember.  It is not that hard if you take it step-by-step.  I usually start at least three hours before dinner will be served. This recipe comes from an old Southern Living cookbook.  When you find one that works for you, stick with it. Start with 2 cups of warm water in your mixer bowl.  Add 2 packages of dry yeast, or 2 tablespoons if you buy yeast in bulk like I do. After about five minutes, the yeast will "bloom" or rise to the top and bubble like this.  If your yeast doesn't rise, dump this out, go buy some fresh yeast and start over.  Ask me how I know this. Go ahead and prepare a large, greased bowl for the dough to rise in. After the yeast is ready, ad...

Violet Beatrice Gean Stricklin October 26, 1917-November 11, 2007 It's my mama's birthday. The Earth raced around the Sun and the seasons changed ninety times while she was here. She was uneducated, but wise. Beautiful, work-roughened hands that were never still. Her life was taking care of her family, and that she did well, even when the road was hard. She did massive amounts of laundry on a wringer washer; her clothes lines full every sunny day expect Sunday. She could coax nutritious vegetables out of tired clay soil, rising with the sun to do battle with weeds. Her quilts still warm our beds and our hearts. Known for her incomparable biscuits, she made enough in her lifetime to completely fill a Cracker Barrel. More familiar with pain than joy, she endured. She lived to see adult children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. We are educated, talented, well-traveled, scattered. She lives in all of us. Beadie Haynes, Marie Thompson, Mama, Geneva Gean ...

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