Today I made 2 batches of Butterflake Herb Rolls. The recipe is essentially a Parker House Roll with an herb butter slathered on each one before folding. As per my mother-in-law I line 12 together in a loaf formation (butter spread between each roll) before baking. Each recipe yields 24 rolls (2 rows of 12). They are delicious…I don’t prefer them to the Sweet Potato rolls I made yesterday; however, they can hold their own at the dinner table. I use the herb butter mixture from my MiL’s recipe and a different Parker House roll recipe which uses butter rather than shortening. So now I have two types of bread to serve with Thanksgiving dinner, with plenty extra for leftovers the next day. I cannot wait!!!

I baked 3 batches of my sweet potato rolls with cherries and cardamom. The house still smells delicious with the faint traces of cardamom lingering throughout…I had a total of 48 rolls, but that number has decreased by around 1/2 a dozen! They better make it to the freezer quickly or there may not be any left for the Big Day. Actually, being the wonderful wife I am I will wait until my husband has had a chance to sample them and offer up an opinion before I relegate them to the depths of the freezer.

With respect to making the rolls, I did 2 batches in my Kitchen Aid mixer – the method I have always used. The third batch I tried in my new Cuisinart food processor. WOW! It was so easy to use and the dough turned out perfectly. I did not notice any difference between the two methods in the final product. I think I will be using my new Cuisinart a lot more than my old one. I especially love the fact that the flour doesn’t ‘poof’ out when I use it. I made most of my pie dough in this as well, and again, the results were terrific. I will update on the results of my future uses…

I sit here on a brief break to update on the Turkey Day breads. I have made 3 batches of my Sweet Potato Rolls – a tried and true recipe I have used since 1996 when I saw it in the November Bon Appetit Magazine. As I sit they are going through their first rise. In about another hour I will punch down the dough and shape each batch into 16 crescent rolls. I can almost smell the aroma of the rolls baking, mingled with the dried cherries and cardomom wafting through my entire house…so heavenly!

November 18, 2009
Tomorrow I will make my sweet potato rolls (with dried cherries and cardamom), and perhaps even my mother-in-law’s Butterflake Herb rolls. Since I don’t use trans-fats, I have replaced the shortening in her recipe with real butter – but that is my only modification. Sometimes I include some sort of rosemary bread or rolls with my Thanksgiving meal, but I haven’t decided if I will do that this year. I also plan to measure out my dried fruits and nuts for my fruitcakes, which I would like to make next week so they have time to ‘cure'(a 3-4 week process). I soak them with the sugar syrup I use to plump the dried fruit and add Maker’s Mark bourbon and Grand Marnier to balance the sweetness and provide a kick…After several weeks they are ready for distributing to friends and family. Believe me, these are not your ordinary fruitcakes! They have a white cake base and I use dried rather than glaceed fruits. The mixture includes apricots, blueberries, sour cherries, currants, and cranberries – all dried of course. I have had wonderful luck with the dried fruits at Whole Foods. My mouth is already watering!!!

November 17, 2009
Yesterday was a great day. I made more of my pie crust dough for the freezer, I cubed bread for my stuffing – also in the freezer, and I even dried the habanero peppers Mike and Tanna gave me this weekend. I will smoke them on the day I smoke my turkey (the day before Thanksgiving and also my mom’s birthday!). This weekend I was able to get most of the groceries I will need for Thanksgiving. I have my perishables yet to buy, and my turkey will be picked up the Tuesday before Turkey Day…but not a whole lot left to get. My tablecloth is washed and ready to spread on my table. Dishes are accounted for, and I will buy/arrange flowers et al for my centerpiece on Tuesday the 24th. So all in all I feel fairly ready for the big day. I look forward to our times with family and friends…and that is what it is really all about…