Dinner Swappin'

My friend Renae and I swap dinners. On Monday she makes enough of one meal to feed both of our families and brings half of it to my house. On Thursday I do the same for her. It works out great. We both enjoy the night off. I'm pretty sure we'll be doing it for a while. So a few weeks ago I decided to make Chicken Noodle Soup. Let me just say that this is one of my absolute favorite things to make and eat because it is total nostalgic comfort food for me. But it is a labor of love. Chicken noodle soup done the right way is a commitment and takes some time, but luckily I had already cooked and deboned a chicken and kept the broth so the time consuming ingredients were in my freezer waiting for me. However, the noodles were not. I don't remember my mother making this soup for us because homemade noodles are a Thanksgiving/Christmas tradition eaten over potatoes alongside our turkey and cranberry sauce and we never had them any other time. My husband told me early on that he loved them and it was a crying shame they weren't gracing our table more often. I sort of took that as a hint.

So I make the noodles myself. They aren't hard to do, only taking about 20 minutes tops, but they aren't easy either (easy = opening a bag from the store - not that I am against store bought pasta for other things). If I invite you over and make this soup for you, you should feel loved. If I bring a meal to you and it is this soup, you should know that I think you are fabulous. However that Thursday this soup almost didn't make it to Renae's family. You see, as much as I love this soup, I'm not great at sharing it. I usually make a big pot and then hoard it over the next few days for my own lunch. I have been known to hide the leftovers and make Darren a sandwich to take to work the next day. You know how you have your favorite recipes and sometimes the planets align and whatever you are cooking turns out perfect? Okay this was one of those times. I was sorely tempted to make them something else for dinner. I checked the clock a few times to determine whether or not I had enough time for that. I know, shame on me. In the end I decided to not cave in to two of the seven deadly sins (greed and gluttony) and I took half (okay almost half) of it to the Steere's house that night. Then I scooped tiny-ish portions into each of my kids' bowls, gave them each an extra roll, and proceeded to eat two bowls of it myself.
Anyway the rolls in the background are a recipe that a few of you have been asking for. These are my back up, don't take more than 5 minutes to make, only have to raise once, done in an hour start to finish rolls. This recipe is perfect for me because sometimes I'll make dinner and realize that I need something else yummy to go with it last minute...to show that I care. I know that for most it doesn't get easier than Rhodes, but I'm sorta into homemade and besides with Rhodes I would have to remember to buy them, remember to get them out of the freezer in advance, remember to cover them and not let them dry out, go back to the freezer to figure out how long to cook them and at what temperature. You get the picture. These are just easier for me. These rolls do come with a warning though. Because they only have to raise once they are best straight from the oven. They are not light and airy the next day. They make better bread and gravy then dinner roll for left overs. They are just really dense unless they are hot from the oven. One of these days I should let them raise twice and see if that takes care of it, but if I'm being honest these rarely last in my house more than a day anyway. That said, they are still my favorite in a pinch and the reason I gained seven pounds through the holidays. I must have made them at least three times a week. Here's the recipe:


Basic Roll Dough


2 TBL instant dry yeast (bread machine type, fast acting)
1 cup lukewarm water


Combine these two in your large mixing bowl. I usually sprinkle in a little sugar just to get the process started. Yeast + sugar = True Love. Grab a liquid measuring cup and combine the following:


3/4 cup HOT water (in AZ hot from the tap does the trick)
3 TBL butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBL salt


Now let this cool for a minute while you crack one egg in a small bowl and beat the heck out of it. Add it to the stuff in the liquid measuring cup (will help in the cooling) and then pour the whole thing into the yeast mixture. Now add 2 cups flour and stir with a fork. Time to get your hands dirty. Set the fork aside and work in 2 more cups of flour. This recipe originally called for another cup of flour but the biggest mistake people make when making bread is adding too much flour. The dough should be slightly sticky, but nothing a little PAM on the hands while shaping into rolls won't take care of.


Let this rise until doubled (about 1/2 an hour) on top of your warm preheating oven (350 degrees). Pop into the oven and bake for about 18 minutes or until golden. This recipe makes about 24 rolls. When you get them out, get in your car and head to my house and we'll sit down with a container of my strawberry freezer jam and eat the whole pan together okay?