I was reading this book in bed where the characters sat for dinner in a rich guy’s home in Virginia.  On the table were fresh dinner rolls made by the cook. Apparently appreciated.

Now I have had dinner rolls at many meals in restaurants and occasionally we will buy a dozen at Super Store.  Always up for a challenge I told Patty I would make dinner rolls to accompany her fancy Apple and Butternut Squash Pork Stew tonight.

Well the first thing you have to understand is that we do not have one of those fancy power mixing machines with a paddle for preparing bread dough.  Instead I had to this the old fashioned way.

Mix all the ingredients and stir until the arm gets tired and then switch arms.  Then roll it out on the granite and knead it for 10 minutes.  This sounds easy in the recipe but for old hands like I have, a chore.  I was kneading away looking at the digital clock and absolutely believed it had stalled.

Proofed for several hours and then reproofed.   Baked in the oven in time to serve with the stew (which was fabulous) .  You may notice in the picture that I have to work on getting all the balls the same size before baking,  but the result was wonderful.  Much better than the Super Store variety. The butter and cream in the recipe would be part of the secret.

Having said that, it will be a rare treat.  I have a better way to spend my life than an hour preparing buns.   Patty spent many more hours preparing her stew, and as I said, it was fabulous… but then this is my blog.