Gram’s Feather Rolls

A Recipe not to be tossed aside lightly.

        I know, I know, I know.  Just mention the word Rolls and then find the word Yeast in the directions and we’re all ready to turn the page and leave the details to someone else.

        Don’t do that.  This is one where the Prep time can be counted in minutes and the cooking time, well, 15 to 20 minutes, but that takes no work from you, and besides that, ‘Your family will rise up and call you Blessed.’

        I know.  I published this recipe years and years ago, and I still have people tell me they use it and have passed it along to their daughters and daughters-in-law.   Me, too.

Grandma Bradford’s
Feather Rolls

2 and 1/2 cups milk     1 Tsp. salt
5 cups flour            2 Tbsp sugar
1 (one) package yeast   1/2 cup shortening

        Melt shortening, it can be done in the micro, but I said ‘melt’ it, not sizzling.  Just melted, that’s all.  Put the yeast in warm (not hot) milk, and set to one side.

        Mix ALL the ingredients well and put aside on your counter top for 1-and-1/2 to 2 hours.  Beat it down with a spoon,  and right then and there, put 1 (one) Tbsp in each muffin tin, using paper liners if you wish.

        Let the filled muffin tins stand on your counter for 20 minutes and then bake 15 to 20 minutes in an oven set at 425 degrees.

        Be prepared for bows and compliments, but don’t send your thanks to me.   I thanked Gram, and she told me the same thing I’m telling you.  To not thank her, but to someone else who came before her.  Egad.

        See, I just don’t know the root source of these goodies, but the recipe is so old it called for Yeast Cakes, not the dry yeast we use today, and there were no such things as  the ‘paper’ muffin-tin liners, that we so routinely use today.  But none if that matters, it all just works and that’s what’s important.  The shortening was probably Crisco, but it says melt, not sizzle.

        And as long as I’m in this domestic mood, and it’s the season for good eating, here is a simple, but marvelous recipe for Southern Pecan Pie.

        There are those who hate to give out tried and true recipes, but that’s not me.  Here goes:

        Take one cup of white corn syrup, one cup of dark brown sugar, one-third cup of just-melted butter, one heaping cup of shelled pecans, three whole, beaten (not whipped) eggs, a dash of vanilla and a pinch of salt.

        Mix all together, add the nuts, put in the pie shell and bake at 375 to 400 degrees until done.  There, and as far as I can figure out, Gram got this, of all places, from Ann Landers’ column which ran ‘forever’ in newspapers.

        Good luck.  Good eating. And be prepared to simply shrug your shoulders and say,  “Oh, it’s nothing.  Just put a few things together and anyone could do it.”  Yeah, but YOU did it.  Love ya.   Ethel

Flip on your printer and put both these recipes in your files.  You won’t be sorry.

4 thoughts on “Gram’s Feather Rolls

  1. Those rolls are just awesome! And the funny part is this: I remember yeast being around all the time in my mother’s kitchen, but now-a-days I don’t keep it around. I had to go to three (!) stores to find it. My usually stop and shop of course didn’t have any, and the Safeway only had some that was out of date, or a Great Big Jar that I would Never use all of. So finally found some, and they turned out great. Plus, and this is a Great Plus, the kids discovered YEAST and what it does and how it works. They had no idea. Next time I might let them see a chicken butchered, but I’ll want a couple of years, don’t want to push too hard on those sheltered young minds.

    THank you for the rolls and thanks to your Gram!

    • Don’t know who you are, Dawn, and if I should and missed it, sorry.. But so glad you found the yeast. So odd, at one time it was a staple, and now an oddity. Glad you like them. Gram was a good cook, and introduced me to stuff I’d never tried before, like a stuffed beef heart, tongue and so on. She was a daring cook. Love to you, ethel

  2. I will thank you Aunt Ethel, because I have no recipes of Gram’s, I don’t know what Bill did with them. So I will be sure to give these a try soon. Love you Kathy

    • Kathy, how GOOD to see your name. I’d just about given up on ‘talking’ to you and then……HERE Y OU ARE.

      Hope life is good for you, you deserve it, but don’t we all. Thanx, thanx, thanx ur ant ethel

Leave a Reply to Ethel Bradford Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.