Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year. Not just because I come from a family of total foodies. {When my siblings and parents get together, it’s all about the food – for any occasion. But on Thanksgiving? Watch out!} But because I love the focus on gratitude. Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” I really believe that to be true! I love reading the thoughts of my friends on Facebook about all that they are grateful for, and talking about it with my children each night before bed. I love the focus on being grateful for what we have rather than focusing on all of the things we don’t have, and especially on expressing gratitude for people and things we so often take for granted. I would like to take a moment to express my own gratitude to all of you – my readers and my clients – those of you who make what I do possible! I have so very many clients who started out as simply that – clients – but who have become so much more. So many of you I count to be among my very dearest friends, and I love hearing about your lives, coming to your events, watching your children grow each year. And even those of you who come from far away for a session while on vacation have touched my life in a meaningful way. My husband likes to remind me as I am packing up all of my gear to head out a session how much happier I always am when I come back. So Thank You…thank you for sharing your lives with me. Thank you for giving me a glimpse of the beauty in your lives. As a small token of gratitude I’d like to give a little something back…so today I am going to share the most often requested recipe from my family’s (fairly famous) recipe collection/cookbook. These Orange Rolls are a staple at large family gatherings, small family dinners and pot lucks. They just might make a wonderful addition to your own Thanksgiving meal. And just for fun I’ll throw in a few snapshots taken at one of our family Thanksgiving feasts 6 years ago now. Enjoy!
Famous Orange Rolls
1.5 packages of yeast (1.5 T) 2 T. Orange Rind
1/3 cup warm water 1/4 c. fresh squeezed orange juice
1.5 c. milk, scalded 1 tsp. salt
1/3 c. sugar 5 c. bread flour
1/2 c. vegetable oil 1/2 c. butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
While milk is scalding, dissolve yeast in warm water with 1 tsp. sugar, in a small bowl. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, salt, cooking oil, orange rind, orange juice and scalded milk. Cool slightly. Add 2 cups of the flour and beat vigorously. Add yeast and eggs and beat again. Add remaining flour 1 cup at a time and mix after each addition. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead for 3 minutes until dough is smooth but still very soft. Place dough back into large bowl that has cooking oil and turn to coat top of dough; let rise for 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and divide dough in half. Roll out on floured cloth to 1/4″ thickness and cut with round cutter. Prepare large jelly roll pan with melted butter. Take each round cut roll and fold in half and pinch to seal. Dip each roll in melted butter and turn onto pan. Line each of the rolls up fairly close together , barely touching. You should have about 40 small rolls that fill the pan. Cover rolls with a cloth and allow to rise for about 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. When baked, cool slightly before glazing with orange glaze and serve immediately. Best if served warm out of the oven.
Orange Glaze
2 c. powdered sugar
1 heaping T. zested orange rind
2 T. fresh sqeezed orange juice
Combine glaze ingredients in small mixing bowl and beat vigorously. Glaze rolls generously after allowing rolls to cool slightly.
Notes: This is my most requested recipe. You will serve these to rave reviews. Enjoy!
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