Thanksgiving preparations

I’m a big fan of Thanksgiving. I think the Thankgiving meal is one of the best, and in fact, I’ve been trying to eat a combination of those foods as often as possible during the last couple weeks (yesterday’s lunch was a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce, and then dinner was a pre-Thanksgiving trial run, complete with homemade stuffing and fresh cranberry sauce)

Tomorrow morning I’ll be getting up early to prepare my part of the meal – squash rolls. I’m going to provide the recipe below, because you really should try these, they’re delicious! (not quick, by any means, but certainly worth it!)

I usually bring them in a basket that I line with a dishtowel (so I can cover them and keep them warm!). I decided that I should really use a nicer basket liner, so I made a new one out of two Amy Butler fabrics. It’s really just an oversized napkin, which could be made using my rick rack napkin tutorial. (And when I’m done with it as a basket liner, I think it might make a nice simple table runner!)

I used pink rick rack for the trim, and even experimented with one of the decorative stitches on my machine… (hard to see here, but it’s a cute little leaf pattern)

And now, the recipe:

Squash Rolls – (from the Garden Way Bread Book, by Ellen Foscue Johnson)

1 c. milk

1/2 c. maple syrup or honey

4 T butter

2 t. salt

1 c. cooked squash (fresh or frozen)

1 1/2 T. dry yeast

1/4 c. warm water

1/2 t. sugar or honey

2 eggs

1 t. grated orange peel

6 1/2 c. unbleached white flour, approximately

In saucepan, scald the milk. Add maple syrup, butter, salt and squash, stirring to mix well. Let sit until lukewarm.

In large bowl dissolve the yeast in warm water with the 1/2 t. sugar or honey. When bubbly, add the cooled milk-squash mixture, eggs, orange peal, and 2 1/2 c. of the flour. Beat with electric mixer 2 minutes. Gradually add enough flour to make a dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is stiff enough to knead.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic.

Put dough into a buttered bowl, turn to coat all sides or brush the top with melted butter. Cover and let rise until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down, turn out onto a floured board and knead a few times to press out air bubbles. Cut into pieces about the size of eggs, cover and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Form into rolls of whatever shape you’d like. Brush the tops with melted butter and let rise, lightly covered, until not quite double in size.

Preheat oven to 375. Bake 15 minutes, or until lightly brown on top.

Makes about 2 dozen rolls. YUM!

And something else I’m exicted about… new fabric! Amy Butler’s Midwest Modern 2

I just couldn’t resist! There are some great new colors of the previous patterns, as well as a few new designs. Fun fun!

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

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