Ethel’s Icebox Rolls
Hello! What a nice week it’s been. I love having the kids home. I know some parents look forward to the kids getting back in school, but I’m not one of those. I love having the whole family here. If I thought I was disciplined enough, I’d probably home-school.
So, this week I’ve been going through my Great Grandma Fry, Great Aunt Kathryn and Grandma’s recipes. They are all from my daddy’s side of the family. I have to be very careful because some of these recipes seem to have come from even further than GG Fry. I have a few dated in the late 1800′s. Of course, you really can’t make them but it’s so cool to have them;) I love heirloom recipes. They make me so happy:) I wish I had some from my momma’s side but I honestly don’t think anyone cooked with any recipe. It was all in their heads. That’s a lot like me though. I know what it’s supposed to look like, feel like, sound like when it cooks. You just know. Maybe that’s just the good old southern way:) I call my Aunt Ruth to ask her how she makes something, and she’s like, “Well, just take a bunch of these and some of that… Just put it in your skillet and cook it down… 
” Now, you talk about a good cook? I’ve never eaten anything of her’s that I didn’t just love. I’ll tell you more about her another time though. I’ve got several of her goodies to share with yall;) So anyway, I was going through this box ( these were all in an ooooold brown book that was held together by a dry rotted rubber band. So needless to say, it broke. I now have them in a plastic box with a tight fitting lid.) I came across this recipe and I am guessing it was one of my Grandma’s (Daddy and Aunt Kathy’s mom’s) because it was typed. She typed most things. Maybe it was because she was an aurthress or the fact she was a librarian (card catalogs and all:) The recipe is for Icebox Rolls. Now, last night, when I was making these, I did not hold out much hope at all. The recipe is odd (to me at least). I told Paul this morning that I was glad that I took pictures of it as I went a long because I was sure it was going to be a flop. So, I baked some off last night. I even told my friend Terri, that the recipe was looking pretty grim. The rolls I baked last night (as soon as I made the dough) were a little on the flattish side, nice flavor but flattish. Anyway, so I put the rest of the dough in the fridge and tried again this morning. I did clover rolls this time. OH MY!! What a difference over night in the fridge makes:) They are absolutely lovely:) They are dense but not to dense. I am guessing this is why they are called “Icebox Rolls” Mrs Ethel says, they make “Splendid” rolls and Splendid they are:) They didn’t really rise until I began baking them – even though they’d been out of the icebox for about 2 hours. Give this one a try but make sure you leave them overnight in the fridge:) Enjoy!!
OK, HERE’S What You Need:
1 1/2 C. boiling water
1/2 C. sugar
3 T. shortening
2 tsp. salt
****In a separate bowl****
1/2 C. lukewarm water
2 cakes yeast
HERE’S What You Do:
Combine your lukewarm water and yeast in one bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine boiling water, Crisco, salt and sugar.
Let the boiling water cool a bit and then combine the two bowls. Cool a bit more. This is where I just KNEW it wasn't going to work out. I almost just chucked it and said forget it.
Take two eggs and beat well.
Add 4 cups sifted flour.
Mix well. Add 3 more cups of flour to form a stiff dough. It's not real pretty here either. I put it in a lightly greased bowl and turned it over to let it set for a while -- really, I didn't read the part where it said to go on and put it into the fridge. Oops:)
So, once I realized that I didn't have to let it rise before I put it into the fridge, I took it out of the greased bowl and put it into a Ziploc and put it into the fridge.
2 hours before you need the rolls, pinch off what you need and form your rolls. I did clover leaf. Bake in a very hot oven (450 F) til golden. Melt butter over the top as soon as they come out of the oven. These are just delicious:)
