I threatened a holiday cooking post for recipe exchanges ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Voila, here it is.
What are you preparing for your family and/or friends?
If you’re observing by yourself, what are you going to do to treat yourself — and yes, you should definitely do something special for yourself. It’s self care.
If you’re going to be traveling, what’s waiting for you at the end of your trip?
Share here in comments.
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It’s going to be just me and my spouse here empty nesting a holiday for the first time in forever. My youngest has to work because Big Pharma production lines run 7/24/365; my oldest is spending the holiday with her partner’s family (we get Christmas). We’ll have our big turkey feast on Saturday when my youngest finally gets a day off.
But I’m going to make my squash rolls today so that we have them for the tiny pork roast hubs and I will have tomorrow in lieu of turkey. These are what I bring to all the family gatherings — they’re my signature baked good. This batch will be made with puree from a hybrid squash, a cross between a kabocha and a Hubbard. The flesh was very dense and sweet, deep orange. I’ve already made one batch with this particular squash. The dough was almost too moist so I’ll cut back a bit this time on water. The dough made excellent cinnamon rolls: tender, not too sweet.
Give these a whirl if you have pumpkin or squash on hand.
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Squash or Pumpkin Cloverleaf Rolls
Makes 16 cloverleaf dinner rolls
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup squash or pumpkin puree
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
4-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
grated zest of 2 orange (optional)
2-1/2 teaspoons SAF yeast or 2-3/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast
DIRECTIONS:
Put all ingredients in bread machine according to manufacturer’s recommendations (or mix by hand, blending all ingredients except for flour first, then blend in flour).
Set machine to dough setting (or knead by hand until dough is smooth and elastic – about 7 minutes total between mixing and kneading. If making by hand without machine, allow dough to rest and rise in a greased bowl in a warm place loosely covered for 60-90 minutes until dough has doubled in volume).
Grease 16 standard muffin cups.
When machine indicates dough cycle is complete, remove dough onto a lightly-floured work surface.
Divide into 4 equal portions.
Divide each of those into 4 equal portions.
Divide each of the 16 portions into 3 equal portions and roll into small balls the size of a walnut.
WORK FAST – dough may rise rapidly as you work.
Arrange 3 balls of dough into each of the muffin cups.
Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from pans and allow to cool on racks.
Brush tops with melted butter if desired.
(Based on recipe Squash or Pumpkin Cloverleaf Rolls, p. 356-357, The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook, by Beth Hensperger)