They are hard to see in the picture, but the bowl in the corner is full of wonderful, fresh, homemade crescent rolls, a family favorite for holidays! They are so soft and light and delicious!
Unfortunately, they are also packed with wheat flour, milk, butter, and yeast, all forbidden foods for me. I have no problem avoiding such foods, knowing that they will make me sick.
What I can't figure out is this: the question in the title. It's easy to say no to so many foods. I was eating a couple of candies a day at work, and easily decided, no more, and bypass the candy jar. I did not buy any chocolate chips this week, though I had been eating them daily. But when it comes to overeating, I have trouble just saying no.
If I can control my amounts as easily as I avoid the foods that make me sick, I would lose weight easily. This is something to ponder, because I realized as I wrote this that the extra weight is making me sick, just not as quickly or as noticeably. I'll have to give this some serious thought and see if I can make a commitment I can stick to.
Zola Taylor's Crescent Rolls
Makes 32 rolls*
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 pkg. or 2-1/2 tsp dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted
3 eggs, room temperature, beaten+
1 tsp salt
4 cups flour
Heat milk until hot but not burning to touch. You should be able to stick your finger in it without getting burned. Mix in sugar and yeast. Let stand until foamy (about 5 minutes.)**
Mix in butter, eggs, and salt. Stir in flour. Stir until dough is very stretchy and stringy.
Cover and let stand overnight.^
Divide dough in half. Using just enough flour to handle easily, roll out into two large rectangles. Cut each into four rectangles, then cut each rectangle into four triangles. Roll from widest end. Place point down onto ungreased cookie sheet; cover lightly with a towel and allow to raise at least 4 hours.
Bake just before serving at 350 deg. oven until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.^^
Serve on a pretty cloth-lined platter or in a cloth-lined bowl. Don't stack them too high. You want light, fluffy rolls, right?
* ** ^ ^^
Hints for the beginning baker
+If you forgot to get the eggs out ahead, it'll be okay. Just get them out as you gather up the ingredients. You do gather the ingredients first to make sure you have everything you need, right?
* I usually double this recipe, depending on how many people we are serving. For 8 people, 32 rolls makes 4 apiece, but they are small rolls, so that's okay. They also keep well for several hours or overnight, so extras are always good.
** If mixture doesn't foam by 5 minutes, it's either too hot, too cold, or the yeast has gone bad. Test your yeast by putting about 1/2 tsp with 1 tsp. sugar in 1/4 cup warm water. If it doesn't get bubbly, you need new yeast. If you want to do this first, then just add it to the mix, reducing milk and yeast by the amounts used in the test.
^I usually put it in the fridge overnight. The chilled dough is easy enough to work with, and to me seems less sticky. Use non-stick cooking spray on the lid or plastic wrap to keep the dough from sticking to it as it rises.
^^If you have several pans, you can't bake them all immediately before serving. You need to allow 10 minutes per pan, so start early or plan on taking rolls out of the oven all the way through dinner.
I know what you mean. Some foods are easy to pass on, while others just call our names. It you get it figured out, let me know.
ReplyDeleteBest, Sharon