1960s Refrigerator Roll Recipe

tonight's dinner

For dinner tonight, we had the vegetable and beef soup. In addition to the cooked, diced beef and onions that I froze on Monday, I added some of the beef stock I made the week before, leftover carrots and potatoes from last night, plus frozen peas, and dried and frozen garden herbs. After seasoning to taste, the soup was ready. Super duper easy. We had dinner rolls (using the refrigerator roll recipe mixed up on Tuesday) and apple wedges with the soup for our dinner.

making hot dog buns and dinner rolls today
to make hot dog buns, roll the dough into long thick ropes, then cut to size

In the comments the other day, Farhana asked if I could provide the recipe for these rolls. 

This recipe is from the 1960s passed down to me from my mother. It makes very tasty rolls.

Refrigerator Roll Dough

1 3/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 F)
5 teaspoons active dry yeast
3/8 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup soft butter or margarine
6 cups all-purpose flour

melted butter or vegetable oil, about a teaspoon

Pour warm water into a large bowl. Sprinkle with the yeast. Stir in until dissolved the sugar and salt. Beat in the egg, the butter/margarine, and 3 cups of the flour. Mix well, until mixture is smooth. Mix in flour 1 cup at a time. Knead until smooth and elastic and forms a large ball.

Drizzle the melted butter or oil over the top of the ball of dough and spread to coat. Cover the bowl securely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours, or until doubled.

After 2 hours, punch the dough down in the center, recover with the plastic wrap, and return to the refrigerator. The dough may be stored in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 days, punching down daily. 

When ready to bake rolls, cut off the portion that is needed. Cut and shape into rolls as desired. Place on greased baking sheet and cover with a non-terry tea towel. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

What I like about this recipe:

• It makes delicious, soft rolls, suitable for burgers, hot dogs or dinner rolls. I use for burger and hot dog buns, crescent rolls, and ball-shaped everyday dinner rolls.
• The dough can be mixed up one day and then baked a day or two later, or baked a little at a time for up to 3 days.
• I can substitute some whole wheat flour for part of the all-purpose flour, up to half without decreasing the loft or soft texture. When I want a mostly-white roll or bun, I substitute just 1 cup of whole wheat flour for a cup of the white flour.

As an estimate of how many rolls this dough makes, with this batch I made 10 good-sized hamburger buns, 4 hot dog buns, and 4 dinner rolls. My mother's recipe says that one batch of this dough will make up to 3 dozen rolls. Those were 1960s to 1970s sized rolls, and were assumed to be just dinner rolls. A single burger or hot dog bun is about twice the size of a 1970s dinner roll.

How has prepping/cooking 2 weeks of meals on one day benefitted me?

Tonight we had the beef in BBQ sauce over homemade buns (baked yesterday) with steamed carrots, Cole slaw, and oven-roasted potato wedges (done in beef fat). Casual and tasty. Today I just had to reheat the beef, add BBQ sauce, slice and steam the carrots, and make the Cole slaw. 

Here are just a few reasons that I'm really loving having spent Monday cooking:

• When I discovered I should have started garden seeds 2 weeks ago, I had the time to quickly get some of the seeds started before serving dinner, then finished with the task after dinner.
• My daughter had her boyfriend for dinner with us. Because I'd planned our meals out in advance, I didn't have to take time to think of what to serve.
• I had extra time to pack up and ship a gift to my new great-nephew. This was no easy task, as it's framed and contains a pane of glass. (My daughter got her start in paid artwork in her teens doing letter brush. She paints the letters of a name or first initial, using flora and fauna in the letters. Even though she's moved on to illustrating books, portraiture, and commercial artwork, she occasionally gets a commission for letter brush or caricatures. I commissioned her to do my great-nephew's name in Scottish highland flora and fauna.) I wrapped and wrapped the framed artwork in bubble wrap. I think it will survive transit halfway across the US.
• A repairman arrived this afternoon to see if he could repair our stove. I had time to "babysit" him and didn't have to worry about not having time to get dinner started.
• Tonight, Wednesday, is usually one of my daughters' cooking nights. Although I took over for her (part of my personal birthday gift to my daughters, cooking for them this month), it wasn't that big of an ordeal for me. I like that I was able to do something for someone else with a fair amount of ease for me.

Yep, I think this is working out pretty well for me. We'll see how the second half of the month goes when I get there.

here's one of my daughter's letter brushes