Home Tour Thursday

    I've seen this done by a few other bloggers, and as we live in a house (albeit, a rental) currently, instead of the apartments we were living in the last couple years, I decided to try it for the last few weeks of 2012.

I'm starting with our kitchen. One photo is the view from the entryway of our house/the front door. You may notice I have a few Christmas decorations up and around the area. I'm one of those people who really enjoys the season and likes to have small reminders of the holiday all around the house.

The next photo is looking into our kitchen from the dining area. Pretty much the same view, except you see a little more of the refrigerator, and the silver and glass platter that's been through 5 generations of my husband's family.

Thanksgiving Recipes: Rolls

Continuing with my Friendsgiving/Turkey Day recap, here's the recipe for the rolls (sorry, no pictures, they were too delicious to take time to photograph):

(Adapted and made from the Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving 2012 Booklet)

Parker House Rolls

Prep time: 20 min  | Inactive prep time: 1 HR 40 min | Cook time: 25 min | Makes 24 Rolls

1.5 cups milk

8 Tbs (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into 8 pieces, plus 2 TBs melted butter (We use Country Crock)

4.5 tsp active dry yeast (for this I used Red Star from the jar)

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra on hand for rolling dough

3 Tbs sugar

1 Tbs kosher salt (I used good ol' Morton table salt)

1.5 tsp. Sea Salt

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp white (or black) sesame seeds

Combine milk and the 8 Tbs of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until butter is melted, about 7 min. Remove from heat and let cool to 105-115*F. Add yeast and stir until dissolved. Let stand for 10 minutes.

In a bowl of electric mixer fitted with dough hook, combine 4 cups flour, sugar, and kosher salt and beat on low until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the milk mixture and knead until dough forms a ball., about 1-2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-low and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, 4-5 min. Remove dough from mixer bowl, oil inside of bowl and return dough to the bowl. (I used a paper towel and some olive oil for this). Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let dough rise for about an hour. 

Divide risen dough in half. Grease a 13x9 pan. On lightly floured work surface, roll each piece of dough into a log 12 inches long. Using a pastry scraper (I used a regular butter knife), divide each log into 12 equal pieces. Using your cupped hands, roll each into a ball. 

Arrange the dough balls into prepped baking pan so there are 4 rows of 6. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 min. In a small bowl, combine the sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and sesame seeds. Preheat oven to 375*F

Remove plastic wrap from pan. Brush tops of rolls with the 2Tbs. of melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt mixture (I used our silicone basting brush from W-S; easily comes apart for quick clean in dishwasher or handwash). Bake the rolls until golden and thermometer reads 190*F, or about 18-20 minutes. Invert the rolls to a wire rack, then turn back right side up to another rack (I skipped this step for transport purposes).