Ode to the Dinner Roll

What with being moderately sick, a packed Thanksgiving weekend, and *ahem* falling down the rabbit hole of guilty pleasure tv, I did not get to do anything like the posts I wanted to for the final week. But! Here's something!
The dinner roll is rarely seen in the wild in America these days. Like the humble lima bean, it has fallen from grace. Although it hasn’t completely disappeared, the only places you can expect to find it are restaurants and catered events and even among more traditional ones.

A dinner roll, like other totems of tradition, is neither missed nor remarked on until Thanksgiving- where they become part of the ritual along with the gravy boat and the butter dishes. And since it’s not expected that you become an expert bread baker as well as a rotisserie chef, you can relax and buy some ready-made rolls at the store. And truthfully, the family is looking forward to that big basket full of steaming rolls, covered in a fancy tea towel. Gluten-free, dairy free, or just regular rolls from the store: can you really break bread without breaking bread? Well, yes. But there's something about the symbolic act.

One of the nicest things you can do with a dinner roll: slit up the side and make tiny turkey and stuffing sandwiches. Garnished, of course, with a large dollop of cranberry sauce and dipped in gravy. I’m positive that the dinner roll sandwich is what Wawa had in mind when they created the Gobbler.

If your offspring happens to be one of those kids who is offended by any food that hasn’t come out of a box with cartoon characters on it (or food that looks like it was once part of an animal), the dinner roll might be the only thing they’ll eat that isn’t pie. This is a problem the rest of the year, but at least on Thanksgiving, you can try and save face by pretending that the kid is eating a turkey sandwich. Incidentally, if your parents are complaining… well, who was it that fed you casseroles full of Velveeta and breadcrumbs most of your childhood? That’s right.

At Thanksgivings gone by, we had Stroehman’s brown n serve rolls. I loved those things. The last time I had them, they tasted flatter and more plastic than I remembered. As a result, I have started making the Betty Crocker dinner rolls whenever I happen to be hosting or coming to a Thanksgiving on my family’s side. The recipe is very straightforward and the rolls are mild with a nice subtle sweetness to them. If you do want to wow your guests with some home made rolls and you’re a bit daunted by baking, this is a very good recipe to get started on.