Wednesday Afternoon. Rosie Makes Parker House Rolls.

It's still Wednesday, and Rosie's still a cooking fool. Now I'm making homemade Parker House Rolls. Because I can. And I'm of the persuasion if store bought is good, then homemade is better. Screw Semi-Homemade and the horse she rode in on, as she rides to the bank laughing hysterically.

From left to right: 3 TB sugar 3 TB warm water 1 package active dry yeast I swirled some extra warm water in my yeast package to get every little granule out and poured that into the larger bowl in the back. Waste not. Want not. Add the sugar, water, yeast in the bowl, stir, and let stand to proof - until it's foamy. About 5 minutes.

My ingredients: yeast mixture 1 stick LOLUB (Land o' Lakes Unsalted Butter) 1 cup whole milk (I used a combination of 1/3 cup 1% milk and 2/3 cup heavy cream.) 2 cups bread flour 1 1/2 tsp salt about 1 1/2 - 2 cups all-purpose flour (It depends on weather, alignment of planets, religious affiliation, all sorts of factors.)

Melt 3/4 stick butter in a small saucepan.

Add milk/cream mixture and heat to just lukewarm.

Pour butter/milk mixture into large bowl and stir in yeast mixture. Don't you like that ribbon of liquid pouring in?

Add in 2 cups bread flour, combining with a wooden spoon.

Add in all purpose flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring to incorporate.

Keep adding in the all purpose flour until you have a slightly sticky dough that forms a ball.

Spread a thin layer of flour on your work surface and start kneading, adding a sprinkling of flour if the dough is too sticky. Knead for about 15 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and still slightly sticky.

Butter a large bowl, put dough in the bowl, turning to coat with butter, then let rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place until doubled in bulk. Rosie Tip #326: Nuke a damp towel for about 90 seconds, until very hot and steamy, wrap the bowl in the towel, and place in a small, enclosed space, like your microwave, and let it rise.

When dough has doubled, about 2 hours, punch it down.

Return to your lightly floured work surface and knead for a few minutes. Then I let it rest for about 5 minutes before slicing.

Slice into 20 equal size pieces of dough.

Roll, firmly, into balls. Arrange in buttered pan and let rise, covered, until doubled in bulk.

Maybe 1 hour.

I used a floured razor blade to make a gash down the center of each roll.

Brush with the remaining 1/4 stick of butter, melted. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Let rolls cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.

To reheat on Turkey Day, wrap in foil and heat in a preheated 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. These are gone. The Hawthornelets all wanted ham biscuits Friday morning for breakfast. I sliced the rolls, buttered and toasted them, put on some ham slices, and they ate Every.Last.Roll. Next time, I'm doubling the recipe. In fact, I just might make another batch today.