Jordan Rolls – And Why Interruptions Are The Key To My Success
I’m gonna start out by telling y’all that it is probably not a good idea for me to post today. My normally scattered mind is even more so, thinking on a million different things as I race to finish up my book. I’m trying to make sure my heart is in every story and that I haven’t overlooked a single cherished recipe. My hands are shaking when I stop typing because my heart and nerves say “Go! Go! Go! One more…tell them one more!”.
It’s a race to share my love for you and the wonderful upbringing I have been fortunate enough to have and I want to make sure I eek out every bit of it that I can. Like when an old friend is about to leave and you have to give them that last, urgent hug where you squeeze just a little bit tighter in hopes that they’ll feel how much you mean it. When all is said and done I hope you’ll all read this book and know how very important you have all been in the process of writing it, and I hope you’ll be able to feel how grateful I am and how very much you mean to me.
That said, I’m gonna try to get through this post with the proper instructions, the links where they should be, and not overlook any glaringly obvious details!
But before we get to that, my little soap box has been feeling awfully neglected as of late and so I promised it I’d take it out and dust it off a bit….
~clears throat, stands up straight, and grasps her right lapel as she prepares to address the audience~
I’m often asked how I do it all. How I have time to maintain a home, take care of my kids, keep a blog going, answer emails, write a book, and still manage to put supper on the table at night. The funny thing is that every time someone asks me how I do it, like most of us, I can’t help but wonder the same thing myself.
The course of writing this book was probably one of the most stressful times in my life to date. Juggling everything has become increasingly difficult and I had to send out a few S.O.S. calls to friends and family members – bless them for answering.
One particular day last week, as my deadline was drawing close, I found myself dreading my daughter coming home from preschool. It had been a very productive morning and I caught myself thinking “She’s going to be here soon. She’s going to interrupt me all afternoon and I won’t get a single thing more accomplished on the book.” I could feel the stress building and I huffed in frustration “Why can I not just have a day without interruptions?”
At that moment, I experienced an epiphany. In the midst of the churning inside, it hit me right in the pit of my stomach just what those interruptions were and more importantly, what my life would be without them.
A day without interruptions would be a day without my kids, my family, and friends. A day without interruptions would be a day without emails from the wonderful people who read Southern Plate and take time to let me know that I’ve somehow managed to speak my heart in a way that has touched theirs.
Sometimes it’s a phone call from my mother in the middle of a blog post. I’m so fortunate to still have her in my life and to count her as my dearest friend. Sometimes it’s a little face peeping around the computer screen who has a habit of starting every single sentence with the world “Mama” and I’m reminded that my greatest dream has come true in that I am a mother to two beautiful children.
In that moment, I saw interruptions in an entirely new light. Not as annoyances, but as blessings, God’s way of checking in with us and reminding us to take a moment to appreciate the things that really matter.
How do I do it all?
After that one moment I can tell you without a doubt that the secret to any success I may have and anything I may achieve is owed entirely to the multitude of interruptions in my life.
As you go about your day, checking off your growing to do list and wondering how you are going to fit it all into the waking hours, I hope you are as fortunate as I am to have the wonderful interruptions that make it all worthwhile.
~steps down and takes a deep breath~ I feel better now. ~grins~
And now for the recipe. This is my personal roll recipe, that I serve whenever an occasion calls for them. They are pretty easy as far as yeast breads go and I hope your family will enjoy them as much as mine does. I especially like to make them whenever I bake a ham, using the leftover rolls and ham to make little sandwiches with the next day.
You’ll need: All purpose flour, sugar, salt, yeast, vegetable shortening, two eggs, and melted butter or margarine.
You’re also going to need some hot water and aren’t we fortunate to be able to just go get that out of the sink?
Lots of folks don’t have such luxuries.
I don’t like to use packets of yeast because I have the patience of a nervous lizard so I use the jar yeast which can be purchased beside the packets.
This way I just measure it out. The back of the jar will tell you how many teaspoons equal a packet. In this case I’m going to use four and a half teaspoons.
I’m going to just put the packet measurements at the bottom, though, because that is what most people use.
This little jar will keep forever if you put it in your fridge but I usually go through a few each year – at least.
Measure your sugar, salt, 2 cups flour, and yeast into a bowl.
Cut in shortening with a long tined fork.
You can use a fancy pastry cutter if you want to but that’s just one more thing to clutter up my kitchen so I got rid of it years ago.
After you get your shortening cut up in there real good, add your eggs.
Like so.
Flash was on in this picture so if it looks a little whiter that is why.
Beat up your eggs a bit.
I know they didn’t do anything to ya but sometimes things like this happen with no provocation.
Those eggs were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Beat ‘em!
And mix them up in there.
Now we add our melted butter or margarine. You want to melt this and then give it time to cool so that it isn’t too hot.
The thing about yeast breads that is most tricky to folks is getting their liquid ingredients the right temperature. A good rule of thumb that has always served me well has been to make sure liquids are about the temperature as baby’s bath water. Yes, I stick my finger in the melted margarine, it doesn’t hurt anyone.
If it’s as warm as a baby’s bath water, but not hot, then it is a great temperature.
Add the remaining flour.
and the water, again making sure the water is the temperature of baby’s bath water.
If you don’t know what temperature a baby’s bath water is then you could always go borrow a dirty baby, I suppose…
Stir that up good.
It’s going to look like a lumpy blob when you’re done.
Cover that with a towel and let it sit for twenty minutes.
After twenty minutes, it’s going to look like an even bigger lumpy blob.
This is good. You have done well, grasshopper.
Now we need to flour a surface and pour our blob out onto it.
I just put out a sheet of waxed paper to save cleanup and sprinkle a good bit of flour over it so my dough doesn’t stick.
You need to knead..
~pauses and reads that again~ That just looks funny…
Okay, so you need to knead your dough a time or two and what I do is just put some flour on your hands, press the dough into a ball, and then smoosh it out with the heel of your hand. Then put it into a ball again and smoosh it out again with the heel of your hand.
Then wonder what crazy person decided to call that part of your hand a heel because that makes no sense at all to me.
I know, I’m in rare form today but if you think this is bad, you should see me when I’m caffeinated.
From here there are two ways you can go with these rolls.
Okay so in reality there are countless ways you can go with this but I am going to show you the two ways that I use.
I’ll start with my favorite and the less maintenance one.
My favorite Method #1
After kneading your dough two or three times, shape it into a rectangle.
If this doesn’t look like a perfect rectangle to you then squint your eyes until it does…
Cut into strips with a pizza cutter.
And then cut cross wise.
I like this method best because it’s easy and ends up yielding larger and smaller rolls which seem to suit company better anyway.
Spray one 9×13 pan with cooking spray.
Arrange in pan and spray tops lightly with cooking spray.
Cover with towel and let rise for twenty minutes.
~~~~~~~~
METHOD 2
Pat your dough out into a circle, about twelve inches in diameter.
With a pizza cutter, cut the circle into sixteen pieces.
Spray two 9×13 inch pans with cooking spray.
Roll each triangle up beginning on the big end and rolling towards the point.
Like so.
Space them out a bit and put them in two 9×13 pans.
I spray the tops lightly with more cooking spray to have prettier rolls when they are done baking and to help prevent them from sticking in the next step.
Cover with a towel and place in a warm place for another twenty minutes.
note: My oven is not on in this pic.
Another note: Terri gave me this dish towel when she came to visit Bountiful this past summer. Ain’t it purty?
After twenty minutes, preheat oven (without rolls in it) to 350.
Bake for about twenty five minutes. Brush with melted butter or margarine when done.
Method #1
Method #2
My mother in law, Linda, myself, and Mama just before Christmas day dinner at Bountiful.
We had sweet potato casserole, fresh corn, Mac and Cheese (for Katy), sweet and sour green beans, baked ham, Jordan rolls, and Mama’s Velvet cake. I think the best dinners are served out of mismatched dishes around a family table. Keeps the focus where it needs to be anyway.
Ingredients
- 1/2 C solid vegetable shortening
- 1/2 C Sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 pkg fast acting yeast**
- 5 C all purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 stick butter or margarine, melted (plus more for brushing baked rolls with)
- 1 1/2 C warm water (like a baby’s bath temperature, this is key with working with yeast)
Instructions
- Place sugar, salt, 2 cups of flour, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Cut in shortening with a long tined fork.
- Add eggs, beating lightly with fork before stirring them in. Add remaining flour, melted butter, and water. Stir together well. Mixture will look like a big old lumpy blob.
- Cover with a dish towel and let sit in a warm place for twenty minutes.
- After 20 minutes, turn out onto a floured surface. Sprinkle flour over the top and knead three or four times.
- Pat out into a square that is about 3/4 inch thick (or see method #2 above). Cut into squares with a pizza cutter.
- Place in greased 9×13 pan and cover with towel. Let rise another 20 minutes. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until tops are golden.
- Brush hot rolls with additional melted butter.
**Note: I use a fast acting or “rapid rise” yeast. It is perfectly alright to use regular yeast, your rolls will just need longer to rise.
“Strength comes from the inside,
but must be fed on the outside to be able to grow.”
-Richard Manintveld
Submitted by his loving wife, Deidra. Submit your quote here. Gain motivation and encouragement here as well.
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Jan 25 2010. Filed under Breads.
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I love yeast rolls. Great recipe.
These are really good! I made these for my friend who had surgery. They loved them. I also made a pan for our family at the same time!
Can’t wait to try these!
Love these rolls, they are the best!! Oh yea, easy to make too!
These are the best rolls EVER!!! I make them every special occasion and have baked some as gifts for my neighbors.
Yeast rolls are the best! Good taste and easy to make. What a winner!!
I have never made bread/rolls this easy, they are fabulous.
these will be my first attempt at homemade rolls–they look easy & so tasty! thanks 4 all the great recipes and life lessons too
Made these rolls yesterday for dinner. This is the best roll recipe I have tried will be making these for now on!
I am so glad to hear that you liked them Jacinda!!
Hey Christy, can I make this dough up ahead of time? We are having an anniversary party, antique style, and I’d love to make these for everyone. Thanks girl!
They froze really well!
Just wondering if you could convert the rolls into those wonderful cinnamon rolls that lunchrooms used to serve on chili day?
I cooked these. easy and delicious
I am so glad to hear that you liked them Stephanie!!
Hi, Christy. I found your site recently and have just loved reading it. I have Southern roots myself. Sad to say, I think I am the only one to fail on the Jordan rolls.
I think it is because I added the melted butter pretty darn close to when it came out of the microwave and it killed the yeast. That’s my theory anyway.
Good news is, my family thought they were great, thought I had tried a new cornbread recipe. So still tasty, even though I didn’t get the yeast flavor/texture I was going for.
Can’t wait to try them again. Hope to master them. If not, at least I know my family likes my “new cornbread!”
Welcome to Southern Plate Cathy!! I am so sorry that the rolls didn’t turn out just right, it does sound like that might have been your problem. I look forward to hearing how they turn out next time!!
I do want to try your Jordan Rolls. They remind me of ones my moma made when I was a child. She cut them in triangles and rolled them so. Let them rise and baked them. Yum were they good. I’m thinking I may try this for Thanksgiving dinner. My Grand daughters will be here and they may enjoy helping me roll these up in what ever shape they make them. Sounds like fun to me. Hugs and Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope you get to try them soon Maryann! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!
I’m so excited to make these rolls this week. They are my absolute favorite! This year I’ll be making them for 40 family members at our Thanksgiving dinner. They have been a hit anytime I’ve made them. Thanks for sharing this recipe, and also your heart. Have a very happy Thanksgiving!!
Love this recipe thank youi! And you make it fun with your great personality!!
Dear Christy,
I had discovered your site earlier this year and have tried a number of recipes with great success! After tasting the Jordan rolls at our thanksgiving dinner, they have become my favorite bread recipe next to biscuits. I look forward to your postings!!!
I am so glad to hear that you liked them Karen!!! I hope you had a Happy New Year!!
These rolls are awsome,I tryed making yeast bread befor and i gave up.now over 14 years later I said way not the worst thing happen is they come out yukky.But no way these are so good and I thank you for your storys and your time sharing with me and others.
These look really good. I’ve tried several recipes sometimes good other times not so. Think it has something to do with humidity. Anyway was just wondering if these could be made up cut out and frozen. Only me and the wife here and we would not eat nearly all the recipe call for.
This is now my “Go To” recipe.
Thank you so much Gretchen, I am glad to hear that you like them!!
I love it when you said if it did not look like a perfect rectangle just squint your eyes until it did. I am so happy to know that there is someone else that thinks like I do sometimes. I am going to try these rolls soon, they look delicious.
Thank you!
I would like to thank you for this recipe. My guys loved it. I have never made a homemade roll before basically because every recipe I found was intemidating. Not this one. It was simple and delicious. When it gets quite at supper time ’round here it means you’ve done well. I just love this site. I found you about a year ago and keep coming back for recipes. Your such a down to earth person and as a southerner myself I can appreciate that!!
My Mom said, the Yeast at Aldi’s is best.
Such a great lil recipe. You are amazing. Thank you.
loved your blog about interruptions. my life is one big interruption right now, staying with my parents due to medical problems. you are right about it being a blessing and i remind my mom that after the lifetime of care she and dad gave me that i’m glad to be able to pay some of it back.
Christy you give me so much incentive to try things I have never tried before. You make baking look so easy. Will definitely try these. Thank you and may you and yours Have a Very Happy Easter lm
Christy, I would like to make these rolls but it’s just my husband and I, is there a way to freeze the rolls prior to baking? I thought maybe if I froze them before the final rise, then take them out to thaw, rise then bake.
Hello Christy! I’ve made these rolls twice now-taste great but seem alittle heavy-where do you let them rise? I let them rise the second time on top of my stove with the oven on for a warm place. I think my water has been correct temperature-maybe the butter cooled down more? Maybe mine need two pans to put in-instead of one pan. Any thoughts on how to improve? I do love the texture and will try again because they do seem to be a great recipe!
I did make Katy’s Lemon Juice cake and put lil’ jelly beans on top for Easter decoration-sneaked a taste and it’s to die for! Keep sending your recipes-bless you and yours for Easter and thank you!