Saturday baking

Saturday is my baking day. I usually bake bread or rolls for Sunday dinner, and bagels or cinnamon rolls or sweet bread for Sunday morning breakfast. The last two weeks Libby has been the substitute baker, since student teaching has consumed my time. Two weeks ago she mixed up a batch of our favorite Edna Ruth Byler's rolls. She formed part of the dough into cinnamon rolls for breakfast and shaped the rest into rolls for dinner. The rolls are especially delicious when eaten warm, directly from the oven. We rarely indulge in the luxury of freshly baked rolls. Though the recipe makes one hundred rolls, if we let the boys sample baked goods on Saturday we might not have any left by Sunday dinner. 

Edna Ruth Byler's Rolls

7 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

1 cup warm water

4 cups scalded milk, cooled

2 cups mashed potatoes

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon salt

17 to 18 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, potatoes, butter and sugar. Beat in six cups of flour. Let mixture stand until it foams (about twenty minutes). Add eggs, salt and as much remaining flour as needed to make a sticky dough. Knead dough for ten minute, or until satiny, using additional flour as needed. Let rise until double. Divide into 100 portions. Shape. Let rise and bake at 400F for fifteen minutes.