The fall and winter seasons bring to mind the holidays, family gatherings, decorations, and food! With the weather getting cooler and the days getting shorter, people tend to want a warm, comforting meal. In my humble opinion, the food of these seasons is the best of the year. The depth of flavors created and the love instilled within the food are so tangible and uplifting.
However, local recipes can also illuminate the history and complex traditions of food preparation. Who was doing the cooking, what ingredients were used and why, and the importance placed on the food itself, whether it was used for special occasions or for everyday consumption? This article begins an exploration of the recipes of this area. Using cookbooks in the museum collection, I will pick a recipe, research its author and ingredients, make it, and review it.
I learned to cook from watching and helping my grandmothers, who rarely used recipes; they had made dishes so many times they “eyeballed” the ingredients and just knew when it was right. Initially this was frustrating for me; I needed all the guidance I could get. Over time I learned cooking is about the process and memories you make along the way.
The first recipe I’m going to try is Nora Ousley Glover’s Famous Hot Rolls. I won’t fib, I was nervous to make these rolls as their delicious reputation precedes them and I’ve never made bread from scratch before.
Nora Ousley Glover published this recipe, along with others in her book, “A Collection of Favourite Recipies.” In the foreword, Nora describes growing up in a large family and learning to cook for her family and the children she babysat. Her cooking skills soon became famous in Mount Airy, and people encouraged her to share her recipes, hence her book. She admits to not using measuring utensils in her cooking, but took up the task of kitchen testing all the recipes and recording the ingredient measurements for the book. Nora owned Nora’s Café (formerly Nora’s Place), which was on the corner of South Street and Virginia Street during the 1950s and early 1960s, in the area called Needmore.
The ingredients for this recipe are pretty simple; all purpose flour, buttermilk, baking powder and soda, sugar, salt, shortening, butter, and yeast. This recipe takes patience and time due to the two proofings (where the dough can rest and rise due to the yeast) that the bread musts go through. It was nerve wracking mixing and kneading the dough; if its too much or too little it won’t rise properly and the bread can be dense.
I made a pan of rolls as well as a loaf (I was short a roll pan) and they turned out wonderful! Golden brown on the tops and sides, with a buttery crust and a soft, fluffy inside. When I tasted them I nearly cried from how good they were and how much they reminded me of my grandmother’s rolls. I will most definitely be using this recipe again and can only hope I did Nora’s Rolls justice and made her proud.
Nora’s Roll Recipe
Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups buttermilk (room temperature)
2 tbs. baking powder
2 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
2 pkgs. dry yeast
3 heaping tbs. shortening
¼ lb. butter
Mix together flour, soda, baking powder, salt and sugar add shortening (meanwhile dissolve yeast in warm water as directed on package. Add to flour mixture along with buttermilk, mix to a soft dough. Cover and put to rise in a place. When dough has risen to about triple the amount, it is ready to knead. Start with a cup of flour. Knead small amounts of flour into dough till dough is light and soft, be careful not to knead in too much flour. Roll out dough, have melted butter on hand, use small biscuit cutter, as you cut, you put them in pan. Cover and let rise double in size. Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees. Fifteen minutes is the normal cooking time. If sweet milk is used in this recipe, you must omit the baking soda. You can make these rolls and freeze them for months. This recipe can be doubled as many times as you wish.
Justyn Kissam is the director of programs and educationat the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. Originally from Winston-Salem, she has moved around the state for her education and public history work until settling in Mount Airy. She can be reached at 336-786-4478 x 228 or jnkissam@northcarolinamuseum.org
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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