I was blessed to grow up with all four of my grandparents living and even a great-grandmother on my dad’s side. I’ve talked about my mom’s dad and how he taught me about cereal mixing and the proper way to eat molasses. And I’ve mentioned my mom’s mom and how she left me her china collection. But I haven’t shared with you one of my favorite things about my mom’s parents from when I was growing up.
(yes that is me at age 15 on the left and age 16-almost-17 on the right when I graduated high school)
As a little girl, I used to love going to their house because every morning, I would wake up to the most amazing and familiar aromas: homemade blueberry muffins baking in the oven and bacon sizzling in the skillet. I would bounce out of bed and rush to the kitchen to see my grandparents standing at the ready – aprons on, spatulas in hand. After huge hugs, Momma Billie would pour me a large glass of milk while Daddy Ken would ask me how I wanted my eggs prepared. I would watch with fascination as the eggs sizzled and cooked just perfectly every single time. No one made eggs like my Daddy Ken. 
And the best part was that I could eat as much as I wanted. My family was always amazed at my ability to down half a dozen eggs in one sitting. What can I say? When it’s good, it’s good! 
(Looking for style inspiration? I love both of these looks! Daddy Ken in 1977 and Momma Billie in 1960)
My other favorite food-related memory with my grandparents would hands-down be my grandmother’s homemade rolls. I love bread and especially warm, fresh-from-the-oven rolls. And I have eaten a lot of bread in my lifetime, but I have never had rolls as good as hers. I’m sure much of that is wrapped up in sentiment and the fact that I grew up eating them. But truthfully, they are the best rolls I’ve ever eaten.
I made the rolls for my girls tonight and they absolutely loved them! I mean my girls pretty much love all the bread I make and there are seldom leftovers, but more than half the girls said that these rolls were absolutely the best I’ve made!
It may seem strange that these are rolled out and cut with cookie cutters like biscuits are, but that’s the way Momma Billie always made them. And you don’t mess with a good thing. In fact, I talked to my mom about this today and she said that it wasn’t until she was an adult that she even knew there was another way to make rolls. Love how those things we were raised with stay with us.
I know many people keep family recipes a secret, but I’ve never known anyone in my family to not share a recipe when asked. When you have the best-of-the-best… why not share? And trust me, friends, these rolls ARE the best! At least in this girl’s completely biased opinion.
