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When I was growing up, we always had a special new outfit for Christmas. Most of the time, my grandmother made this holiday apparel. It wasn't until I became an adult, that I realized ................
.............. what an amazing seamstress she was, and how much love she poured into everything she did.
We, (my sister's and I) would lay on the floor and peruse, painstakingly, through the Penney's or Sear's catalog, trying to decided on a dress that we loved. After the decision was finally made, we'd bring the catalog to Grandma and show her the specific outfit that we'd chosen. She'd study the picture for awhile and then (this is the amazing part!), she'd take some old newspaper and draw a pattern for our personally requested dress.
Next, we were off to the fabric store (usually the one in the basement of J.C. Penney's) to pick out some pretty cloth. When we returned home, she'd lay out the newly purchased fabric along with her pattern on the kitchen table and carefully cut out the pieces. Before we knew it, her sewing machine would be a-whirring. It didn't take long and she'd call us for a "fitting". She'd put a pin here and there, make a tuck or two and lower or raise the hem, always adjusting this custom-made dress to fit us perfectly.
This was no small task, since I have three sisters, so she had to repeat this sequence four times! But on Christmas morning, we were as proud as little strutting peacocks, sporting our beautiful new holiday outfits for everyone to see.
Nowadays, we're much more casual about the holidays and, if you peeked into our living room on Christmas morning, you'd probably find us in jammies or just super-comfy clothing. With our holiday meals, however, I love to make things quite special. One of my favorite ways is to pass a pretty bread basket filled with warm festive dinner rolls. I usually take a few extra minutes to make a fun compound butter (recipes to come!) to go along with the rolls.
It's funny, even if I've spent hours on the rest of the meal, often the bread and butter steals the show! I've put together a collection of six of my favorite dinner rolls (including one that's sure to make you laugh). They can all be made in advance and popped into the freezer. Just thaw for a few hours and warm them in the oven before serving. Click on the link below to check them out:
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Oh Chris, I love your story about the Christmas outfits your grandmother made!
The rolls are lovely. I've not had much luck making homemade rolls,but I'm going to give these a try. I am excited about the cookie cutter peppermint bark. We had our big family get-together yesterday,so I missed Christmas but I may make some for Valentine's with a heart-shaped cutter. Oh! The delicious-looking ginger cookies will be one of my husband's up coming birthday gifts.
Thank you so much for your inspired recipes! Merry Christmas!
In Christ, Nancy Wilson
Hi Nancy, thanks for your thoughtful comment! Hope you had a great Christmas!
where do you get the receipes from? i click on your posts but do not see the ingredients nor the method....?
Hi Rose, on Mondays we post on PARADE magazine. If you click on the link at the bottom of the page it will take you to PARADE where you'll find the recipe. Thanks for visiting!
These are beautiful and I'm sure they were as good as they look too!
Love how beautiful these rolls are ~ perfect for any holiday table!
What a centerpiece for a festive table!
Such cute bread rolls, Chris!!! It's so nice to have beautiful childhood memories and so precious to create new ones with your family 🙂
There you go, you made me get all teary eyed. Such a sweet story about your grandmother! My grandmother was an amazing seamstress too and I spent many hours with her learning how to sew. Miss her so much.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I miss dressing up for the holiday dinner. We are casual as well. Loved these rolls. Actually made them last year! Thanks!
I miss dressing up for the holiday dinner. Love these rolls. I stole your idea last year. This year, I just had to resort to getting some whole wheat rolls out of the freezer (but they were still homemade)! Hope you had a great holiday!
I had a great aunt that sewed beautiful clothes for us when we were young. So amazing.
Merry Christmas, Chris.
Fondly,
Glenda
The bread is beautiful but I just loved the story that went along with it. What a precious memory you have! Thank you for sharing!
How cute are these?! I love the green accents on the outfits 🙂 ela
'Yes, please!' These look and sound delish
Lovely, these are just lovely:)
hi chris, those rolls are amazing!! all of them! and the piggy ones...i actually nvr thought that you are someone that will make piggy rolls...LOL! and i love them!
Rolls are a big part of dinner here too! Every one of your rolls looks amazing Chris! Of course the piggies are my fav:@)
Your rolls are once again a thing of beauty! You are an artist Chris - absolutely gorgeous. I remember new outfits during the holidays too. My mom would stay up late at night, while we were asleep, and make a new outfit for each of us. It was always a total surprise and I couldn't believe how hard she worked. Lovely!
these are gorgeous! But even better, I love the story about your grandmother making the four dresses, something I will not forget. Wonder what happened to them?
Thank you, thank you for the recipes and ideas. I have to contribute to someone else's Christmas dinner and these will be a hit!
How luck you and your sisters are to have memories of such labours of love from your grandmother.
I just looked at all your dinner rolls, Chris. So, of course, I pulled out my "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" Cookbook. I know there is a new cookbook #2 on the market but I haven't worked my way through this one yet. What you are so right about is people enjoying an interesting bread basket. And, you've provided some good ideas. Loved this Post about your Grandmother's talent.
These dinner rolls are too cute! The memory of your grandma is lovely, thanks for sharing!
My mom was the one to sew our clothes...but don't think she ever made our holiday dresses! My grandmother would knit for us...lots of socks...wish I would have saved some of those. I just remember them being lumpy! Nothing better than homemade rolls for a holiday dinner...I'll have to try one of yours 🙂
What a wonderful Nana you had..
Love the buns..I have some of those hard paper brioche cups..wonder how many I have left..
whoops, forgot to say beautiful rolls-love the fun you have with these Chris!
I agree with you that often the bread/rolls (homemade, of course!) often steals the show!!! Lol, sometimes it's the pie crust 😉 I enjoyed reading about your homemade clothing experiences-I had some very similar ones and loved sewing my own clothes in high school, now I think about what it costs to buy clothes at places like Od Navy and it's no savings to sew your own, for sure! If I could pry myself out of the kitchen I might sew again 😉
I agree Patti, I love to sew but it really isn't a savings these days.
I have already printed out the parsley-pommengrante recipe and want to try it for the family party. Any homemade dinner roll is wonderful, and the smell so good.
Your grandmother is much like my own mother was except that my mother did not make her own patterns. But oh, the hours my 3 sisters and I spent with her at material stores while we were growing up! And she'd be hemming until midnight on Christmas Eve or Easter Eve.
Did you keep any of your dresses? I wish I had kept some of mine.
Sadly Dewena, I didn't keep any of my dresses, that would have been so fun. Often after we grew out of the dresses, my grandmother would cut them up and make quilts out them. I do have one of those and seeing it always brings a ton of special memories.
So beautiful Chris!
What a lovely memory of your grandma. I don't suppose you have any photos of you and your sisters in her outfits? 🙂
Too bad drooling doesn't burn calories!
These are wonderful!
So pretty and festive!! I love them and would eat them all if they were served at my holiday dinner!
So adorable! I like those brioche moulds.
You are so creative Chris with all your cute little rolls. I'm not sure which one I like best - they all look delicious! I think the little piggy ones are awfully cute and I'm sure your grandkids love those as well. But the pesto one might be my favorite. I'll have to try those.
How lucky you were to have a grandmother that could sew so well. My mothers family use to have a manufacturing company but the only thing I remember being made for was were fancy Barbie clothes. Of course all my friends would love them, especially the full length fur coat my Barbie had.
Great recipes and fun story! Hope your Thanksgiving was a blast!
These rolls are festive and beyond pretty, Chris!
just beautiful!! love your molds!!
Your rolls are so festive, I could easily make a meal out of them and skip the main course ;).