Grandma Rita's nut roll

"Hello?"

"Hi, Grandma. It's Cathy. How are you?"

"I'm like a fat cat sitting in the sun."

"Good for you."

"It's really cold here today. It's going to be about eight degrees tonight."

"No wonder you're sitting in the sun. So, I was calling to ask for your nut roll recipe."

"Sure, I've got it right here. How's your shorthand?"

"Pretty good."

"Okay. This recipe makes three rolls. You start with two cakes of yeast, or the powdered equivalent. I usually use the powdered. Pour a cup of warm milk over the yeast. Make sure it's warm and not hot, or you'll destroy the yeast. Then mix in a half-pound of butter and six tablespoons of sugar. Add four cups of flour, one cup at a time, and then two egg yolks. Save the whites to whip up and add to your nut mixture. Also add a teaspoon of salt. Let the dough rise for an hour. Divide it into three sections. You can always freeze sections to use later if you don't want to make all of it at once. Sprinkle sugar and flour on your rolling surface and roll out your dough, make sure it's not too thin or it will break when you try to roll it up. Whip the egg white and add the nuts to it. Or you can use poppy seeds or dried fruit or fruit spread. You can also add honey or caro syrup to the mixture - anything to make it spreadable. You don't want to scratch the dough too much. Roll up the dough carefully and put the logs on a sheet or a dish with sides and let it rise again for forty-five minutes. Bake the rolls for twenty-five minutes at three fifty and then turn down the heat to three twenty-five and bake for another fifteen minutes. Let them cool a bit, and then invert the sheet onto a cooling rack. That's the easiest way to get the rolls off the sheet."

"That sounds easy enough."

"It's an easy recipe. I'm sure you can do it."

"Thanks, Grandma."

Mom and I experimented and made a gluten-free, dairy-free version today (darn those food allergies anyway). The dough was a bit too crumbly, so next time, I'd probably add the whole eggs, and just use honey to mix with the nuts or rice syrup or maybe even molasses. We made one with walnuts, one with pecans, and one with dried cranberries. They came out a bit crumbly, but they taste good.

Mom, Emily (my sister), me, Grandma Rita (April 2007)

*This is the same grandmother who had an 80th birthday party several weeks ago.