The importance of . . . Butter and Rolls.

      Butter and rolls?!  Yes, butter and rolls which are usually the first piece of food eaten at a party or meal event can be a make or break moment for the whole event. If someone grabs an unpleasantly flavored roll or they find the butter is a yellow, cold, unspreadable brick it can immediately set their mood. Whereas if a guest rips into a tasty roll and spreads some sweet properly softened butter on it, well that’s a great start to any gathering. Thanksgiving 2.6 is clearly a meal-centric event, so I do not want my guests to have a poor start to their holiday memories. Now, I have had an up and down relationship with rolls and butter at past TH2's, but I have a better plan (I hope) this year. Poor butter maintenance will not wreck my dreams this year!

      TH2.4 was the first and last time I attempted to create a few compound butters. A compound butter is butter that has been whipped or mixed together with an herb or spice. I attempted to make a rosemary version, and a cinnamon one. I whipped the butter and ground the rosemary and then reformed the butter. I did the same for the cinnamon butter as well. It didn’t seem to matter. This type of condiment didn't agree with the TH2 crowd. I don't think my guests knew what to do with them. Now this may have been because I did not have a proper label on the butters, or because I didn’t make any suggestions for what to do with them. I decided after the gathering that I won't be trying this again for several years. I think the idea needs some space, and that I need a lot more butter practice.

      This year I have had a few new ideas as far as the appetizer roll situation goes. First, I have 2-3 recipes for German breads that I would really like to try out. I have a brotchen roll recipe which is a hard roll, with a shiny crust. I also have a German style sourdough recipe that I would love to try. Thirdly, there is a German weck roll recipe to attempt, which is similar to a Kaiser roll, but has a seed or salt topping. I am hoping the brotchen and weck are different enough from one another for the guests to see and taste the difference. Along with these recipes I have also found a small German butcher shop that carries authentic foods and products. I am going to purchase a small variety of premade breads from there to taste test. There may be a day of baking where I invite some friends over to test the recipes and compare them to the rolls I have purchased.

      This year’s breads will be fancier than years past, but no new compound butters until at least next Christmas 2: Christmas in July. I think 3 years is enough of a butter break. I feel that I could experiment with red, and green items mixed in with the butter. Perhaps raspberries or maybe jalapenos would be tasty. If anyone has ever accomplished the butter idea when serving guests I would love to hear about it.