Thought of mother's clover leaf rolls warms heart

I was sitting in my favorite chair in the front room, just about ready to "nod off" when, like a bolt out of the blue, I thought about my mama's homemade clover leaf rolls. Let me tell you folks, these aren't just any old rolls; they are top-of-the-line blue ribbon.

I am sure if my mama had ever entered a contest in Bourbon County, she would have gotten a blue ribbon for her rolls. Almost any one of the "oldsters" in Fort Scott remembers my mama for her baking. Her rolls, pies, cookies and cakes were to die for.

At Christmastime she made hundreds and hundreds of cookies and gave them to shut-ins, neighbors and friends. I guess the reason her baking was so special is that she put a dab of love in everything she baked. If there was anything she liked to do better than baking, I don't know what it was.

I can remember that when I was just a kid I would watch my mama as she began a batch of rolls. She would get down her big bowl that she used for making rolls. After all of the ingredients were in, she would then begin to knead it. Now let me tell you, she didn't do a slap stick job, no sireeee. She would say to me, "Marilyn, you have to knead the dough a lot. When it is time to let it rise, it should be satiny smooth to the touch."

So she always let me touch and feel it. (But not before I washed my hands.) I would invariably say to her "but mama, they are clean, and she would say to me, "Marilyn when did you wash them last?" And I would hang my head and say I couldn't remember.

When it was finally ready, she would put a tea towel over the top of the bowl. In about an hour she would check it, and then she would punch it down. Then the fun began. I loved watching her as she squeezed each small ball out, dipped them in butter and put three in each muffin cup.

She usually would save enough dough to make a pan of her famous cinnamon rolls. As soon as they would come out of the oven, she would drizzle frosting over each one.

Now, fast forward a few years. I was in high school (and started going with) my future husband, Bob. I invited him over to our house for Sunday dinner. A lot of times mama fixed fried chicken for our Sunday dinner. The day Bob was coming for dinner we were having fried chicken, mashed potatoes and chicken gravy, fresh corn on the cob and one of mama's famous chocolate cakes. AND clover leaf rolls. Well ... he really made a pig of himself eating fried chicken and rolls.

He and my mama took a liking to each other immediately, and I swear to this day the only reason he married me was for my mama's rolls. He also said that Colonel Sanders' chicken wasn't nearly as good as mama's.

After we moved to Wisconsin, my mama would come up in the summer and visit for a couple of months.

Almost as soon as she arrived, Bob would have her start making clover leaf rolls for him, and by the time she was ready to go home, our freezer was full of homemade rolls. Those were the good old days.