Becky's Cheese Secrets

Every Tuesday night Martin and I host a small group meeting here at our house. My mother was the kind of person who would frantically clean all day if she knew anyone was going to set foot in her home - well, let me rephrase that - she'd marshall her minions (read: children) to work at making it look like no one ever lived in the our usually VERY lived in looking house. The only thing that inspired more of a cleaning frenzy was when we were headed out of town. Oh my! By the time we scoured the house to spic and span condition, all of us were too tired to want to go anywhere.

All this to say, I am not my mother. At least not in this way. It's something I've had to grow out of because I started out being just like her, to the point of making myself sick with worry anytime people were coming and often choosing NOT to have them in my home, as it meant too much attention to neurotic detail. That's an exhausting and defeating way to live. I finally decided that if guests don't like the way my house looks, they'll either forgive me and carry on (thereby proving to be true friends) or they'll go someplace else cleaner. For now, my small group appears to be choosing to stay.

Just because I don't go into a frenzied cleaning fit doesn't mean I don't pick up and tidy up a bit when I know folks are going to be in my home. This morning, I got my kitchen ready for the evening and then stood back and admired how clean it looked. I'd already decided Martin would have some leftover stuff that would be easy to whip up for an early dinner without creating a new mess, when suddenly that urge came over me. I wanted to bake! Specifically, I wanted to make my cousin Becky's Cheese Secrets - and so, clean kitchen or not, I did.

I first ate these cheese secrets too long ago to remember. All I know is that I considered Becky to be some kind of magician when I bit into these clever rolls with a secret inside. How did she do that? I'm sure I'd never made any rolls at that point and certainly not the kind that require an extra skill like wrapping cheese around the dough.

Have you ever tried making someone else's recipe and felt it didn't quite come up the original bakers level of perfection? I used to make these rolls early in my marriage but every time I'd eat what I made, it never seemed to have that same glorious pop of cheesy/yeasty goodness that Becky managed to attain.

Maybe that's what made me quit making them for so long. Then, at Christmastime this year, I decided to make a batch. The kids ate them and liked them enough to immediately want more but I was disappointed with the results. One big failure was not taking the effort to carefully crimp them enough to seal in the cheese. One look at the cookie sheets bleeding orange told me these rolls weren't going to taste as delightfully cheesy as they should have.

Today I made sure to carefully close each roll. I also experimented with one variation from Becky's original recipe - a change that I wonder if she hasn't made herself, now that I know she has her own Kitchenaid stand mixer. Instead of taking the time to hand knead the dough, I let my Kitchenaid bring the mixture to the satiny smooth finish called for in the recipe.

Right now the rolls are rising on their cookie sheets. I can hardly wait to see how they turn out!

Cheese Secrets
1/4 lb cheddar cheese
1 pkg. dry yeast
1/4 cups warm water
3/4 cup hot scalded milk
1 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 - 3 cups flour
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Cut cheese into 40 half inch cubes. Soften yeast in water. Combine in mixing bowl the milk, sugar, 3 tbsp. butter and salt. Cool to lukewarm, stir in yeast. Gradually add flour to form stiff dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and satiny, 4 to 6 minutes. Divide dough into four parts. Cut each into ten pieces. Wrap dough around cheese cubes. Seal edges, shape into balls. Place on greased cookie sheets. Cover and let rise in warm place until light, 45 - 60 minutes.

Bake at 400 for ten to twelve minutes. Brush with melted butter, dip into parmesan cheese. Best served warm. For dinner rolls, cut 20 1 inch cubes of cheese. Cut each quarter of dough into 5 pieces. Makes 20.