Secret ingredient...

I have a new recipe. It's a really good recipe and I've just learned how to make it better! At first, I thought it was a fluke. But after doing it twice...I know it wasn't! I made the Lion House Rolls recipe. And man, they are GOOD! I can even make them look just like on the cover of the Lion House Bakery book. Who knew?!
So, you want to know what the secret ingredient is? Well, I have to tell you the story first! Can't tell the secret ingredient without the story!
It all began on Thanksgiving Day...lots of baking, lots of cooking and lots of work. I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed but extremely proud of how well my rolls were rising. They were beautiful. But I needed to put them in a warm damp place to rise even more. And the "Lion House" head baker suggested running your dishwasher for 5 min. and then placing them in the dishwasher (after turning it off of course) to finish rising. Well the first time I did it, I asked McKenna (my daughter) to turn of the dishwasher and then I put them in. But all the water had drained when I put them in. So I was a little bit upset at her for draining it. I told her just to turn it off. She said sorry, and she DID just turn it off. Hmmm....ok. So the next time (when I had shaped the rolls) I told her to not turn it all the way off but to let the water stay in there. So she did. I put the rolls in there and shut the door. OH MY GOSH! It turned the dishwasher on!!!! My beautiful, pride-filled rolls were ruined!! They were soaked!! (I'm not gonna lie! I yelled at McKenna and had to apologize later.) But I digress, I had to quickly dump the water and put them on a dry cookie sheet. They came out beautifully.
And then comes 2 days ago. I now know how the dishwasher works. I now know how my rolls work. And I'm making a beautiful Thanksgiving Dinner for Kelvin and Laura's Birthday. I hadn't done anything for their birthday yet and it was on the 27th of Jan. Bad wife! Bad Mother! I worked ALL day. I was cooking Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, 3 homemade pies, jello salad and "Lion House" rolls! And these rolls were gonna be the best rolls that I had EVER done! I knew it they were! Cuz I was getting better and better at them! I made them in my lovely Bosch, put them in the dishwasher to rise. And man did they rise! They rose right out of the bowl and all over the dishwasher! That's ok! There was still a lot in the VERY large bowl! So I took the dough and did my thing to shape them. Of course they came out perfect! So I put them BACK in the dishwasher to do THEIR thing! And for the next hour told everyone NOT to push the door of the dishwasher in! My brother in law and my sister came in with the turkey which I cooked in their oven and I was helping him with the draining of the juices out of the oven bag. I had to lean over and do it. And my hips PUSHED THE DISHWASHER DOOR IN AND STARTED THE DISHWASHER AGAIN!!!!! (You have got to be kidding me!) I snatched them out of the dishwasher and tried to put them on a new cookie sheet like the last one. The only problem is, they had already risen and when you touch them they kind of let all the air out. Like a flat tire. But I persevered...and put them in the oven anyway. (Quietly went to another room and cried for about 2 min. because I can't be in the kitchen without some sort of kitchen fiasco happening) and came back in the kitchen to finish the mashed potatoes. (I have the best recipe for mashed potatoes if anyone should want it. Seriously...)
So, back to the rolls. They came out gorgeous and yummy! So the secret ingredient is dishwasher water! I know! I was just as surprised as you! But it's true! Dishwasher water makes the rolls the lightest, fluffiest, yummiest tasting rolls that you've ever had.
Who knew?! =D