Fortune Cookie Thanksgiving Rolls: a Fun and Easy Thanksgiving Tradition
I love Thanksgiving. It's a humble holiday, sandwiched between the glamorous Halloween and Christmas. It gets glossed over, poor thing! I have I-won't-tell-you-how-many boxes of both Halloween and Christmas decorations and poor Thanksgiving shares her box with like 3 other neglected holidays.
I just really love this day where we focus on the great abundance we have. That and eating delicious food: stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls...
Rolls. That's why we're here today. We've been doing a fun tradition with our Thanksgiving rolls for the last few years that I wanted to pass on.
It's a variation on the going around the table as you eat and naming a blessing from the year tradition that many of us do. I love that simple tradition so much. But this is pretty great too. It's kind of like that tradition meets a fortune cookie.
The Rolls
You start with any roll recipe you want (and that recipe could be Rhodes frozen rolls, thawed of course. No judging.) This recipe has been my favorite for rolls since forever but there are so many yummy possibilities.
The Questions
While your rolls are rising (or thawing), print out your questions and cut them into little strips. I only use four questions and just print them off as many times as I need.
These are the questions I use, but obviously you could use any questions you can think of.
* What is one thing YOUR PARENTS have done for you that had a positively profound impact on your life?
* Who is ONE PERSON that positively changed the way you approach life?
* What are you the MOST GRATEFUL for?
* Name THREE BLESSINGS you have in your life.
I love the discussion these questions bring. I feel like I learn so much about my family every time we do this, especially my extended family.
Fold the paper strips up into small squares about the size of a quarter. Now, take some foil and wrap it up tight. It doesn't take all that much foil- just wrap it around a few times and close it up. Or you can let your kids help and they can be lopsided foil bombs. Either way.
Roll 'Em Out
Now's the fun part. Form your rolls and scoot these little friends inside. You could do any shaped roll your heart desires: clover shaped, round, crescent. Or if your kids are helping, they might end up like all three of those options, all at once.
I like to form my rolls two different ways for Thanksgiving so I can tell them apart. I'll make rolls with a note hiding inside for each person coming to dinner, plus one or two extra because you never know when a roll might accidentally disappear. Then I'll form the rest of the rolls in a different shape so no one gets a jolt on their filling.
Although with my sweet helpers there's not really a chance of anyone not knowing there's a note in any of these.
There is something so fun about cracking open your roll and digging out the note for everyone involved, kids AND adults. I highly recommend starting your Thanksgiving meal with this tradition.
