Resurrection Rolls

"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date.

"No time to say 'Hello," 'Goodbye,'

"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!"

The White Rabbit was late in Alice in Wonderland. Easter has come and gone, and this recipe would have been more timely before the big day. For several years, I've looked up recipes for Resurrection Rolls, but I didn't actually make them until last Friday, prior to our Saturday Easter celebration in Topeka. 


I could wait until next year and hope that I remembered I had this recipe lurking around in the files. But I had a request for the recipe. Plus, Jill says she likes these better than cinnamon rolls, so I will likely make them again before Easter. 


The rolls represent the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, thus the name. You put a large marshmallow inside a piece of dough and seal it up. After baking, the roll is hollow inside.

If you want to make them with children, grandchildren or a Sunday School class, here is the symbolism:

• The piece of dough represents the cloth they wrapped Jesus' body in for burial. 
• The marshmallow represents Jesus' body.
• The butter and sugar-cinnamon mixture represent the oils and spices His body was anointed with for burial.
• Seal the roll tightly around Jesus' body, like the stone was rolled in front of the tomb to secure it. 
• Wait for the "rising." (Obviously, you're not waiting three days, but you can make that point with the children.)

To speed up this process, you can use frozen yeast rolls that you've thawed instead of making the dough from scratch. I've also seen several recipes that use a can of crescent rolls (and less butter, sugar and cinnamon, since you're only making eight rolls.)

If you're using this for a Sunday School class, you can read the story from the Bible as the rolls are baking. They are so good you won't want to wait until next Easter to make them. And the Easter story is one we should remember every day, not just once a year amidst white lilies and brand new dresses.

Homemade Resurrection Rolls

Makes 32

1/2 recipe Kim's yeast roll dough
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
32 large marshmallows

Make yeast dough as directed. (Click on the above link or use a favorite homemade yeast dough recipe.) Let rise until doubled in bulk. Divide dough in half. Use the other half for crescent rolls, cinnamon rolls or additional Resurrection Rolls.

Divide remaining dough into 32 pieces. Mix sugar and cinnamon together. Dip large marshmallow into melted butter. Roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Flatten one piece of dough. Put marshmallow in the middle of dough, wrapping the dough around and securing the marshmallow inside, making sure it is well covered. Dip into melted butter again and then roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. You can place the balls in muffin cups or place 16 each in two 13- by 9-inch pans. Let them rise until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes until lightly browned. When you open the rolls, you'll find that the rolls are hollow inside, like Christ's empty tomb. (I did find that the rolls boiled over a bit in the muffin tins, so you need to line the oven with foil if you choose muffin tins.The marshmallow does melt out, making a gooey sauce in the bottom of the pan, which you don't want in your oven.)

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Today, I'm linked to Wake Up Wednesdays. Click on the link for recipes from across the country.

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I'm linked to the Country Fair Blog Party hosted by:

Nicole of Tales of A Kansas Farm Mom; Taysha of Dirt Road Charm; Danielle of High Heels and Shotgun Shells and Laurie of Country Linked.

Those Are the Breaks

Tulips outside the Stafford First United Methodist Church

Nothing could dampen the joy of Easter ... not even a flat tire and a broken toilet.

It's inevitable. There is always some calamity to deal with when 20 people are expected for dinner.

Randy, me Jill & Eric after church on Easter Sunday

I remember a heating element going out of my Mom's oven on a long-ago Thanksgiving. At a Turkey Day at our house, we lit our fireplace for a little ambiance to entertain about 30 of the extended Fritzemeier clan. Instead, we had every door and window open, trying to air out the place.

So I should have expected some sort of curve ball. It arrived Saturday night in the form of a broken toilet. And, of course, the home improvement store was closed. (And, as it turns out, we are still waiting on parts.)

It reminded me of a Memorial Day weekend when we were first married. I invited one of Randy's great aunts to dinner after the annual cemetery tour. She declined because she was sure we didn't have indoor plumbing. What century did she think we were in?

Thankfully, we didn't have to resort to an outhouse for Easter 2011 either.

The other wrinkle in Easter plans came for my niece Abby and her boyfriend Derek. I was pretty impressed that they were planning to make a 3-hour drive from his family's home in Yates Center and arrive in time for a 9 AM Easter worship service at our church.

A flat tire poked a hole in that plan. The upside? They arrived in plenty of time for dinner - minus the church clothes - but safe and sound.

My sister Lisa, niece Abby, Derek & brother-in-law Kyle

It was a day filled with family, food and fellowship.

The guests included my Dad and Mom.

Brian, Madi, Suzanne & Kent

I made my brother's family sing for their supper (or dinner, as the case may be). Madison and Kent joined our choir for the morning's two anthems. (I missed getting photos of Suzanne's folks. I also didn't take one photo during our early morning brunch at church. So much for including that in the church newsletter. Oh well.)

Dave, Amanda, Emily, Kathy, and our dog Ralph, who had to be in the photo

Randy's sister Kathy and family were debating about whether to attend their Wichita church or get to Stafford by 9 AM. Amanda gave the deciding vote, telling her mom that she wanted to go to Kim & Randy's church so she could "get hugged by a bunch of old people I don't know." We guess we are a friendly church.

It was great to have Jill and Eric home for a three-day weekend. We missed Brent who couldn't make the trip from South Carolina since he had three big projects due last week and two this week.

But there was a great church service celebrating our risen Savior.

There was plenty of spiral ham, cheesy potatoes, homemade rolls, salads and dessert to go around.

And the guys had a Sunday afternoon drive to ponder farm life.

Take that Murphy's Law: You couldn't get us down, despite a flat tire and a broken toilet.

Talking Turkey

Ham is on the County Line Easter menu. Jill and Eric are coming, and Jill says it's not Easter dinner without ham and cheesy potatoes.

But, depending upon how many other family members RSVP for the holiday meal, I may add Herbed Turkey Breast to the menu, too.

It is a recipe from my friend, Kelly Ballard. She shared the recipe for my cookbook project for Jill and Eric prior to their August 2009 wedding.

I've talked before about my massive, I'll-try-that-recipe-sometime pile. My back porch freezer defrost gave "sometime" the opportunity to arrive.

True confessions: The boned turkey breast was past its "best when used by" date. But the creamy sauce provided the additional moisture needed to resurrect the meat.

Even my beef-loving husband really liked this meal. I served it with stuffing (also from the freezer), a green salad and some lightly sauted zucchini.

The hardest part of this recipe was getting the garden-flavored cream cheese. My local grocery store didn't have it, so I had to wait until I went out of town for that ingredient. It was definitely worth the wait.

Enjoy - whether you use it for Easter dinner or an everyday meal!

Herbed Turkey Breast

1 turkey breast (4-5 pounds)
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1/4 cup garden vegetable-flavored whipped cream cheese
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. fresh minced parsley
1/2 tsp. each basil leaves, rubbed sage and thyme
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Place turkey in Crock pot. Combine remaining ingredients and brush over turkey. Cover and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours or High for 5 to 6 hours.