On the “Easy Road” with Rhodes!
By Alice Osborne
We love summer, but boy it can get busy. That’s when I look to Rhodes Bake ‘n Serve to put us back on the mealtime “easy road.” Their frozen bread dough is so easy to use, so versatile, and so simple. When I need dinner in a hurry, Rhodes is my answer, which is no surprise since their company motto has always been “Simple things that make life better.”
The history of this terrific company is fascinating. The founder, Herbert Cecil Rhodes Jr., was born in England, in 1896, and when he was eight, he got his first job selling bread after school and on Saturdays.
In 1907, the Rhodes family moved to British Columbia and Herb Jr. got a choreboy job at Fernie Free Press. Within two months, he began his own printing business. In 1911, Herb repaired an abandoned water well rig for $300 and started drilling wells. His first well struck water at 125 feet and is still in use today.
About this time, Herb married Edythe Andrews of Portland, Oregon and they moved to Portland, Oregon in 1919 where Herb opened the Dusty Rhodes Garage. Here he invented the compression gauge and magneto charger for Model T Fords.
Herb got into the food processing business when he bought a failing mayonnaise company and put it back on its feet. In 1928 he sold the company to Nalley in Tacoma, Washington.
In 1929, Herb assisted in perfecting the automatic dinner roll machine. In 1932, he founded Rhodes Bakery Equipment, Inc. which sold products nationwide and revolutionized the baking industry. In 1948, Mr. Rhodes and his staff perfected the Rhodes Automatic Reverse Sheeting Moulder-Panner. For a period of time, 80% of all bread made in the United States and Canada was produced under his patents. Rhodes Bakery Equipment also perfected and manufactured the “Kook-e-King” machine which automated the cookie industry.
Then in 1951, Herb bought a bankrupt freezer manufacturing plant. For several years he manufactured “Zero Freeze” domestic and commercial freezers. In 1958, Herb and business partner, Les Lindsay, combined the bakery equipment and refrigeration plants in Portland, Oregon and developed frozen bread dough branded as Rhodes Bake-N-Serv Bread.
They franchised 17 small frozen dough plants over most of the United States, Canada and England, and the rest really is history—with lots of happy endings, including mine. No more summer-meal-time frenzy thanks to Rhodes puttin’ me back on mealtime “easy road!”
Now with all this cool history under our belts, let’s lock-a-lip around some of their amazing Bake’n Serve delights:
Dutch Oven Bacon Cheese Pull Aparts
- Ingredients
- 14 Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 8 pieces cooked bacon, broken into small pieces
Directions: Cut each roll in half. Pour butter into a 12-inch Dutch oven. Roll cut rolls in butter until coated and arrange in Dutch oven. Sprinkle with cheese and bacon. Cover with lid and let rise until double. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes.
NOTE: We put a couple cans of chili in the oven first and then topped it all with the rolls and baked it all about 8 or 10 minutes longer — so 28 to 35 minutes. The bottom of the rolls were obviously a little moist from the chili—who cares. Everything was scrumptious!
Dutch Oven Temperature Control using Briquets: 350°F in a 12-inch Dutch oven, oven top 16, oven bottom 8
CURLY DOGS
(serves 4)- Ingredients
- 8 Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
- 1 package hot dogs, 8 count
Directions: Roll each roll into a 14 to 15-inch rope. Twist rope around each hot dog 4 or 5 times, securing ends in dough. Place on a large sprayed baking sheet. Bake immediately at 350°F 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately with desired condiments.
DUTCH OVEN ALL-IN-ONE DINNER
(serves 12)- Ingredients
- 12 Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed
- 1/4 cup onion, chopped
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can cream of celery soup
- 3 cans water or milk
- 1 teaspoon Vegetable Supreme
- 1/2 package dried onion soup
- 1 4 oz. can sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 cup Swiss cheese, grated
- 2 cups white rice (not instant)
- 1/2 cup frozen broccoli, chopped
- 1 chicken or chicken parts, chopped
Directions: Thaw rolls until soft. Mix all soups and milk or water together, blending well. Stir in rice. Add mushrooms, and chicken, cover and cook for 45 to 60 minutes. Place six coals on the bottom and 14 coals on top of Dutch oven. Rotate cover and pot every 5 minutes rotating both oven and lid separately. Rotate lid without lifting top to prevent heat loss. Flatten rolls to about a 6-inch circle. Mix broccoli, cheese, onion and vegetable supreme together and put one spoonful on front half of each roll. Fold back half over and seal edges. After rice and chicken have cooked for 20 minutes lift lid. Place 12-inch circle of foil on rice and chicken mixture. Lay rolls on foil. Replace cover and continue to cook rotating lid and oven as before for 20-40 minutes.
CARMEL APPLE PIE
(serves 8, unless I’m in your party, and then it might serve 4!)- Ingredients
- 12 Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls or 12 Rhodes Anytime!™ Cinnamon Rolls thawed, but still cold
- 1 large granny smith apple, peeled and diced
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
- 1 packet cream cheese frosting (included with cinnamon rolls)
- 3 tablespoons caramel ice cream topping
Directions: Cut each roll into four pieces and arrange in a sprayed 12-inch deep dish pizza pan. Cover loosely with sprayed plastic wrap and let rise 2 hours in a warm place (if using Anytime rolls you do not need to let them rise). In a small bowl combine apple, brown sugar, cinnamon, graham cracker crumbs and pecans. Remove wrap and sprinkle apple mixture over the risen dough. Bake at 350° 20-25 minutes or until well browned. Combine one packet of cream cheese frosting with the caramel topping. Drizzle over top of apple pie.
