Dear Austin,

Wow, great job making runzas! I'm not surprised that there were no leftovers! Using the frozen dinner rolls for the dough was a good idea but making your own dough is fun. If you make this dough you will need to double your recipe. Use two pounds of meat instead of one. But here is the recipe you've been wanting.

Icebox rolls

2 T. active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups warm water
1 tsp salt
1 egg, well beaten
3 T. melted butter
about 6 cups flour (preferably unbleached)

Mix the yeast & sugar & warm water together in a large bowl. When dissolved add the salt, beaten egg & melted butter. Mix in enough flour until the mixture becomes hard to stir. Then turn the dough out onto a floured working surface & let the dough rest while you clean out the bowl.
Knead the dough, adding more flour as necessary, for about 6-7 minutes until it is smooth & elastic. Grease the cleaned bowl (I use canola oil) & put the dough into it, turning the dough to coat it with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap & let rise until double in volume . . . about 1-2 hours. Place bowl in a warm spot away from drafts.
Punch the dough down, cover with floured plastic wrap, put a plate on top, & store in the refrigerator until ready to use. It will keep for a week.
To make the runzas just rear off as much dough as you need for each runza. You may need to punch the dough down first though. You can also use this dough to make dinner rolls, just shape them & put them on a greased baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel & let rise until double in size. Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until brown.





I hope school is going well. Everything is fine here. This weekend is opening of deer season which your Dad & I are looking forward to. Write when you can.

Love,

Mom

To make the filling for runzas brown your ground meat (beef, lamb, venison) in a skillet. Add diced onion & chopped cabbage. Season with salt & pepper. Cover, decrease heat & let the cabbage cook. Flatten out a piece of dough into a circle 6-7" across (depending on the size of runza you want) scoop spoonful of filling into dough then bring up edges of dough to the middle & pinch together. Place seam side down on greased baking sheet. When pan is full put in heated oven & bake until brown. Spread butter on top while still hot. Leftovers can be wrapped in saran wrap & frozen individually. They heat up great in the microwave.