Between 1972 and 1974, my wife Connie and I were married, graduated from Miami University of Ohio, got our first jobs post-college, and had our first son. Amazing blessings and love for a young married couple in such a short span. Those “tasty memories” have held on to us for over 50 years.
If you ask Miami students from those days about their tasty college memories, you will likely hear about a sweet, buttery, frosted excellence known as the “Oxford toasted roll.” Nothing could get you rolling faster for your 8 a.m. class than a mug of coffee and a toasted roll at legendary Tuffy’s Restaurant! Although Miami of Ohio opened in 1809, it took 120 years before Tuffy’s began serving students in 1929. Sadly, Tuffy’s closed in the mid-1970s.
This sweet creamy cinnamon delight always reminds me of those great college days and the blessings and the love we shared as a newly married couple in a storybook town. It is fascinating now to realize how present the Lord was even if we were too busy to understand His abundant graces in our early lives.
The Vietnam War ended, and so did my draft deferment, and so at lottery time I faced the possibility of being drafted. It was a difficult time for a young couple with a new baby.
We would go to Tuffy’s often and dine on these frosted goodies. Little could I have dreamed what God had planned for our lives: two boys, four grandchildren, two wonderful daughters-in-law, an amazing career, and the celebration of both 50 years of marriage and 50 years of graduation just in the past 12 months!
This June, as Connie and I visited campus for our 50th reunion, we stopped at another great diner. While sipping coffee and demolishing a toasted roll, I looked into Connie’s radiant blue eyes and felt thankful to our Lord — not for the toasted roll, but for the bountiful years of life, love, pain, trials, joys, and positive energy He has granted us.
OK, maybe the toasted roll is the catalyst that made these gifts flash before me. It is not often in life we get these reflective moments. While it may seem unusual that an aromatic toasted roll could be this “linchpin to blessed memories,” consider Cana, Jesus’ first public miracle. Our Lord used a wonderful moment to highlight so many aspects of His teachings — marriage, obedience, joy, togetherness, tradition — all centered around an element of dining: wine!
Because of this miracle, the phrase “turn water into wine” still recalls this event. I relate the toasted roll to the wine of Cana, as each provided moments of joy in a moment of time.
OXFORD TOASTED ROLLS • Makes 18
Ingredients
Roll mix:
1 cup heated/cooled milk
1 tsp salt
¼ cup sugar
4 cups sifted flour
1½ cups soft butter
1 pkt dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
3 egg yolks, beaten
Cinnamon mix:
½ cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Glaze mix:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp soft butter
2 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp hot water
Directions
1. Blend all roll mix ingredients into large bowl. Blend by hand to dough consistency. Make into two equal balls. Place in lightly floured bowls, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
2. Roll balls into two 12-in.-by-10-in. rectangles. Place on floured boards. Divide prepared cinnamon mix and spread over the two rectangles. Cover and let rise for two hours in a warm area.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place two rectangles in lightly oiled pans and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.
4. Remove from oven, cool, and cut into smaller rectangles of about 4-in.-by-3-in. Blend together glaze mix (except for ¼ cup of powdered sugar).
5. When ready, split rolls like sandwiches, spread with butter, and place butter-side down in pre-heated pan. Remove when lightly browned. Put back together, drizzle glaze on top, then lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar.