Creamy Chicken Soup and Pillow-Soft Dinner Rolls

I saw these recipes on my friend Vanessa's blog and immediately my mouth started watering. They were very tasty! So here are the recipes:

Creamy Chicken Soup

2 cans of chicken

4 c. chicken broth

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

5 carrots, peeled and cut into thick slices

4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups evaporated fat-free milk (I used skim milk that I had heated over low heat for about 20 minutes.... seems a waste of money to buy that stuff, and a website I found suggested evaporating your own milk. The soup was still delicious, so I guess it worked!)

1 can corn (drained)

salt and ground black pepper

Bring the chicken and broth to a boil in a soup pot. Decrease the heat and simmer. Remove the chicken from the broth.

Add the onion, carrots, and potatoes to the simmering broth. Cover and return to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon and cook for 1 minute until the mixture is smooth and bubbly. Stir in the milk and cook for 2 minutes until the mixture is smooth and slightly thickened.

Add the white sauce and chicken pieces to the soup pot. Stir and bring to a gentle boil over medium high heat. Immediately decrease the heat to simmer, add the corn, salt and pepper to taste, and cook just until corn is heated through. Serve immediately or keep warm but do not boil!!

Pillow-Soft Dinner Rolls

4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)

2 cups warm milk (110-115 degrees)

6 Tbsp. shortening

2 eggs

1/4 c. sugar

1-1/2 tsp. salt

7-7 1/2 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, shortening, eggs, sugar, salt and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes (dough will be sticky). Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 24 pieces. Shape each into a roll. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.

Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks.