Sour Cream Crescent Rolls

1 cup sour cream                        1 large egg
2 Tbs. shortening                       1 pkg. yeast
3 Tbs. sugar                                   1/4 cup water
1/8 tsp. soda                                  3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt

In a small bowl,  proof yeast in the water.  Warm sour cream, shortening, and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat--scald but do not allow to boil.  Stir in soda and salt, then cool to lukewarm.  Pour into large bowl, and add yeast and egg.  Add flour, one cup at a time.  Turn out onto lightly floured board and knead for about two minutes.  Cover dough with a towel and allow to rest for about five minutes, so the dough will firm up.  Divide dough in half.  Roll each half into a circle roughly 16" in diameter.  With a sharp knife, cut eight wedges.  Starting with the wide end of each triangle, roll up and shape into crescents. 

Place on lightly greased cookie sheets.  Allow to rise until nearly doubled in a warm place, free of drafts--about 1 to 1 ½ hours.  Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes.  Makes 16 rolls.

My brothers and sisters and I loved crescent rolls when we were growing up, and we still do today.  We call them “Fred Flintstone Telephone Rolls.”  They received their name because to us they looked like the telephones on The Flintstones.  Once when my mom was looking for a recipe for crescent rolls, she searched for an hour in every cookbook without success--because she was looking under "F"!  We had become so used to the name we had given them, she had forgotten what everyone else calls them!