Dinner Rolls

This is Grandma's recipe for dinner rolls. Grandma always worried that her rolls weren't as good as her sister's, but I think she was just fishing for compliments because these rolls are total comfort food. They also make great mini croissant sandwiches.

-1/2 small package of compressed yeast
-1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
-1 cup lukewarm milk (scalded, then cooled)
-1/2 cup sugar
-1 cup shortening (use butter or lard)
-2 teaspoons salt
-4 eggs
-7-8 cups all purpose flour (start with 7 cups, if the dough is sticky, add more flour)

In a large bowl, crumble yeast, add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 cup of the warm water to the yeast and dissolve. Set aside for at least 5 minutes. In another large bowl, mix balance of water, sugar, milk, shortening, salt, eggs and 2 cups of flour. Add to yeast mixture. Slowly mix in the balance of the flour. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl; turn greased side up. (At this point, dough can be refrigerated for 3-4 days until you have time to bake it.) Cover with seran wrap and a towel; turn oven on your lowest setting just to get it warming and turn off when it gets to warm temperature. Place the dough inside with a bowl of warm water for 1/2 hour. Punch the dough down and put it back in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Take dough out of bowl and cut it into approximately 6 sections, roll into balls for easier handling. Roll out flat, into 1/4 inch thickness and cut into triangles. Roll the triangles into crescents and place on a pan. Let sit for at least 1/2 hour (if you press them down slightly, they should not pop up). Bake 2 pans (1 on top rack, 1 on bottom) at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Switch pans around and bake another 15 minutes. Complicated and putsy, yes, but oh, so delicious and worth it!