For busy moms: Rhodes marks 50 years of 'homemade' without the hassle

For 50 years, Rhodes frozen dough has been a boon for busy moms, enabling them to take hot, freshly baked rolls from the oven without the mixing, kneading and rising time.

In fact, when Herbert C. Rhodes started the company in Portland, Ore., in 1958, the slogan on the package was "We make it ... Mom bakes it!"

It's also a great help for kids who want to make a Mother's Day breakfast or lunch. There are good reasons why some of the company's recipes have become classics: They're easy and they taste good. You don't have to be a Rhodes scholar to make them. And you can adapt the recipes to homemade dough if you prefer to make your own.

Originally from England, Rhodes' first inventions were automotive parts for Model T Fords. In 1932, he founded Rhodes Bakery Equipment and patented machines for bread- and cookie-making. Then he bought a freezer manufacturing plant. In 1958, he combined the bakery equipment and refrigeration plants and developed Rhodes Bake-N-Serv bread, franchising 17 frozen dough plants over most of the United States, Canada and England.

In 1962, food broker Ken Farnsworth Sr. helped open the Idaho franchise, known as Champion Bake-N-Serv, and in 1964, his son, Ken Jr., brought it to Utah. In 1975, Ken Jr. became a partner in the Utah/Idaho franchise, and in 1990, he brought together all the remaining franchises as Rhodes International, with corporate headquarters in Murray and plants in Wisconsin and Idaho.

Over the years, various products were added, including dinner rolls in 1970, cinnamon rolls in 1991, orange rolls in 1997 and multigrain rolls in 2006. In 1999, the company came out with a freezer-to-oven AnyTime! line of products that doesn't need thawing and rising. The newest products are AnyTime! Pull-Aparts, modeled on a popular use for the dough.

Sue Petersen, who has been with Rhodes almost 20 years, said she remembers the days when Ken Jr.'s wife, ZoeAnn, created new recipes using the dough, with an artist sketching them for brochures. Today, Petersen sends out recipes and color photographs by e-mail to 8,000 newspapers and magazines. She also comes up with a weekly new recipe complete with a how-to video for the company's Web site, www.rhodesbread.com. Consumers can call the toll-free Bake Line at 800-876-7333 for recipes and advice.

The top-requested recipe is the Butterscotch Bubble Loaf, Petersen said. The concept is also referred to as "monkey bread," "sticky buns" or "pull-aparts" but uses butterscotch pudding mix instead of the usual cinnamon and sugar.