Sunday, January 2, 2011

Fresh Doughnuts, Anyone?

J. announced on Friday that he would like to make doughnuts.
[Mind you, implicit in this innocent suggestion was the thought that I would in fact be heavily involved in the production and clean-up.]
I declined the project on grounds of a planned trip to the local Wal Mart for groceries, followed by some much-needed house cleaning.

 I should have known I hadn't heard the last of the doughnuts!
The idea resurfaced this afternoon and it was obvious that nothing was going to put a spanner in the works.
I could [cheerfully] lend my culinary skills or watch from the sidelines while J. got going.
We used to make doughnuts during the Vermont years---when we had more family around to help eat them.
Fresh apple cider with warm doughnuts is an autumn tradition in New England, and they are pretty good at other times of the year as well.
Strangely, during the dozen years in Wyoming, we never made any.
Several months ago I unpacked a few cookbooks.  The one with my cherished recipe for buttermilk doughnuts went back in the carton--which went back into the stack, which went back into the space under the basement stairs.
I made a half-hearted search for the cookbooks, then resorted to the internet.
A quarter hour of reading recipes turned up one that seemed similar to the "tried and true."
By this time J. had hurried up to the store for a gallon jug of cooking oil and was impatiently clattering skillets in the kitchen.
Getting in each others' way in the small space, I beat eggs, oil and sugar while J. measured out clabbered milk and the flour.
[The wooden-handled fork J. is using was handed down from my great-grandparents' kitchen.]
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Making doughnuts is a two-person task. I rolled and cut the dough, while J. deep-fried, turned, and then shook the warm rounds in a cinnamon/sugar mixture.
I put the kettle on--tea for me, coffee for J.--and we sampled our wares and found them very tasty.
If we take to making doughnuts regularly we shall have to share them or we shall turn into blimps.
J. heaped a plate with some and drove next door to present them to D.H. and his wife.
They were having bacon and pancakes as a mid-afternoon "supper" and invited J. to sit down.
Being rather full of doughnuts he declined a plate of pancakes, but was more than willing to "visit."
[Which gave me a chance to clean up the mess in peace!]
D. and S. declared that the doughnuts were a fine finish to their meal!
Now--what to do with the rest of them?

10 comments:

  1. How I wish I was your neighbour ...I would certainly help you to devour those gorgeous looking treats....LOVE anything covered in cinamon sugar xx

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  2. More tea.....
    Wish I was closer.
    take care and have a great week

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  3. This is something my offspring occasionally demand, but I have always declined because it would make the oil in the deep fat fryer no good for chips afterwards (good excuse!) Now I can see there are Other Ways to cook them other than the deep f.f. . . .

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  4. Would love it if you put the recipe on some time, we have never attempted to make doughnuts, they look scrumptious.
    Happy new year to you all
    Briony u.k.

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  5. Haven't made donuts in years, use to do it as a class cooking project with my class, we'd use packaged biscuits, poke a hole in them, fry and cover with sugar.
    Your sound delicious!

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  6. They look quite mouth-wateringly good!

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  7. Amazingly, with my sweet tooth, I can pass up donuts -- even freshly home-baked ones. But I have plenty of other sinful favorites to make up for the donuts

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  8. they look absolutely delicious..

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  9. You could package them up and send food parcels to the UK!! I love doughnuts with cinnamon sugar coating! They aren't diet food for sure though:)

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  10. As Angie suggested, I'd love to be your neighbor also! I'd be happy to sample. Those look awesome!

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