In My Defense...

In my defense....we have eaten rather healthily lately.  Bland, wholesome, comfort foods.

In my defense...we have eaten almost every meal at home - no meals out.

In my defense....we had celery sticks for supper 2 NIGHTS IN A ROW!!!



So, you'll give me a little grace when I tell you I made a batch of homemade donuts tonight, right?

Ah, homemade donuts!  I have so many memories attached!

I do sometimes wonder how much I would enjoy cooking/eating if I didn't have so many food-based memories and emotions attached to cooking and eating.  Perhaps if I develop dementia somewhere along the way, I'll forget my food-based memories and become a fussy eater, turning my nose up at everything except toast and tea.  That's not very hard to imagine; I know many sweet souls who survive rather nicely on toast and tea.  But, hey, what's the fun in that?  Who wants to end their years eating toast and tea when there are so many other tasty morsels to partake of?  Not me!  If you're around when I am aged, please, I beg you, keep feeding me garlic and fresh cinnamon buns and hearty roast beef and the odd chai tea latte.  Thanks.  And, please, make sure my coffee is dark and hot with just a splash of cream. 

I'm glad we have that taken care of.

So, what kind of donut memories could I possibly have that are worth sharing?

Mom ("of course", you sigh) made donuts now and then.  It wasn't a regular thing - maybe once a year or so.  I remember coming off the school bus and into the house to find the deep fryer set up and mom ready to roll with a donut assembly line.  I am sure she planned her day so that we'd be home to help her with the job.  She'd usually have them cut and finishing their second rise and would do the frying.  We'd drop the hot donuts into a brown paper bag with white sugar at the bottom and shake that bag until the donuts were covered in sweet sugar.  Oooooohhhh.  Is there ever a more tasty donut than one just retrieved from the bottom of the brown paper bag, still steaming hot, covered with sugar?  I'm drooling, and I'm really rather full right now....

I don't know why I decided to make donuts myself.  I never even dreamed about making donuts until I was married and a mom.  I think I figured that it was one of those "you're a mom now, you should make homemade donuts" jobs. 

On the day of my first donut attempt, I searched through our church cookbook and came upon Anne R.'s recipe for spudnuts.  I remember reading that it called for mashed potatoes and I stewed and stewed about that ingredient.  Should it just be potatoes mashed up?  Or should it be potatoes mashed up like you would for supper with butter and milk?  Oh, the dilemma.  Like it really would make a difference.  (I did manage to figure out that garlic mashed potatoes would probably not work.  Yup, I figured that out all on my own!)  So, to clarify this massive donut issue, I called Anne herself and asked her that very important question.  Anne was (rest in peace, Anne) a lovely Polish lady.  We went back a long way; she knew my grandparents; her husband carried both of my grandparents to their grave.  She was old enough to be my grandparent.  And, here I was, somewhere in my 30's, asking advice from a baker who could bake anyone under the table (figuratively, of course).  She was a fine baker.  I remember that I told her I was trying to make donuts that day and she replied that she was too!  So we chatted about the recipe and she assured me that it really didn't make any difference about the mashed potatoes being just potatoes or having milk/butter added....I'm so sorry I asked such a silly question.  But I made the donuts that day and was so happy with the results.  That Sunday, Anne and I discussed how our batches had turned out, and I felt like I had earned a baker's notch in my proverbial belt that day.

Another day, I decided to attempt donuts again.  My long time friend, Karen, was coming for coffee and it would be so nice to share fresh donuts over a cup of coffee and a visit.  Both boys were young then and by the time Karen arrived, I was terribly behind in the donut job and totally stressed out.  I begged her to help me.  She and I fried donuts, every speck of dough, until they were all done.  I felt horrible for asking for her help that day.  I probably tackled a bigger job than I was capable of that day.  I sent lots home with her for her to share with her husband; she worked hard beside me until the job was done.  That's a good friend for ya.

Another day I made donuts during the school break when Andrew was in, oh, maybe Grade 1 or 2?  I thought I'd make donuts during the school break as a treat for Andrew. Well, a friend of his came over to play that day and Andrew really didn't care all whether I made donuts or not.  The friend, however, loved the donuts and asked for SEVERAL to take home to his sisters.  They even came to the door, asking for more.  Brazen little kids.   I was, of course, happy to share....

Somehow, after awhile, the donut job became less daunting.  I couldn't tell you how often I made donuts during those next few years, but often enough to know that I was capable of it.  So, one day, a couple of years ago, when we needed a snack for the Youth Group, I stuck my neck out and said that I'd love to make fresh donuts for the group.  I felt that the kids at Youth needed to experience fresh donuts from a mom's hands.  In the world of chips and dip, nachos and cheese, they needed to know that there were good, old fashioned things that were special.

The day came for me to make them.  Now, you need to understand that I didn't plan to make them ahead of time; I would make them at the church and they would eat them HOT.  They needed to smell the hot oil.  They needed to have their fingers coated with white sugary goodness.  So, at home, I made a double or triple batch (I have blocked that detail out of my mind...) and set them to rise.  I then hauled everything over to the church kitchen and rolled and cut them out, batch by batch, on the big island.  I heated 3 different fryers and waited for the final rise and for the kids to arrive.  I had no idea how many kids would come that night, but I was pretty sure I had made enough.  The time came to start frying and I became a donut making monster.  Plop, plop, plop went the raw donuts into one fryer, then the next, then the next.  Flip, flip, flip - over went the donuts in one fryer and then the next and then the next.  Shake, shake, shake - the donuts flew from fryers into the brown paper bags filled with white sugar and/or cinnamon sugar mixed.  And the platters began to fill.  "Do I have enough?" I wondered.  "two donuts each, that's ALL you can have...to start," I told them.  I fried donuts, I fried donut holes, I fried scraps of donut dough. And they kept coming back.  "Um, are we allowed to have another one?"  Over and over, that was the all-important question of the night.  "Sure!  Help yourself!"  At the end of the night, there was not one scrap of donut left in any shape or form.  They ate them all, the donuts, the holes, the scraps.  And I felt that they, too, had passed a rite of passage - they ate homemade donuts, hot from the fryer, made by someone who cared enough about them to make homemade donuts.

I don't think I made donuts since then but Andrew was talking about donuts the other day and, hmm, we had a day off from school and work coming up.....  So I asked him if he would like to make donuts with me.  He said "sure" and I made plans for today.  Meanwhile, he was invited to a sleepover last night.  I reminded him about the donuts and he said we still would make them.  I picked him up this afternoon and asked again if he was still game and he said YES!

So, tonight, Andrew and I made donuts.  And he was such a donut baking trooper.  We have passed another rite of passage - he and I made donuts together, as in, we worked side by side and got the job done.  He helped make the dough, he rolled them out and cut them out and fried them and flipped them and placed them in the brown paper bags filled with sugar/cinnamon sugar and shook his heart out until they were covered with sweet sugary goodness.

And he added a new dimension to the tradition.  He googled and found an awesome recipe for chocolate glaze for them.  Here it is:

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk/cream
1 Tbsp corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla

Melt together in a sauce pan.  When melted, add in 4 squares of sweetened chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted.  Take off the heat and whisk in, slowly, 2 cups of icing sugar.  Return to the heat (low) and stir until the mixture is fluid.  Dip the donuts one by one into the chocolate and place on a cooling rack.  Once the chocolate is set, keep in a cool spot for storage.  I put the dipped donuts into the freezer to quick set the chocolate.

I'm going to bed a mostly content mother.  The tradition of donut making with your kids continues now through my boy. 

My other boy claims he doesn't like donuts. Sigh. 

Can't have it all now, can we?!!

And, because someone asked, here is the donut recipe as well:

Feather Light Donuts by Anne R.

2 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 cups warm millk
1 cup cold mashed potatoes
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
5-6 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk.  Add potatoes, sugar, oil, salt, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder and eggs.  Mix well.  Add enough flour to form a soft dough.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.  Punch down; roll out on a flour board to about 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut with a donut cutter.  Place on greased baking sheets or cloth covered cookie sheets.  Cover and let rise about 45 minutes.  Heat deep fryer to 375 F.  Fry donuts until golden brown on both sides.  Shake with sugar, cinnamon sugar, icing sugar or ice!

Comments

  1. I LOVE this! I also love the way you write. It's like actually sitting down with you over a cup of tea and a plate of hot, sweet donuts - decadant! :) Thank you for sharing. I think I will try this at Christmas time! :)

    ~ Sherry

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