Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 315

Today's Daily 5:

1. an enjoyable day with my brother and cousin
2. laughing as we experimented with the donut recipe - a first for all of us
3. watching a few old episodes of The Big Bang Theory
4. having time to bake cookies in between dough risings
5. the taste of donuts we hadn't had since childhood.  we laughed all day as we contemplated how annoying it would be if we'd spent our whole day on this process and they turned out not to be as good as we remembered!  They didn't disappoint!  Here are a couple of pictures - one of a few in the process of deep frying, and another of a third of the finished product - we split the finished product three ways, since the three of us represent three households and had done about an even amount of the work.  (As a side note, they're weirdly buoyant in the hot oil, smell fantastic as they're cooking, and are totally fun to sort of prod and flip over when it's time to cook the second side.  Totally made me laugh.)

Donuts

You'll forgive me if I don't write a substantial post today.

I sort of have plans.

My brother and cousin and I are putting our combined kitchen talents together and tackling a family recipe that is the stuff of childhood legends.

Grandma's yeast donuts.

The plan is to make a double batch and then split it between three families.

A double batch should make 8-10 dozen donuts.  A lot, it would seem.

But only if you haven't tasted these little bits of heaven.

These deep fried delights that are an all day task thanks to the multiple times they have to rise and be punched down before they ever get immersed in hot oil.

But there is nothing quite like one of these, still warm, tossed in granulated sugar.

They literally melt in your mouth.

The three of us have been planning this day for well over a month, looking forward to it, and salivating.

One of the first things my dad asked when they returned from holidays last week was if we'd made donuts yet, wanting to make sure he hadn't missed out.

They are the stuff of family legends, and today we're going to attempt to scale the legendary peak.  So I can't write, I'm busy determining if it's a "soft dough" and mixing yeast, and punching down dough that's risen, and laughing with my brother and cousin, and salivating.  It's a good way to spend the day, and it will end with pastry.  Pastry that makes every other donut pale and worthless in comparison.  They're just THAT good.