Sad, Sad Doughnut Day

Okay, so normally, I think I'm a pretty good cook...especially when it comes to baking. I can make some really good desserts. This morning, I decided I was going to be Mommy Extraordinaire and make homemade doughnuts for the kids, after all it is spring break. I have such great memories of my mom making doughnuts. I remember waiting with such anticipation for her to set down the warm platter of glazed and sugared treats. It was always exciting. Well, I've never made doughnuts before but how hard could it be. I mean "mix, cut, and fry- that's it!" (that's what it said at the top of my Better Crocker recipe). I should have read the WHOLE recipe first and frying, that should have been my first clue that things were not going to go as planned. I finished mixing, easy enough, then read, "Cover batter and refrigerate for 2 hours." REFRIGERATE for TWO HOURS!!! I don't remember mom refrigerating but then again, I was probably watching cartoons or playing or something. My kids were starving because we had already by some miracle slept in for us (8AM..I know sad for all you sleepers out there). Well, I handed over a banana to each kid, put the dough in a smaller container, and threw it into the freezer.

45 Minutes Later....I pull out the dough, roll it out, cut it, again easy peasy! I heated up my shortening...this is where the trouble really started. First, I must explain, I have never deep fried anything...ever. I have sauteed in a little olive oil or butter but that's about it. We don't eat much fried stuff but I whipped out the tallest and biggest pot I had, put some blobs of grease in, melted, and watch the temperature rise. When it hit 375 (and I had removed the smoke detector, turned on the exhaust onto ultra high, opened every window and door) I dropped in round one and obediently let them cook for 1 minute per side. Well, 1 minute led to burnt on one side, toasted on the other, and gooey in the center. To wrap this very long story up quickly, things didn't get much better no matter what I did...adjusting the fire, less time, more time. I finally resorted to taking them out, cutting them down the middle and cooking the gooey side. My family was sweet about it. They ate their very sad crispy goo doughnuts and said they tasted good, but I think it was just for my sake.

Well, now that I've spend half the day making and cleaning up a mess, I've got to get on that tread climber and work off all the taste testing. Soooo wasn't worth it!

Lesson of the Day: Want doughnuts....do yourself a favor....go to Shipleys! That's where we'll be getting ours.