A Year of Blogging: June 3, 2011

I was away for a long weekend, and didn't have time to get to the computer. I had access, just not the time. Sometimes, it's good to unplug. I hardly ever watched the news, I wasn't checking my email or Facebook, and I survived! I did log on a couple of times, when I had a few minutes to myself, but it was very peaceful. Perhaps I need to be better about just walking away from the computer at home. June 3 was 'National Doughnut Day'. I prefer that to the alternative, 'Egg Day'. I don't eat eggs. I was in NY for the weekend, and Sydney wanted eggs for breakfast on Saturday. She told my mom to make some for Aunt Amy, and Mom said 'Aunt Amy doesn't like eggs'. This was very odd for Sydney, and when she asked why, Mom told her 'because Aunt Amy is weird'. Now, I admit, it's not the first time I've been called weird, but there are many other things that I would think make me weird than not liking eggs. I do, however, like doughnuts. My favorite are the chocolate cake doughnuts, covered in glaze. I also like Boston Cream doughnuts and maple frosted doughnuts. I love Dunkin Donuts, but we don't have too many Dunkin Donuts in Ohio. The two that are nearby are on busy streets and hard to get to. So Dunkin Donuts are a treat I enjoy when I go to NY. My Mom is the best, she stops at the nearest one the morning that I'm coming in, and buys a dozen. So I actually did have doughnuts during the weekend. Of course, my favorite doughnuts are the homemade buttermilk ones my Grandma used to make. It is one of the few recipes of hers that have been passed on to other generations. I have the recipe, but I never make them. It is a lot of work to make the doughnuts. You have to make the dough, knead it, roll it out, and cut out the doughnuts. Then you have to fry them in a deep fryer, and then pull them out of the fryer and let them cool (we use brown paper bags, which absorbs some of the oil). Mom makes the doughnuts, and when she comes to visit, she usually makes some for me and I freeze them. Grandma's doughnuts are unlike anything you find in a store. They taste of buttermilk and nutmeg, and are wonderful if you coat them in powdered sugar. Every time I taste one, I see Grandma standing in her kitchen, kneading the dough and rolling it out. We could hardly wait for the first batch to cool enough so that we could dive right in. It didn't matter how often she made doughnuts (and she made them regularly), it was still a delicious treat. Here's something you probably didn't know about me: I used to be the person making the doughnuts. No, not at Dunkin Donuts (anyone remember the commercials from the 80's of the guy who gets up and says 'time to make the donuts'?) . I worked at a local grocery store in high school, and on Sunday mornings they had fresh doughnuts. The doughnuts arrived frozen from the supplier, and they had to be left out to proof (rise), then baked, and covered with frosting, glaze, or sugar (for jelly doughnuts). In my senior year, they asked me to come in and do the doughnuts. I had to be at the store at 7am, but it was a lot of fun!