Fried Dough Night

Each week, The Dude has a night here and a night there when he has an evening meeting or hangs out with some golf buddies. This gives me the 'night off' from worrying about cooking a meal. (I'm still one of those wives who likes to make sure we get some kind of meal on the table for our men, when they're around.) But when it's just the kiddos and myself, we make it easy on ourselves. Sometimes this means mac n' cheese and carrots, corndog and apples, chicken nuggets and bananas... or popcorn, this is always a viable option.

But this doesn't mean I take a break from the kitchen completely. This just means I get some extra time to play around in there. I spend 75% of my time at home in that room. I love it in there. I hang out in there often, sometimes it's just me and the grapes.

Lately, I've been agonizing over all the things I should have learned from Grandma Fleta before she passed from this world to the next. I say lately, but what I really mean is probably most days since 1999.

My most recent quest was to figure out how she made those awesome little fried doughnuts she used to make me when I was a kid. Comfort food at it's most simple yumminess.

As you can see, this time I just started with my own biscuit dough, which I learned from my Mother-in-law. Then I made holes in the middle, well duh, and deep fried those babies in peanut oil. I use the Fry-Daddy but I'm guessing my Grandma used a deep iron skillet.
Taking photos over top of the Fry-Daddy can be hazardous to your face and camera.

Following the oil-bath, they were generously dredged in powdered sugar. My favorite part is the doughnut holes themselves. There's just something about those little power-houses of fried dough in one tiny bite! Yummy!
The girls seem happy with them, but did they resemble my Grandma's doughnuts? Well who knows really, it's been a while but I'm thinking I got close enough to suit me. Making touchstones with your far gone memories is one thing I'm sure we can't do perfectly. But when it's food, as long as it tastes delicious and your memories are simply an inspiration, I'm thinking you can't really go wrong.