This Week at Nana's - The Best Doughnuts

Weather Update
OCTOBER IS BEAUTIFUL!!!
Goodbye Summer and Hello Autumn. 

Im loving the warm days and cool nights. Its that time of the year for the trees to dazzle us with their beautiful bright autumn colors. The trees of Albuquerque, New Mexico have yet to change color but when they do, its stunning. 

If you are local to Albuquerque, think Rio Grande Nature Center to take in the scenery.

The past two weeks had whizzed by in fast motion due to the International Balloon Fiesta. The balloons were amazing, the people were amazing and the weather for the most part was sort of cooperative. Each year, we get some high winds, rain and a few "balloons oops." This year did not disappoint.

McCalls Pumpkin Patch

I love pumpkin pie! Pumpkin farmers are cool!

Last year, I dehydrated pumpkin and ground it into a fine powder. 
I use it for pies, sweet pumpkin bread and hot pumpkin chai tea lattes.

Garden Plants And Outdoors Update

This squash will be turned into Calabacitas (Mexican-flavored vegetable side dish).

 

Recipe for Calabacitas

Calabacitas is a wonderful spicy New Mexican style vegetarian dish that can be served by itself or as a side dish for a compliment to any Southwestern meal.

 Traditionally, it is topped with cheese and served immediately.




Garden Update

Lets just say that the garden is officially over. LOL. The squash is still growing but like I said in my last post, the cold nights will probably be its doom. :(  
Don't be sad. I will soon bore you with many pictures of the indoor veggie plants. LOL!

The jalapeno and green chile indoor plants are plugging along. Each plant is producing and I'm super happy about that. Oh yes, the pineapple plant is doing great. Remember? I planted two pineapple plants at the beginning of summer. I had two pineapple plants but one did not make it. I keep forgetting to buy another pineapple and replace the one that kicked the bucket. Pineapples make pretty house plants. 

Pet Update

The pets are doing great. They are adjusting to the weather change. Its a bit cold in the mornings and extra blankets have been added to Mauricio's house and Wheezy's house. Wheezy lost some feathers and I moved him to a happier place near the plants and warm window. He is doing much better and less stress, as he was near the doors and getting too much cold air. Tuck actually broke the back plexi shield panel on his tank house. I didn't see that coming. I taped it up with clear plastic tape and put his house back together. I then placed a plastic floating pad into the tank and now he spends his time wrestling with it. He is happy again. 

Housekeeping Tip:

Flea-Killing Dog Shampoo
Kitchen dish soap (not dish detergent) can double as dog shampoo for its flea killing abilities.

I managed to visit with Georgie and Carmen this past Saturday. I sat with them in the backyard and watched them peel a bushel of green chile that they had purchased from Poncho's. I offered to help but they said absolutely not it was too hot for me to handle. Oh brother. I never get pictures of Georgie and Carmen. I will have to take their picture the next time we visit. I doubt they will let me do that. LOL. By the way, Georgie just got a new pellet stove, which he loves. Him and I spent a week searching online for the deal of the day and eventually we found it. He had bought a new wood stove this year but he is elderly and it was hard for him to manage. Now, I have to help him sell the wood stove. I'm shocked how much these wood and pellet stoves cost.

Today, 10/12/14,  it was windy and cold so I stayed in, cleaned house, baked doughnuts and did some sewing work. I know its a glamorous life but somebody has to do it.  Don't laugh at my imperfect doughnuts. They are a bit on the homely side but they are delicious. Seriously, I was at the store this morning and I wanted to buy their lovely doughnuts but I felt guilty because I had purchased a giant industrial size bag of flour just last week. So, I pulled out my doughnut recipe and got busy. I don't own a doughnut cutter. That's odd because I really have a lot of kitchen gadgets. I'm sure these doughnuts would have looked better if I had a real doughnut cutter. LOL. Anyways, I just took my time making them, cooking them and decorating them and enjoyed the afternoon. Peace and quiet and the smell of fresh doughnuts. :)

The Best Doughnuts

Before they rise. Let rise for 1 hour before the oil cooker process.

 Hot out of the cooker.
I burned the first two that were put into the hot oil because the recipe said to cook for one minute on each side. These doughnuts took less then 15 seconds for each side because I was not using a full pot of oil.

Doughnut holes are my favorite. 

 I glazed these in icing and they are fluffy and delicious. 

Taste just like the kind in the store. Possibly even better.

Maple icing glaze and chopped almonds.
You can use extract flavors for the icing. My favorite is maple.

For the Grands,vanilla frosting with chocolate chips. 
This recipe makes a lot of doughnuts. 24 large doughnuts with the holes. 
You could certainly make rounds and fill them with custard or jelly. 
I have a Bavarian cream recipe that would be great for the filling. See, Nana's Top Recipes on this blog.

The Best Doughnuts
This recipe is a family tried and true recipe. From my cookbook to yours.

Ingredients
    2 tbs instant dried yeast
    1 cup warm water
    1 cup buttermilk (I use 1 cup milk with 2 tbs vinegar)
    3/4 cup melted butter
    ½ cup sugar
    6 cups plain flour
    2 tbs baking powder
    2 tsp salt
    1 tsp nutmeg
   
    vegetable oil for frying
    Icing sugar and milk for glaze
    Sugar and cinnamon for cinnamon mix
    
 Instructions

Add the warm filtered water to a large bowl and whisk in 2 tlbs of yeast until dissolved.
Then add buttermilk, melted butter, sugar, 2 cups of flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well
with a large spoon until combined. Add 2 more cups of flour and mix in. It will start to form into a soft dough, keep mixing. 

Add another cup of flour and again mix in. At this time I scrape out the dough and place it on a  floured surface. I then start kneading the dough and add the rest of the flour if needed. The dough needs to be soft and not sticky. If you need to add more flour, please do. Once the dough is ready, you can roll it out on a floured surface to ½ inch. Using a round dough cutter cut out the doughnuts and place on a baking tray covered with baking paper. I also cut out the middle of the doughnut dough with a small cutter from a biscuit cutting set. 

Once all the doughnuts have been cut out and placed on a tray, let them rise until they have doubled in size (about 1 hour in a warm area). For cooking: I use my deep fryer. Temp 170°C. I cook a couple at a time. Doughnuts will brown quickly, after the doughnuts immediately float to the top, you are looking for a light brown color then turn doughnuts over to finish. I either glaze them or cover them in the cinnamon and sugar mix.