Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year 2012

New Year's Eve and day have been wonderful (so far)...a far cry from the sad and scary New Year's weekend of 2011 when I took my husband to the ER with congestive heart failure. What a difference this past year has been for us. I am down 30#, my beloved, 160#. Yes, I said 160. All done with hard work, diet, and exercise...and not crazy exercise either...just becoming less sedentary and more active. YAY!

 So last night we played poker with the boys, watched the ball drop, and did some fireworks in the backyard. BTW, Dick Clark was born in 1929, and oh my Lord, he still looks good...too much makeup of course, but still good. I'm happy he still participates in the New Year's Rockin' Eve show. Ryan Seacrest is an awesome MC, and he is a terrific heir apparent, but nothing says New Year's like Dick Clark.  Of course, I used to say that about Guy Lombardo whom my family watched growing up. I digress. After the fireworks came a short unplugged type of concert from Adele (LOVE her) on Paladia.

This morning we woke up slowly. I'm off today to buy a new bike pump, because I want to ride my bike and the pump we have is this new fangled piece of something that woks opposite of how it's supposed to. I really just want a normal pump. I am not an engineer after all.

Last night, I broke out my new donut pans given to me by my two beautiful sisters for my birthday.  While my husband and I do not eat many, if any sweets, my 3 boys do, and I thought it would be a nice treat for them. In my mini donut pan, I followed the recipe that came with the pan, then rolled the minis in powdered sugar.  I used this recipe for Mama Pea's Chocolate Glazed Cake Donuts in my full size donut pan. My only changes:  I used cake flour instead of the organic unbleached flour and I cut the amount of nutmeg in half since I almost always think nutmeg is overpowering. I made a glazed for 6 of the donuts and chocolate glazed and sprinkled the other 6.  I'm not sure if cake flour was the difference, but my batter was not doughy like Mama Pea's looks in her how to pictures.  My batter was runnier, so when it cooked, they ended up like half donuts. This was fine with me though because I got 12 donuts rather than 6 out of one batch...bonus!  Here's how my donuts ended up looking:




The Verdict:  Everyone loved the donuts! Mama Pea's were the best and will be made again. Her chocolate glaze was easy and delicious too. My glazed donuts were good, but I'll use a different glaze next time...maybe one more icing-like. It was tasty but not thick enough.  And no one complained about the "half donut" size. I think they definitely were healthier than Dunkin or Krispy Kreme, and tasted fresher and not so processed.  Everyone liked the powdered sugar donuts...better than Hostess Donettes if I do say so myself. So, 2 donut recipes, 3 different kinds of donuts, and all 3 boys liked them...score one for mom! Visions of donuts now dance in my head, and I'm already planning my next donut making experience.

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