diary of a suburban momma: time to cook the doughnuts

i haven't been blogging much since "the move". i wish i could say exactly what it was- busy with house projects, 3 girls going in 3 directions, a very distracted momma, a husband that has been working lots of hours... all of those? some of those? other things? i don't really know. but what i do know is that it isn't due to a lack of material. we've had A LOT going on these past few months!

one of those events is near and dear to my heart. a few weeks ago we had the pleasure of craig's company. craig is a college friend of my hubs, but over the years i think it is fair to say that he is my friend too. i adore him. i always have- but in recent years i have added a new reason to my list. it has to do with the kiddos. he visited me on my second day home from the hospital with e. shortly after, he moved. since his move to the big apple, he's been intentional in visiting us each year. that is a power move to this momma. you see, not only does he value his relationship with my hubs but he also places a value on my children.

he visits. he engages. he notices. he connects. he loves (that's right zimm, this momma noticed that too). what that means to this momma is beyond verbal expression. it is a heart matter, more specifically- a melt the heart matter. i adore watching it.

this visit was no different. zimm (as many people refer to him) knew from his last visit that we are the proud owners of a deep fryer. knowing this, he came armed with an old camp doughnut recipe. upon arrival he went over the ingredients list and planned out the things we might need (apparently my expired baking soda and powder weren't going to fit the bill). he got the missing items and planned out a time when the doughnut making extravaganza could commence. that's right- zimm made doughnuts with my three girlies.

now i don't know if you've ever made doughnuts before, but i am here to tell you that it is a pretty labor intensive project.

it starts with the mixing of ingredients.

they were all ears- but this is early in the game. i wasn't surprised that he had their undivided attention for that part.

after some serious mixing, sifting, combining etc. they moved on to the rolling out stage. i was uber impressed with his patience. my girlies might be a tad tentative about getting their hands dirty but somehow he had them all ooey and gooey and doughnut rolling. impressive!

e opted out of the doughnut business after her first roll and cut round. for her, that is impressive. with me she doesn't typically make it past the mixing of the wet with the dry ingredients. d lasted for two rounds. i wasn't super shocked by this as she has a bigger love cooking and higher tolerance for messy hands. not bad.

the one that was shocking was miss p. p was down for a nap when the doughnut extravaganza began but woke up somewhere in the middle of the party. she jumped right in (and zimm didn't miss a beat) and seemed to be in it for the long haul. she made it by his side right down to the final roll and cut.

as the rounds of dough were cut out, fry daddy (aka scott) took them to task in the deep fryer (it is his machine, after all). one by one they were cooked to a golden brown.