Saturday, February 5, 2011

Doughnuts - Meatloaf and another Day of Shoveling

We woke up to a much warmer morning, 24° but two more inches of snow.

This is DH's 73rd birthday so I thought he deserved something more than oatmeal (his usual) breakfast.
We had biscuits, sausage and eggs and always a glass of milk. I think some strawberry jam found its way into the menu too.

Dinner will be meatloaf (made yesterday), a baked Yukon Gold potato and a salad of lettuce, avocado, mandarin oranges and onion rings.

No special dessert because I made doughnuts yesterday.

Our evening meal is just a 'to-each-his-own affair'.

DH collected the eggs yesterday evening and they set a record, 6!

More snow removal with the tractor and me following up with the shovel. We can now get to the wood shed and I can replenish bird feeders without wading l8 inches of snow. We count our blessings.
More snow is predicted which doesn't thrill us.

I tried another Joy of Cooking recipe yesterday, doughnuts. It is a super recipe. I now have three different recipes for doughnuts, all good, but this may be our favorite. I tried the chocolate glaze recipe and it was a disaster, the chocolate seized! I reread the recipe realized that I had used unsweetened chocolate squares instead of the semi-sweet or bittersweet. That may have been the problem.....I will still be nervous to waste all that chocolate again. I just made my usual icing with very little butter and made it thinner. It worked fine and got hard which I wanted.



Here is the recipe (from Joy of Cooking)

Cake Doughnuts (about 18 – I got 20)

Whisk together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed:

4 cups AP flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon cinnamon or l teaspoon grated lemon zest
Opt: ¾ teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg (I would use both next time)

In a large bowl beat well

2 eggs

Add slowly and beat until thick and creamy

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

On low speed add and beat until blended

¾ cup milk
5 tablespoons butter, melted
Note: I also added 3/4 teaspoon of vanilla

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix with a large spoon just until blended.
Note: I finally found a use for my Swedish dough hook

The dough will be soft and sticky. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24.
Note: I left in the bowl and sealed it in plastic wrap.
.

Flour board, roll out about 1/2 inch thick, cut out, fry.

I fried mine just under a minute per side, golden brown, in three inches of oil at 375°. I used a thermometer in a pan of oil on top of the range this time. I don't think my electric pan was getting hot enough. You have to really monitor the oil or it gets too hot, but it worked great.

Drain on paper towels. I dipped some in sugar, left some plain (DH's favs) and glazed 6.

The meatloaf was a 'no recipe' one....just my normal, eggs, salt and pepper, minced onion, and bread crumbs. I did use l lb hamburger and my last pound of ground pork.
The difference was I added about a 1 cup of my homemade salsa. My sister told me she always made hers using salsa. We thought it was very good.



I have used a pound of sausage mixed in with the hamburger and that is quite good too.

Random Picture

This was taken during our second bout of snow late yesterday afternoon. Most of the other feeders were empty so they "flocked" to the kitchen window one.

13 comments:

  1. Both the donuts and meatloaf look delicious. I use Rotel tomatoes in my meatloaf to give it some extra flavor. I like to use 1/2 hamburger and 1/2 sausage in my meatloaf also.

    I need to get a thermometer so that I can make donuts. Grampy loves them and the ones from the store are terrible.

    Glad you got the shoveling done so you can get to the woodshed. With the weather you're having you need that wood supply handy.

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  2. That is a beautiful pic of the birds at the kitchen feeder. Meatloaf is whats on the menu for us tomorrow. I use hamburger and ground turkey for my meatloaf, which is a no recipe deal too. Meat, crackers, eggs, salt, pepper, onions, garlic and ketchup. Sorry to hear that you are going to get more snow.....I can imagine you have had ENOUGH!! After reading your post I may have to make a trip to Dunkin Donuts.......I know they won't compare to yours. Stay Warm and have a great evening. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DH!!

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  3. Happy birthday to DH! Sounds like his day started off well with such a great breakfast. Oh dear, I hope you don't get more than a dusting if snow comes. All those paths you've shoveled. All those hours... Be careful.

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  4. Happy Birthday DH, all the goodies looks fabulous, and the birds are beautiful. What better way to spend the weekend. Glad you got the snow removed, that's a pain. Now, go grab a donut.....

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  5. Happy Birthday to your DH. I was 72 today-tell him a lot of important people have birthdays in February. My DH has a BD the 25th and several of our friends have birthdays this month. DH bought me a coconut layer cake at Town and Country Super Market which was really good for a store bought cake-loved the whipped icing. Both daughters came out and brought supper so it was a good day!

    That pic of the birds is so cute-love it. I am sending it to my oldest daughter who loves the birds!

    Yummy looking doughnuts-I love cake doughnuts better than yeast ones.

    I make a really simple microwave meat loaf DH likes. 1 pound ground beef, 1 tablespoon dry onion soup mix, 2/3 cup milk. Mix together, put in a microwave meat loaf dish and microwave for 8 minutes on high (or adjust time for your microwave) drain off any grease and top with a topping of 4 tablespoons catsup, 1 tablespoon prepared mustard, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and cook 2 more minutes. Cover with a plate and let set for 10 minutes. Makes enough for the two of us with some leftovers for sandwiches. I double it for company and will sometimes add chopped green pepper for a change.

    Thanks for the nice comments on my cards-I appreciate them.

    I wonder just how much of the predicted snow we will get? Stay safe and warm.

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  6. Glenda, I just showed my husband the donuts and he is very excited you shared the recipe! I'll stir them up next Friday and then cook them Sat. morning when the GRANDson is here! We are in for more snow today and then Tuesday watch out...5-6" predicted! The kids are loving the snow days off from school, they may go all summer! Stay warm, i KNOW you are going to eat well!

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  7. Greetings from Southern California :-)

    I added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit mine and become a follower if you want to.

    God Bless You, ~Ron

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  8. Those donuts look amazing. I love plain cake donuts. Your DH's 73rd birthday breakfast sure sounds yummy. Happy Birthday to him.

    You mentioned jam. Do you make your own jams & jellies. I wouldn't be surprised to hear you do.

    Dinner sounds good too. I love those Yukon Gold potatoes.

    Good for those chickens!

    I keep wanting to mention, but never do, how much I love your bird photos. They are just beautiful.

    Oh, and I love your new snowy blog heading picture too.

    Your blog is now one I look forward to.

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  9. Hi Glenda,
    I'm trying to remember if I've seen your header photo. It gave me a shiver. Your farm looks good in snow. Happy birthday to your DH.

    I'm glad you are starting to get more eggs. I love that photo with all the birds!

    Thanks for your nice comment about my herb garden.

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  10. Happy Belated Birthday to you husband! I hope it was a wonderful day.
    Wow, donuts! People must love coming to your house!

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  11. My children have been driving me crazy for donuts from the donut shop. Think I'm gonna have to blow their socks off with homeade ones instead. Thank you for sharing the recipe! And hoping you had a wonderful birthday inspite of our crazy weather!

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  12. I find myself using grated lemon or orange more and more these days. I love that hint of citrus in things.

    You are the most distant commenter yet. Thank you for stopping by.

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