Visions of Sugar Plums

Merry Christmas everyone!  May all of your holiday dreams come true.

Happy Hanukkah

To all who will be celebrating tonight and for the next eight days, a very happy Hanukkah to you!  Here's a great sufganiyot recipe for you from King Arthur Flour :)

EASY JELLY DOUGHNUT HOLES - Yield: 24 jelly doughnut holes.

Ingredients:
2 cups (King Arthur Unbleached) All-Purpose Flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons (= 4 1/2 teaspoons) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup lukewarm milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
FILLING: your favorite jelly or jam

Directions
1) Get out a skillet that's at least 2 1/2" deep; a 10" electric frying pan is a great choice, if you have one. Fill it with about 1" of vegetable oil, peanut oil preferred for best flavor.

2) Start heating the oil to 350°F while you make the doughnut batter.

3) To make the doughnuts: Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

4) Whisk together the lukewarm milk, melted butter, egg, and vanilla.

5) Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to make a thick batter (or soft dough).

6) When the oil has come up to temperature, use a tablespoon cookie scoop (or spoon) to drop balls of batter into the hot oil. This recipe will make 2" doughnut holes using a tablespoon cookie scoop and dropping in balls of dough about as big as an undersized ping pong ball.

7) Fry the doughnut holes for 2 minutes on the first side, or until they're a deep golden brown. Some of them may turn themselves over; that's OK, just use a pair of tongs to turn them back. After 2 minutes, turn the holes over, and fry for an additional 2 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer the doughnut holes to a baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain and cool.

8) When the doughnuts are cool, use a piping bag with a long, plain tip to fill them with as much jelly as you like. If you don't have a piping bag, try using an inexpensive plastic condiment squeeze bottle (think mustard or ketchup), with its tip cut off midway down to make it wider.

9) Shake the filled doughnuts gently in a bag of granulated sugar. Enjoy warm, or store at room temperature, loosely covered, for a day or so.

Handmade Gift Exchange Awesomeness

This year, for the first time, I participated in Craftaholics Anonymous' Handmade Gift Exchange, and it was awesome!  For the uninitiated, essentially you sign up to create a handmade gift for a random partner that is assigned to you, and cross-your-heart promise to mail the gift by November 30th.  My partner, the mastermind behind milk in my martini glass contacted me straight off and we each researched each other through all the usual social media outlets.  Luckily, she seems wonderful so I was happy to make something especially for her.  She gave me a few color combos she enjoys (lime green and black among them) and mentioned she likes polka dots, and so...voila:

I really hope she likes it, especially after I received this incredibly awesome cash box she painted for me:

I LOVE it!  I feel very honored that I have a sign my husband hand-painted for me and a cash box that a very thoughtful gift exchange partner painted for me too.  I know my logo well and understand first hand just what a pain in the butt it is to paint.  So thank you :)