I have been extremely busy and exhausted, and I am happy if I can get together something edible for the family every day without spending a fortune. I haven’t been doing much on the homestead, except for holding it together.
My homesteading goals have taken a back seat, unfortunately. Last night I made homemade french fries (not the healthiest, I know, but if we are going to eat french fries, they might as well be homemade, right?). French fries are pretty easy to make, but I am not a frying expert. I didn’t even know things could be fried at home until I was living in Mexico. Street vendors would set up a wobbly table on the street in a neighborhood I lived in and people could order fresh french fries, fried hot dogs (another completely foreign concept to me), and in some places, hot and fresh churros. The fries and hot dogs could then be smothered with ketchup, mustard, and (the best part) hot sauce. My husband and I would grab some fried food as a treat on a Friday night a few times each year.
After frying the french fries last night, I kept thinking how I didn’t want to just throw away all that oil. I remembered in the back of my mind that I had seen some homemade doughnut recipes that seemed pretty easy. So I started looking for recipes. The first I found was very complicated and involved lots of rising dough and overnight refrigeration. Since it was already late at night, I did not want to begin that endevour, especially on something as unhealthy as doughnuts, no matter how delicious they turned out.
I found a recipe for doughnut holes that seemed very fast and easy, and the reviews were great. I went to bed content that I could make a yummy treat to go along with our breakfast in the morning, and that it would be easy!
I discovered in the morning that it was, indeed, quite easy.
A pitfall I encountered was that the recipe called for a fry thermometer. I figured, I didn’t use a fry thermometer for my fries, so I’m sure I can get by without one with these! The result was that my first batch of doughnut holes turned out looking like chunks of charcoal. Seriously. They were these perfect black circles that looked identical to charcoal.
The next few batches turned out a nice bronze, but as I was sampling the doughnut holes, I discovered I did not like them. They tasted like fried dough. And oil. For some reason, it was a big surprise. I didn’t even finish frying them. I don’t really like vegetable oil. Why was I doing this to myself?!
I slowly proceeded to dump my cooked doughnut holes, charcoal pieces, and uncooked dough in the trash, and vowed to never make a doughnut again.
On the bright side, I just placed an order for some cheese making ingredients, which I have been dying to make for months (I got the ingredients from this company here). I love cheese. We consume pounds and pounds of cheese each month. If I can figure out how to successfully and easily make cheese, I feel like I will be able to survive in a world of chaos, Armageddon, or at least government shutdown. I think cheese-making will be on my timeline in about 2 weeks. I can’t wait!
Adventure to Whole Life 