“The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the n

I recently read the book The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls, (by recently I mean I finished it on Friday) and then on Friday night I went to see the movie in theaters. The book was excellent, and the movie was very good, but they were also two different entities entirely. The book was written as a memoir, with nothing controlling the content or the length, except he author. The movie then had to fit into certain length and criteria to be suitable for the big screen. When you look at the book and movie in side by side comparison, there were obvious changes and omissions, but when you look at the two as separate entities, and then you see the beauty in both. The book is a beautiful and brutal honest memoir, and the movie is a memoir that is both brutal, but the beauty of the story is more prominent than the harshness of the full truth. Both work wonderfully in their own mediums, and either, and both are worth your time. When I reflected on baking today, I reflected on the book and movie, and what it taught me. The biggest thing I learned is that things need to change. The past is full of excuses for why things were the way they were, but now moving into today, excuses are not good enough. There is something about the age we are living in that requires more of people.

This made me think of the baking that I did the day before and my Great-Great Grandmother’s doughnuts. I’ve never really liked old fashioned doughnuts; they have always been too dry cake consistency for me. Reflecting on my own feelings towards these doughnuts, and the recipe itself, I realized that in its simplest form it is a great recipe, but it is simple because of the time it was created. When my Great-Great Grandmother was alive, resources were more precious and hard to come by. Now I can go to the store and get lemon juice, extracts, spices and fresh ingredients for dollars. Even buying butter is not only less expensive, but not as time consuming. My Great-Great Grandmother had to churn her own butter, I just have to pull it out of the fridge to soften, or throw it in the microwave if I am feeling impatient. There isn’t a reason why I couldn’t take the recipe she created and put an update on it that reflects my own resources and likes. So for this day of baking I chose to take what my Great-Great Grandmother made, and add a part of myself to it. This is the change that we need to see in the world. We need to become aware of the past, and take everything that was great about it and continue to make it better. We need to look forward to a better future, and history has a strong part to play in this script.

Great-Great Grandmother Seymour’s Doughnuts-with a modern update

Recipe:

Ingredients

½ cup sugar

¼ cup butter

3 eggs

4 tsps. Lemon extract/juice

2 tsps. Ginger

3 tsps. cinnamon

2.5 cups flour

3 tsps. Baking powder

1 tsp. Nutmeg

1/4 cup heavy whip cream

4 tbsps. milk

• In mixer use the triangle attachment

• Mix butter, sugar, heavy cream until smooth

• Add in eggs, lemon, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder

• Change to dough hook

• Add in flour 1.5 cups and 2 tbsps.

• Let fully mix

• Add in remaining flour and milk

• Let fully mix

• In mixer use the triangle attachment

• Mix butter, sugar, heavy cream until smooth

• Add in eggs, lemon, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder

• Change to dough hook

• Add in flour 1.5 cups and 2 tbsps.

• Let fully mix

• Add in remaining flour and milk

• Let fully mix

Time to bake:

Flour the surface of the counter

Pat down dough *Do not roll the dough*

Cut the dough into small pieces and let rest for about 5 minutes

*You can shape into circles if you want*

Heat Crisco/hot olive oil

Drop one at a time into the oil/Crisco

Dough will sink to the bottom and then rise to the top

Let dough puff up and start to turn tan/brown underneath (about 1 minute)

Turn over with fork, let cook about another minute.

Remove to plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess grease.

*Baker’s Notes:

The changes to the recipe were exactly what I hoped they would be. The doughnuts were not as dense, which also changed some of the cooking and sizing to do. For this particular recipe I ended up taking small pieces from the bowl (instead of rolling or patting it on the counter) and put flour on my hands then tossed it back and forth, forming it into doughnuts. The dough was airier and so it fell apart in the frying pan if the doughnut was too big, so smaller circles worked best. I wrapped the dough around a finger and that was the center of the doughnut. Also, it is good to note that the longer you cook the hotter the grease gets, make sure to leave your heat at medium-low and to pull it off if it seems to be burning the doughnuts. After about ½ way through the dough it took about 30-40 seconds to cook on one side instead of the full minute. I put sugar and cinnamon on the outside after they cooled a little.

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