
Courtney has made these doughnuts several times and made them again this snowy morning. They are easy, tasty and there’s nothing better than a hot doughnut.




Orange Drop Doughnuts – Cook’s Country
Orange-sugar coating
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Doughnuts
- About 2 quarts vegetable oil
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the coating: Pulse sugar and zest in food processor until blended, about 5 pulses. Transfer to medium bowl. (If making by hand, toss zest and sugar in medium bowl using fork until evenly blended).
For the doughnuts: Heat 3 inches of vegetable oil in 4-quart saucepan until temperature reaches 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Whisk eggs, sugar, and orange zest in large bowl. Whisk in orange juice, then butter, until well combined. Stir in flour mixture until evenly moistened.
Using two dinner teaspoons, carefully drop heaping spoonfuls of batter into hot oil. (You should be able to fit about 6 spoonfuls in pan at one time. Do not overcrowd.) Fry, maintaining temperature between 325 to 350 degrees, until doughnuts are crisp and deeply browned on all side, 3 to 6 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to plate lined with paper towels. Drain for 5 minutes. Add doughnuts to bowl with orange sugar and toss until well coated. Place on serving plate and repeat with remaining batter, regulating oil temperature as necessary. Doughnuts are best served warm.
























Courtney and I went out this past Friday night leading into the long holiday weekend. After work we went to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, the Cleveland Art Museum and then out to dinner at Chinato on East 4th.


A 12 year old girl living in California is going through the trials and tribulations of all 6th graders, but this time set in the near future where Earth’s magnetic field has shifted causing days and nights to become longer and longer leading to the possible end of the world. An interesting novel, sort of like watching disasters unfold on the news, that I found hard to put down.
A ten year old boy who was born with extreme facial abnormalities starts school for the first time going into fifth grade after being home schooled. The book chronicles his year at school with the point of view going back and forth between different people. While the end was a bit over the top hokey, and I’m not quite sure how it ended up in my overdrive queue, I did enjoy this book written for tweens.
Courtney and I stopped at B Spot for lunch yesterday afternoon at Eaton while out shopping. B Spot is Michael Symon’s casual burger joint. I always thought it was a counter service place but it turns out it is a regular restaurant. We sat at the bar and I had a Bell’s Best Brown ale – yum- and Courtney has a Great Lakes Christmas ale. The space is nice even though it’s in a mall. There’s a great mural of beer cans on the wall with a big B in the middle. I had a bacon cheeseburger, Courtney has a thin lizzy and we split an order of onion rings. The burgers were great – nice and fresh, and buns were excellent – buttery brioche. There were different sauces to put on the burgers and dip the rings in. We especially liked the homemade ketchup.
Memoir written by an editor and writer about his mother who is dying of pancreatic cancer. They form a two person book club during their visits to the hospital. Great book about death and dying, the amazing life and attitude of the author’s mother and also about the love of reading with lots of great book recommendations. Another great book.