Homemade Donuts

A few not-so-lazy Saturday mornings ago, I broke out yet another one of the many, many small appliances that we received as wedding gifts: Cuisinart's mini professional deep fryer. After reading the manual three times because frying oil scares the living daylights out of me (read: grease fire) I decided to venture into the world of home-made donuts. (Yes, I am aware that this is my second post about donuts. For the record, I am totally okay with that because they are delicious.  Everything in moderation, right?)  This was not a random pick out of my mini-fryer cookbook, however.  Making homemade donuts was quite a big deal for my family when I was growing up.  We would all go over to my grandpa's house and gather around in the kitchen while my mom or uncle stationed themselves at the fryer.  My job would always be to sugar the donuts after they were browned to perfection.  Everyone else's job was to eat them as fast as they possibly could.  Check and check.

Peace, Love and Little Donuts

oreo, sugar, and sprinkles

J and I grabbed lunch at Roland's in the strip district this morning. A good friend of Justin's from college owns Roland's, and it is definitely one of the must-eat, must-visit restaurants in town.  The atmosphere is great, the food is so fresh and delicious, and the balcony is one of the best places to people-watch in the summertime. We always love to end our morning in the strip district there with a few drinks and some amazing seafood.  They have a lobster roll that is 1 lb. of of lobster tail stuffed into butterfly-sliced garlic bread. It is TO-DIE-FOR, and I am not even a big seafood eater. With the amount of lobster you get for only fourteen dollars, it is truly one of the best deals around.

There was a serious frenzy of Steelers fans downtown today preparing for tomorrow's big AFC championship game against the Jets.  Even in the 12 degree weather, there were hundreds of people crowding the streets, purchasing black and gold gear, as well as stocking up on hand (and toe!) warmers for tomorrow night's big game.  You personally could not PAY me to sit outside in this bitter cold for four hours- playoffs or not.  I will be enjoying the game from the comfort of my couch. Warm, toasty, and excited for the black and gold.