The Fritters are Here
and what a long, strange trip it's been
New here? Hi! Scroll down for the video link and all the way to the bottom for the recipe!
Hello to all my stone(d) fruits!
Going to preamble this by saying that if you’re happy about the election results, I respect your right to vote however you want to, but I’m struggling today and will be talking a bit more about my feels here. (Anyone who wants to skip straight to the recipe, go for it!)
I went to bed before any of the swing states had been called last night, and saw the results when I woke up. I can’t say I was wholly surprised, but definitely and immediately felt deeply saddened. I took in what I needed to, and then realized I had a new recipe to release. Truthfully, my first thought was to cancel today’s video and hold off on everything. Cancel all my calls!
That moment passed. Sadness can be honored without owning me, and I wanted to connect that to the business at hand. I believe in the connection between food and feelings, and the reciprocal, symbiotic relationship between cooking and caretaking, and over time that has become a larger part of my inspiration and motivation. I treasure the therapeutic value I get out of shopping and cooking food (and sharing that with you). Having a creative outlet that satisfies a necessary human need is rad, too. Ya gotta eat.
There are a few other things that make me happy, in addition to cooking and writing about what happens in my kitchen. So, before I got out of bed (Cosmo’s alarm blaring in the background, no less), I made a mental list:
Things That Make Me Happy (in no particular order)
Communing with animals (mine, usually)
Music
Shitty TV
Lifting weights
My friends
Laughing
My family
Cooking and eating
Almost everything on this list is available to me, at all times. And that’s how I know there’s still a way for me to find a little light despite the heaviness.
Whether you’re psyched or despondent today, I truly believe that there’s a food for every feeling (there’s a whole section in That Sounds So Good with that title, in fact). Recipes that actually work are a key part of that world view.
That brings us to the fritters. The Full Moon Apple Fritters challenged me to my core, but I needed them to exist. I fought through five rounds to get them where I wanted them to be, powering through the urge to quit several times. I love apple fritters, and I waited until they were right. The multiple rounds of development paid off.
These are my platonic ideal fritter: craggy, tender, fragrant, glazed, light, crunchy. Making them can be a salve to anyone looking for sweetness, a fun project for anyone who needs a distraction, a shareable treat for anyone in the mood to bring joy, and a service to anyone who simply wants to find a use for the apples in their crisper drawer.
Of course, sometimes a doughnut is just a doughnut, and I promise you: these ones are really, really good.
Whatever it is, we’re going to get through it.