i slept through half of the macy’s parade and then played defense against eggboy, who kept trying to change the channel to the godfather, then we made potatoes and a turkey bird and a pie that was the most rustic pie i ever done seen, and then we put up our chrismukkah bush which was still fully decorated from last year (?!) and missing two of its big light bulbs because i never replaced the ones that i grabbed in lieu of a glass to smash on the way outside to get married, and then we watched elf (sup, tyrion lannister in a suit). so, it was low-key and great. how was yours?? did you have a good black friday, small biz saturday, something something monday? i think the only thing i bought throughout all that was a shit ton of chocolate lip balm because the winter is coming and so are my gross dry lips.

thankfully all of the thanksgiving leftovers are pretty much gone by now and in eggboy’s belly, giving us just enough calm before the hanukkah storm to go to fargo and celebrate the true end of the farming season. every december there is a big multi-day beer-filled holiday inn bash for farmers in the area so, uh, wish us luck? i’ll actually be spending my fargo days scribbling away at my book while eggboy schmoozes about tractors, and then we’ll be back in time for latkes, menorahs, and sufganiyot this weekend. yipee!

idk if it was obvious or not but these past few months i’ve fallen so hard for baked donuts that i almost forgot about reeeeeal friiiiied donuts. omg they’re so good. thank you, hanukkah, for giving me reason to recall this! so as we head into sufganiyot season, i am 1) presenting you with a classic jam donut that gets a lil unsolicited help from my good friend cream cheese, and 2) going to teach you something i learned recently when i spent the better part of last month deep-frying foods: deep frying in cast iron is the best way to keep the heat of the oil at a consistent temperature. before i discovered this, i thought i was going crazy when i had to constantly adjust the heat knob in order to keep the oil at a fry-able temperature (about .00001% of you are going to relate to this, but it was like riding the pedal while playing on crappy out-of-tune balance-action timpani). so now i have converted to only frying in cast iron and it’s a darn good thing because i have this pretty new magic* dutch oven from lodge that is perfect for all of my hanukkah/frying needs. and i’m giving this puppy away, so scroll past the recipe for more deets!

blueberry cream cheese donuts

makes 12

ingredients

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 eggs
1/3 cup flavorless oil, like canola or vegetable, plus more for frying

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup blueberry jam
powdered sugar

clues

In a medium bowl, combine the yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon sugar and give it a little stir. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it becomes foamy on top.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl or the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the salt, flour, and remaining sugar. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and oil.

When the yeast is foamy, add it to the dry mixture immediately followed by the egg mixture and stir to combine. Knead, either by hand on a floured surface or with a dough hook for 7-10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary (but try not too add too much), until you have a smooth and slightly sticky dough.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Fill a large heavy pot fitted with a thermometer with 2” of oil and heat over medium high heat to 360º F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/2” thickness. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out 3” circles, re-rolling scraps until the dough is used up. Cover the circles with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 more minutes. Fry in batches for 1-1 1/2 minutes on both sides and use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a wire rack.

To make the filling, mix together the cream cheese and blueberry jam. When the donuts are cool enough to handle, use a skinny knife to poke a hole in the sides and rotate it to create space for the filling. Use a piping bag to pipe the filling into the donuts, dust with powdered sugar, and serve.

*this new lodge dutch oven, which is part of a new entire line from lodge, is a heat-treated cast iron pan of ***magic*** because the heat-treated part means that it’s rust resistant, which means you can soak it! until now i’ve bestowed the job of cleaning the cast iron on eggboy because i am too terrified to ruin it, but with this new dutch oven that is basically impossible to ruin, i might have to take some responsibility for my messes…?? anyway, there are five new pieces in this heat-treated line, which are available at macy’s, and they have a slightly curvier design than the classics. super cool. to enter this giveaway, check out the line (9” skillet, 11” skillet, grill pan, griddle, and dutch oven) and leave a comment here telling me which piece you’d like if you won and what you’d make in it first! open to u.s. residents. a winner will be chosen at random next week! update: this giveaway is now closed.

-yeh!

thank you so much for sponsoring this post, lodge!