Vicious Doughnut Balls

Recently, I resolved to set aside a lifelong fear of deep frying at home to try making my own doughnuts.  My favorite type are yeast-raised and glazed, and rarely do I stray from that standard when visiting a local doughnut shop.  But after deciding to make my own at home, I thought it would be best to start with a simple cake doughnut on my first go-round (or I guess I should say the second half of it).  And while the “Hot Now” sign at Krispy-Kreme may make your heart flutter, I’m telling you that nothing compares to a doughnut fried up in your own kitchen.   Although I expected the frying to be the challenging part of...

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Short's Brewing Company

Here at Michigan Beer Blog, we talk a lot about Short’s Beer. A disproportionate number of the Bottled Michigan posts reference Short’s Beer. I regularly use them as a poster child for a Michigan brewery not afraid of experimenting and occasionally making a beer that few will enjoy. When talking of Michigan beer, Short’s is one of the “Big Names” in the industry, well known throughout the footprint (mitten print?) and beyond. So what’s it like to go there? A few weeks ago, my wife and I, flush from our successful outing in Traverse City (which included stops at Right Brain brewery, North peak Brewery, and Mackinaw Brewing Company), made the...

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Screaming Pumpkin Doughnuts

I have never met a variety of deep-fried dough I didn’t like. Yet, given that most doughy fried items out there are rather mediocre — say, the ones found at our local grocery stores — I don’t find myself indulging this habit as often as I’d like.  The exception to this rule is pumpkin spice doughnuts, which I am absolutely weak in the face of.  Despite the fact that even the loveliest looking ones at our local markets tend to disappoint, I eat them anyway. Because it’s fall and crunching through ochre-tinted leaves, wrapping your fingers around a paper cup of mulled cider, and eating even lackluster pumpkin spice doughnuts is the right...

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