more donuts. yes, more donuts.

Another amazing find from the gals at A Beautiful Mess...grapefruit donuts!! Emma is a genius. This combines two of my favorite breakfast foods! I had to try it.

My recipe was a combination of Emma's (which are fried, traditional donuts...didn't want to get addicted to fried/homemade donuts!) and the baked French donut recipe that I've been making. Here's what I did. (And here, again, is a link to the donut pan I LOVE!)

BAKED GRAPEFRUIT DONUTS

FOR DONUTS:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups flour (I did half cake flour and half almond flour, to add a little protein - I like finely ground, Honeyville Almond Flour for all of my baking)
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3/8 cup milk (I used almond milk, but any will do - coconut might upset the flavor though)
• 1/8 cup grapefruit juice
• 1 tbsp grapefruit zest

FOR GLAZE:

• 2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup grapefruit juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat donut pan generously with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg; mix well.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk and grapefruit juice. Mix in grapefruit zest.
4. Fill donut tins half full. Bake 15-20 minutes. Take out of pan immediately and cool on a rack. (I like to use a tiny spatula and coax them out!)
5. While donuts cool, whisk together ingredients for the glaze, making sure to whisk until smooth and slightly thick, with no clumps of sugar. 
6. Place a cookie sheet covered with wax paper under the rack. Making sure donuts are completely cooled, dip them in the glaze and replace on rack. Let glaze set for a few minutes before dipping a second or third time, if you wish. Due to the porous nature of these donuts (because they are cake-y and baked, they will soak up the glaze quite a bit. Dip as many times as you like, keeping this in mind).
7. Makes 6 super yummy, tart, fruity donuts.

birthday recap

birthday, a photo by elletrain on Flickr.

So, yesterday was my birthday and it couldn't have been lovelier. We started with a yummy brunch at Grain & Gristle, one of our favorite local spots. We had their amazing short rib hash with eggs...OMG. Delicious.

We next had a wonderful meeting with Gracie and Sarah, our doulas. They work as a team so they can be sure to be available on the big day...they could not be sweeter. They set my mind at ease on quite a few birthing/delivery topics. I am so fortunate to have them around for my first baby!

In the afternoon we went and had dessert (and Pinky had chili cheese fries!) at The Original, a great updated diner restaurant downtown. I had a yummy piece of Almond Joy cheesecake...mmmm. We then headed to see "Silver Linings Playbook" and really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it. It had a bit of a "Garden State" feel to it, one of my favorite movies of all time. 

Lastly, we came home and I made yummy spaghetti (seasoned with secret ingredients learned from my half-Italian stepmom ...sorry, I can't share!!) and garlic bread...simple comfort food that makes me happy. I had a little glass of red wine with my meal which was also a nice treat.

My sweet husband got me a cool, locally made t-shirt and a beautiful silver cameo-style ring, also made by an artist here in Portland. He did so great! He knows me well.

Overall, I think this may have been one of my favorite birthdays...we had simple celebrations doing fun things together. Besides my engagement, which was also on my birthday, 3 years ago, this ranks up there as one of my favorite celebrations!

What do you love to do on your birthday?

recently finished knits

Here's what has come off of my needles lately :)

The Immie Tee - yarn: Koigu KPM in color 2128. I've had this yarn forever and this is so sweet in it. Such a quick knit, too! Very fun.

The Aidez sweater - yarn: GGH Savanna - I've had this yarn forever, as well. This fits SO perfectly. I made the smallest size of the pattern, following all of the shaping, but I took out the arm cables and the back cables because I wasn't sure if I had enough yarn. I left the cables on the front for detail. I am SO happy with how this turned out!

I finally started on the Bearclaw Blanket. It's going to be slow-going, but really beautiful. I hope to finish the first block in the next few days and I'll upload a photo. SO many ends to weave in due to all of the mitered shapes, but really a fun knit...hopefully I won't get tired of making blocks. I think because, unlike the original pattern, mine are in all different colors, it'll keep the knitting a little more interesting. We'll see!

What's on your needles?