music in the living room

Our friends the Roesers hosted a house concert on Friday night and husBen and I were in enthusiastic attendance. We knew a good amount of people there and met a good amount more; I quite enjoyed filling out my picture of my friend Caroline’s (the host) life a little more by meeting her siblings and other close friends. I feel like you get a much better picture of who someone is once you meet their siblings. Good or bad and all the shades in between. These people shaped us. They were the rough edges we rubbed against and the reigning forces in our youth. They shaped our imaginations and our humor. Needless to say, I valued those introductions.

Amanda Shires sang and played her guitar and violin, all the while we sipped Fish House punch and nodded our heads to her rhythm. I felt rather indulged with the privilege to listen to good live music in someone’s living room (by such a cute lil’ artist!), but maybe the fact that I was cognizant of the blessing made the music sound even better.

I popped by Caroline’s earlier that day to see if she needed help prepping for the party and she set me on the task of making donuts. I simply followed the recipe and judging by their scarcity towards the end of the night, I think they turned out alright!

Baked Cinnamon Donuts 

For the donuts:

2 cups flour

1 ½ cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten

1 ¼ cups whole milk

2 tablespoons salted butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the topping:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the donuts: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a baker’s spray with flour, such as Baker’s Joy, to coat 1 or 2 doughnut pans.

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a mixing bowl.

Whisk together the egg, milk, melted butter and vanilla extract in a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Fill the wells of the donut pans about half full with the batter. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the wall of a doughnut comes out clean and the doughnuts are puffed and lightly browned. Let them cool (in the pans) for 5 minutes, then gently invert the doughnuts onto a rimmed baking sheet.

For the topping: While the donuts are cooling, prep the topping: Melt the butter in a small glass bowl. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Dunk each donut in the melted butter then dip both sides into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve warm.

Adapted from "Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust," by Ina Garten