Boondoggle

In honor of Shrove Tuesday, also known as Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras, I decided to make malasadas (pronounced malasalvish?)  just like my Vovo did every year.  Malasadas, or dough-boy's as they are commonly referred to, are a Portuguese fried dough sprinkled with sugar.   New Englander's are familiar with these tasty treats, that are commonly sold at local fairs, carnivals, and of course, Portuguese feasts. 

The aroma of freshly fried dough brings me back to my Vovo's kitchen and fond memories of her expertly crafting perfectly fried, and delicately sugared malasadas.  Even though I have had my share of dough-boy's throughout the years, I have not come across any that compare to hers.

Sunday I decided to try my hand at making malasadas, just like Vovo's!  Yeah, right!  Since, I don't have my Vovo's recipe, I decided to google a recipe.  I proceeded to make the dough, okay that was easy.  I can do this!  One of my son's confided that he had learned to make dough-boy's in a middle school cooking class.  Perfect!  He walked away of course, uninterested in the process.  That was until he saw my attempt at making one.  

Suddenly, everyone in the house was involved, laughing at my futile attempt at frying dough.  "And she calls herself Portuguese?", was among the many comments about my unsuccessful pursuit.

I didn't realize you had to stretch the dough before you dropped it into the oil, so my attempts puffed up and didn't cook in the middle.  I lost a lot of dough before "the expert", my son who made them in middle school, took over the process. 

Dough before rising.

Dough rising.

Dough after rising.

Yum...

The finished product, although still not as good as Vovo's, wasn't bad for a first attempt.  I may try again for Easter!

By the way, the title of this post, Boondoggle, is what my husband calls my experiments in the kitchen!