Donut Day

October 31 was donut day at 4924 Upton Ave in Minneapolis. I think it is a tradition now. I've always had a hanker'n for donuts and cider in the fall and over the years it has been pretty characteristic for me to make them once every fall. Last year I went to Minneapolis to do it and they remembered so I got invited back to do it again. Halloween was the perfect time.

My donut recipe was given to me by a very special person in my life. Long since deceased, but fondly remembered, is a woman I grew up calling White. Her name was Elizabeth White and she was like a grandma to me. She gave me the donut recipe in her own handwriting and I have had it for over 35 years.

White was a surrogate, actually hired, grandma for me and my siblings back in the 60's and 70's. Having lost her mother at the age of 16, and having 6 children of her own, my mother needed help. As she tells it, she wanted more than someone to clean the house and iron dad's shirts. She wanted someone to be a grandma to her children. Enter White who came to our house a coule of days a week to clean, iron and bake; along with babysitting whichever of us 6 children who were still young and at home. Mom wasn't always gone. Many days they would work along side each other visiting and cleaning and sometimes White would just sit down and read the baby a story or rock him. And about once a year in the fall, White was assigned the task of making donuts. I got to help. My job was to dip them when they came out of the frying pan and then to lean them up against a glass on a tray so the excess glaze could slide off the donut. We dipped some of them in sugar, but my favorite were the ones we glazed.

White was an awesome baker and we children benefited from that and loved her. She made cinnamon rolls, pies, bread, and donuts for our mother.

There came a time when most of the kids were all grown and at college and mom and dad decided it was time to let White go. It was a tough but economic decision for them. So they let her go. But before long, she was back. We missed her. And we needed her. White had more than nourished our sweet tooth, ironed our clothes, and washed our windows. She had nurtured our family. She had nourished our souls and she had become a part of our family that no one could just cut out.

Its important to note that White had her own granchildren. They were our schoolmates and friends and they were generous enough to share their grandma with us showing no apparent resentment or possiveness. On a rare occassion we would get to spend the night with White and Clarence and that was a special time. I remember sleeping on the sofa in their very small 1 bedroom house.

One of my last and fondest memories of White was the year she and I went to Irving to cut a cedar Christmas tree. I was home from college and learned that the tree that was up was too dry and we weren't going to be able to plug in the lights on Christmas eve. That was unacceptable to me so mom let me take White with me to go cut another tree. Off we went to the ghost town of Irving where White had lived until the federal government made all residents move due to the buidling of the Tuttle Creek Dam. Tuttle Creek Dam was flood control for others but it was death to the town of Irving. White was always melancholoy when we walked around there and saw the old foundations and sidewalks. I think she had actually grown up in Irving so seeing only what remained of it was very sad for her. But we got the tree, cut it, loaded it and headed home with it where I had the job of un-decorating the dry one and replacing it with the fresh one.

I don't know how much White enjoyed that little trip but I will always remember it. She must have been in her 60's then but she was still a trooper.

The last time I saw her she was in a care center in Blue Rapids. I stopped to see her and wasn't sure she knew me. I never went back. She lived a long time in the care center not knowing her own name and when she died I was not able to go to her funeral. I don't remember why but I wish I had gone. My little grandma with the snow white curly hair. Here is her recipe:

1 cut warm water

1 cup warm milk

1 stick melted butter

2/3 cup sugar

3 T yeast

Mix in flour to form a soft dough.

Let rise about 2 hours

Cut donuts and let rise again. (about 45 minutes)

Fry in enough canola oil that donuts are floating over medium high heat.