DOUGHNUTS BY MABEL ROLLIS DAVIS

My husband's mother made great doughnuts. They were always there at a picnic as well as for other events. From her cookbook of 19ll, here is her recipe. In fact her doughnuts were part of our honeymoon breakfast in l949 at Banff, Alberta. We had made reservations at Dorking, an early version of bed and breakfast but at that place one brought their own breakfast, or found a cafe. We had Mom's doughnuts for our breakfast. In 1956 there was a downturn and we moved to California where my husband found work at General Motors Parts Division and later worked as a technician. They spent winters with us often in California and she always brought her special doughnuts for a treat. Fat and starch boiled together is not easy to digest for me but my husband loved and appreciated them.

Recipe No. l
2 cups buttermilk; 3 eggs; Beat together well; l cup sugar, l scant teaspoonful soda. Flour to make a soft dough.

Recipe No. 2
4 eggs, 2 cups sweet milk and one of sour milk, l, l/2 cups sugar, l/2 teaspoonful soda mixed in sour milk; 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder, l tablespoonful butter.

The type of fat used to boil the doughnuts was not specified. She included a third doughnut recipe that calls for 3 eggs, l cup sugar; l l/2 cups sweet milk, 2 tablespoons lard, 2 teaspoons baking powder, with cinnamon or nutmeg to taste. Flour to make soft dough; do not knead.