Homemade Christmas doughnuts? Sure, I can do that.

My husband has an irrationally high level of faith in my domestic abilities.

At least that's what I tell myself. The alternative is that he makes ridiculous requests just to see if I'll attempt them. He thinks nothing of asking if "we" (meaning I) can do things that most people think of as too difficult or time consuming to even consider.

To be fair, I am pretty freaking domestic. I don't think about it most of the time because it's my life, but then people come over and gawk over making fresh mozzarella and cracking out home canned sauce for pizza and I remember that not everyone does that.

Maybe his expectations aren't that irrationally high.

A couple of days before Christmas he asked if we could make these beer donuts he found a recipe for in BeerAdvocate. In my head I thought, "Are you freaking crazy? Why should we make doughnuts? I don't even think I've ever deep fried anything in my life. And do you have any idea how much is involved in this process? It has to raise like three times and it will take hours. I really don't want to."

Did I express that out loud?

No.

I said, "sure."

I'm a sucker for that man. He's just so damn cute and really doesn't seem to know how hard the thing he's asking you to do is considered to be by most people. He's so adorably ignorant you feel like you're not even trying if you don't at least try (which technically you aren't). So you try. Then he wants to make several different kinds of donuts. You know, so there is some variety. Nevermind, the fact that it means you have to do all the work multiple times.

Turns out, as usual, he was right. I"m a domestic rock star and I pulled it off beautifully. I think he got the impression that I felt like this project was a lot to take on when I suggested we only make one kind. He helped make two.

Christmas Eve, after visiting his grandmother and making dinner I made a Christmas spiced mocha and we started the doughnuts. I'm not a night person so I figured it was a good preemptive strike. I knew this was going to be a several hour long project. Luckily, it involved a significant amount of waiting time while the dough was rising and I had time to devote to finishing up and wrapping some Christmas presents for the next morning.

By midnight was had two dozen beautiful homemade doughnuts and matching doughnut holes in Map-Ale Bacon (An ale based doughnut with maple frosting and crispy bacon on top) and Black and Tan (a Pale Ale doughnut with a Stout glaze). We used Tallgrass Ale in the Map-Ale Bacon and Tallgrass IPA and Buffalo Sweat in the Black and Tan.

Pretty tasty.