MALASADA DAY!

For all of you Portuguese-Catholic-Hawaiians out there....HAPPY MALASADA DAY! I just happen to be all three of those things...well, I know, maybe not Catholic anymore since I joined the LDS church years ago....but hey, I'm definitely still "Portagee" (REALLY Portagee) and I'm definitely still Hawaiian (a LITTLE Hawaiian) and I know the Lord would still want me to celebrate this religious tradition....okay, I admit, it's more like my belly would want me to still celebrate this religious tradition. But hey, either way, Malasada Day is still the BEST holiday in February! For all of you NON Portuguese-Catholic-Hawaiians out there....you'll be WISHING you were one of us after you read this! Check this out...

First, a little background:
"Fat Tuesday", the day before Lent, is also known as Malasada Day in Hawaii. Being predominantly Catholic, Portuguese immigrants in Hawaii would need to use up all of their butter and sugar prior to Lent...things that they couldn't eat during the Lent season. So, they would make these incredibly yummy donuts with all the ingredients in their homes that they were giving up for a month. The tradition has carried on for years and years in Portuguese homes throughout Hawaii. We may not live in Hawaii anymore, but we brought the tradition with us to Nevada.

One disclaimer: All diets are OFF on this day!

Mom and Dad make the homemade dough by hand early in the morning on Malasada day: a combination of yeast, flour, eggs, sugar, and some other special ingredients. Nani was our malasada dough maker for years. She always used to "beat the heck out of the dough" with her hands for a LONG TIME...old Portuguese style. That brings air into the dough and makes it nice and fluffy. All that beating can do a number on your arms, though. So, Mom and Dad, the official dough makers since Nani's been gone, got smart this year...they used a beater. And yes, it was still nice and fluffy! (Nani must have been shaking her finger at them while she watched from up above yesterday morning!) The finished dough is placed in a large pan, covered with towels to keep it warm, and then it rises throughout the day. The fun part is punching down the dough several times when it starts to rise really high. By mid-afternoon, Mom starts cooking. By the time I arrived yesterday all the beautiful golden dough was gone. :( But I managed to snap a picture of the last batch in the making. Yes, fried in oil...I told you all diets were off today!

Mom drops the dough by a spoon into the oil. Generally, they are round, but sometimes you get some interesting shapes. My favorite ones are the ones that get little "tails" on them. Then, the donuts are rolled in sugar. And here they are....homemade MALASADAS! OH BABY!!! I see you salivating!

Each year, we gather at Mom and Dad's house, have a somewhat "light" dinner, and then we all PIG OUT on MALASADAS!!! No one is counting how many. No one's looking. Eat as many as you want. Because, heck, it's FAT TUESDAY! Let's get FAT! (No finger pricking for newly diagnosed diabetec Dad tonight to check his blood sugar....he'd fail for sure! We won't tell the doctor, Dad!)

Don't you all wish you could have some right now? Thanks, Mom and Dad! The malasadas were ONO !!! :)