Wayne and Rebecca Madsen

Heat 1 and a half cups milk in the microwave about a minute and a half to two minutes, till it's hot enough to melt shortening. The other 1/4 cup is for the glaze recipe Put the shortening in the heated milk and stir till combined. Set aside.

Put warm water in your mixing bowl; sprinkle yeast in and let sit a few minutes. Add the milk/shortening mix when it's lukewarm. Add half the flour, eggs, sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Combine till well mixed using the dough hook.

Add the rest of the flour and beat well 3-4 minutes more. At this point the dough looked way too wet, so I added a little more flour. I'll have to try again and actually measure how much more I added: till it looked moist but not soupy. It didn't quite form a ball around the dough hook, so softer than bread dough. Spread some oil in another bowl, and transfer the dough to the oiled bowl. Cover and let rest for an hour (till it doubles in size).

On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8 inch thickness. Don't worry, it will rise more later. Cut out doughnut shape using a 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 diameter ring (we used our one cup measuring cup!), and the center using a 7/8-1 inch ring (or a frosting decorating tip, or just put your finger through the middle and spread the hole a little...). Set the doughnuts on a floured baking tray, cover, and let rest for half an hour.

During the last 15 minutes of rise time, start preheating the oil in a fryer (we used a deep skillet) to about 365 degrees F. You want enough oil to cover about half of the height of the doughnuts. Place the doughnuts in the oil gently so they don't splash, and cook about a minute each side until brown. Adjust the temperature if the doughnuts aren't browning nicely in about a minute per side. Let cool on a cooling rack placed over a baking sheet (so the grease can drip somewhere other than your counter top).

Let the doughnuts cool about 10-15 minutes. Mix the 1/4 cup milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla to make the glaze. Dip the doughnuts in the glaze and put on a cooling rack over a baking sheet (so the glaze drips somewhere other than your counter top). If it's easier for you, dip one side at a time and let harden before dipping the second side.