Archive for the ‘Inventions’ Category
Posted on March 14, 2011 - by Gary Applegary
The Coffee Donut!
Finally! Coffee AND donut in ONE HAND!
Now your other hand shall be freed to use your cell phone, hairbrush, to gesture at other drivers, or perhaps even steer your vehicle in a somewhat safe fashion. How about that?
If you have the ambition and necessary equipment to make donuts, then this recipe is for YOU! Ready? Here we go!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 packages active dry yeast (do not use sluggish yeast)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 6 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
- 2 tablespoons freshly ground espresso powder
- 8 ounces chocolate covered espresso beans (ground or pounded until powdery-ish)
PREPARATION:
Scold (whoops!) SCALD milk in saucepan; stir in sugar, salt, and butter. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Measure warm water into a large mixing bowl; sprinkle in the yeast and stir until dissolved. Stir in lukewarm milk mixture, eggs, and half of the flour; beat until smooth. Stir in lemon peel and remaining flour to make a soft dough; mix well.
Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. (The dough, not your arms.) Place in a buttered bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, for about 45 minutes, until doubled in bulk. Punch down and turn onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll out half into a large round, 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured donut cutter, with center section removed. (‘Cause we don’t want holes in these donuts, we are going to fill them!) Place donuts on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining half of dough.
Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes. Fry in deep hot fat, (365 degrees) until golden brown, turning once. (The donut, not yourself.) Drain on paper towels; cool thoroughly before filling.
While donuts are cooling, make the filling below. Refrigerate for at least 5 to 10 minutes. Spoon filling into a pastry tube with wide nozzle and pipe into cooled donuts. Sprinkle filled donuts with confectioners’ sugar and ground chocolate espresso beans. Refrigerate until devoured!
COFFEE FILLING:
- 1 teaspoon coffee crystals
- 1/4 cup milk or cream
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 5 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Blend everything together until smooth; pipe into donuts as instructed above. Yummy!
Applegary.com would greatly appreciate your feedback on how your donuts turn out and how much you enjoy them. Keep us posted here, and hey! Keep at least one hand on the wheel!
G. Applegary
P.S. This recipe has not been attempted by professionals, as none of the local bakeries or franchises would accept outside recipes. Feel free to ask your local donut provider to bake a batch of these, and again, let us know how it turns out!
Posted on February 15, 2011 - by Gary Applegary
The Wacky Chocolate Identifier!
You could be the proud owner of this Wacky Chocolate Identifier. (WCI, pronounced “wik-ee”)
Let’s face it – whenever there’s a nice box of chocolates to share, you get a raw deal. Somebody always takes the most delectable truffles and leaves you the rock hard caramels.
In years past, they had to sniff and snort at the chocolate or even bite off a corner to make sure they got exactly what they wanted. Now they just have to look inside the lid at the little directory provided.
How to foil the “Take the best chocolate snobs?” You could try to switch all the chocolates around.
OR, you could use your WIKEE! Simply slip it inside the box top of your Russell Stover candies. Now your selfish friends have no clue what is what, or better yet, they decide they don’t want the chocolate at all. More for you! Hooray!
“How do I get one?” Send your mailing address to gary@applegary.com and while you will NOT be added to any annoying mailing lists, you WILL be send your very own complimentary WIKEE! (As I’m sure you will promise to recommend this site to anyone and everyone you come into contact with. Thanks!)
Enjoy — Compliments of www.applegary.com!
Instructions:
- Take special note of the logo on one side of the WCI for applegary.com, and visit the site often for interesting updates and fun for all ages.
- Using a small amount of tape, inconspicuously secure the Wacky Chocolate Identifier inside the lid of the box of chocolates.
- Watch for satisfying results. “You never know what you going to get.”
Props to Wacky Packages for some of the inspiration behind this wackiness!
Posted on November 2, 2010 - by Gary Applegary
Super Duper Golf Pencil!
Let me start by saying, you are NOT a bad golfer. Nobody EVER talks behind your back about how your handicap is your caveman-like swing, or your Mr. Magoo putting accuracy. Additionally, you do NOT ever cheat. And of course, there is NEVER any money riding on your golf game, because you certainly do NOT wager.
OK, now that we have that out of the way, here is an indispensible addition to your golf equipment. The SUPER DUPER GOLF PENCIL. It may seem simple to you. It did to me. A golf pencil WITH an eraser. How hard is that? Don’t we all get tired of those eraser-less pencils? I guess we should just be happy they have lead. Why settle for that, though. You deserve better, and it might even prove to be useful. As an example, here’s how the Super Duper Golf Pencil worked for ME.
Of course, I don’t wager, cheat, or golf poorly, either. Anyways, there we were out at the 9th hole, finishing up because “somebody” was tired and winded and needed a nap like a little baby. The score was tight. The winner of the last hole would win the bet, I mean, win the day. Time for the secret weapon.
Now I had the confidence needed to finish the 9th hole, do my scoring, and take that nap I needed.
Ahh, it’s all going to work out just fine. After all, silly Brett (the opponent) just bogeyed the last hole. Brent, whatever. Wimp. Ha ha!
Now, I know it LOOKS like I just Triple-Bogeyed. (The sun was in my eyes, even though I had them closed.) Well, even if it looks that way, my Super Duper Golf Pencil says No, that isn’t what really just happened. Anyways, I go ahead and score, using the awesome pencil I brought along… Do dee doo dee dooooo, la la la…
Okay, don’t look at the money. I don’t know how that got there, or why. The point of this picture is to show you that I actually birdied that last hole. Whew, that last hole made all the difference, and I won the bet, I mean, won the match! Hooray for me! Hooray for the Super Duper Golf Eraser, I mean, PENCIL!
Watch for this on the PGA tour, and at your finer pro shops. If you don’t see it, please ask them about it. See what they say.
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope the next time you golf, you get the high score! You’ll have me to thank for it.
Gary Applegolfy
