A few years ago I made donuts at home for the first time. To some, this may feel trivial, and to others, impressive. Personally, I was in awe. Moi? Me? I can make donuts at home?! It was as if I’d discovered how to print money on a 2002 LaserJet. I was surprised by how easy the process was and shocked by how judgmental, or perhaps intimidated, I’d previously been by the idea of deep frying at home.
To some, this epiphany may sound basic. As a child of latkes, I wasn’t a total stranger to frying food at home, but, growing up, frying was not in our regular repertoire, nor did I seek it out in early adulthood. Of course, I love a fried good—fried chicken, fried dumplings, samosas, katsu, empanadas, donuts—you name it, I love it. But for some reason, I compartmentalized these items as “things I eat out.”