The BIG Fry-Off

It literally was obscene. We're talking the kind of obscene that's illegal in 42 states and 20 countries. We'd only ever talked about having a fry party but never thought we would actually pull this off. But today, we did. With great aplomb, unplanned coordination, as balanced a menu as the deep-fried circumstances allowed (I mean, we *did* have veggies and dessert), and also a fleeting smidgen of guilt and embarrassment at how much we ate. And all this after the Big House Big Heart run (photos here.) Emilee put it best: "Can I just say how much I LOVE the idea of celebrating something called the "Big Heart Run" by frying a bunch of stuff?"

Things we managed to throw into the turkey fryer:
1. A 2lb prime rib (yes, a WHOLE prime rib)
2. Cheese curds
3. A pound of Italian meatballs
4. 13 scotch eggs (encasing extra-large hard-boiled eggs)- no, restraint was the one thing that was *not* on the menu today
5. 2 large country fried steaks
6. Eggplant strips (they turned out a little like tempura, i.e. delicious! And it allowed us to pretend that we had *some* fiber in our diet today.)
7. 5 giant chicken breasts (brined in buttermilk, so moist, so good, so ummmm-inducing... )
[by this time, people were starting to have that glazed, blank look on their faces- y'know, the blissful kind that comes just before an intense food coma?...]
8. 4lbs of hot wings
9. Handmade onion rings
10. Banana-Nutella and cinnamon brown sugar spring rolls (our contribution- it really worked and was the perfect decadent end to an already heedlessly hedonistic afternoon)

And all this for only nine people. All cooked in one vessel (at different times, obviously, but still, the capacity of that thing is amazing!). And, on top of that, with all the finger-licking goodness that was going on, we completely dispensed with cutlery altogether- why fuss with an extra transfer mechanism when you can just toss piping hot fried food straight into your oesophagus? Ahhhh bliss...

1. An obscene amount of fried food!, 2. Beer-battered onion rings, 3. Banana-nutella spring rolls, 4. Deep-fried eggplant, 5. Cheese curds!, 6. Scotch eggs , 7. Deep-fried prime rib, 8. Scotch eggs, cross-section , 9. Buttermilk-dipped fried chicken