Cooking in my mother's kitchen in Atlanta this morning, I was inspired to make a recipe her mother taught her: fried doughnuts.

Why fry a doughnut that has already been fried? A turn in a hot pan caramelizes the outside of the doughnut to a crispy shell and returns the inside to a pillowy, soft state.

And so, the next time I find myself with a conveniently stale box of doughnuts in the kitchen, I will feel my mother and grandmother nodding their approval as I ignite the burner, warm up a pan, and see doughnuts not as stale, but as the perfect ingredients for frying.