To sit by the pool? To read a good book? To get a tan? To enjoy good wine?

These are all very legitimate goals and vacation-worthy agendas; my objective is nowhere near these luxurious means to a relaxing end. My goal is to deep-fry food. My single goal for a week-long vacation on a nearby island is to tote along my "for residential use only" deep-fryer---and finally learn to use it.

I brought it on a similar island vacation last year (I have owned it for two years and it keeps getting packed into boxes and unreachable shelves and pantry crevices)---and it stayed in the car while I got a tan and drank wine and read books (see? my priorities are not so askew).

But this year I am determined to make goodies in my counter-top deep fryer. I am one step closer than I was last year: I have a specific recipe I am gunning to try...

... well days later I am on vacation only to find out I forgot my recipe at home. But ever determined, I leaned on the expertise provided in the little deep fryer pamphlet and made 1. calamari, 2. french fries, 3. chicken tenders and 4. beer-battered onion rings.

All I can say is: mission accomplished. We plugged in the little box, full of vegetable oil (slight cringe, since this detracts from the healthy side of eating, but I ignored this knee-jerk response and pressed on), on the porch (who wants to stink up the whole house?). And we lifted and tucked the basket into its pool of oil, cut and dipped the goodies, and made condiment sauces and aioli to accompany our fried up agenda.

Now that the oil has cooled and the chicken and fries have been consumed, I really should resume traditional vacation-like behavior and pour myself a big glass of vino. And with that, a salute/cheers/toast to all of you who have figured out the table top, deep fried, food battered, oil smoking techniques of humble home-sized deep-fryers. Well-done!

p.s. I love giving you recipes, but only if I love them. While these recipes were ample, they were not amazing. If you are determined to deep-fry for your first time, my pamphlet probably looks a lot like yours: give those recipes a go. I simply figure, in the very least, pamphlet quality recipes are a good "101" place to start, and ultimately contribute to my/your [eventual and expert] deep fried food recipe assessments.