Is it strange...

I'm not sure how you make yours, but the ones I make'd be too hot to flip with bare fingers .

Did she want you to flip them before or after they were in the frying oil?

If she wanted you to flip them while they were in the batter and you did so with your fingers, no problem.

If she wanted you to flip them while they were already in the hot frying oil and you did so with your fingers, either the oil was not nearly hot enough or you were wearing heat-resistent gloves.

Anything else and your mother should have done more than look at you with a crazy look when you put your bare fingers into the hot frying oil.

This may have been frozen onion rings intended to be baked on a cookie sheet. I think I tried them once, and they weren't worth the bother, but they may have improved them by now.

Nonono, the ones you bake at 425 degrees ferinheight. (However you spell that.)

Yup they are. And they have gotten better.