52 Donuts

Katz Gluten-Free Donuts

2012-01-09T13:02:00.000-06:00

Since going gluten-free, I've been on the hunt for a good donut. When I'm in New York, L.A. or Orlando, I eat Babycakes donuts shamelessly for three meals a day. But the rest of the year, I'm left with limited options. Most of those come from the freezer at the local natural foods store.

Recently, Katz Gluten-Free has added donuts to their sizable collection of baked goods. I ordered everything they have to offer: jelly donuts, custard donuts and powdered donuts. The Katz donuts are the first gluten-free filled donuts I have had that weren't made in my own kitchen.

It was suggested I pay extra for two-day shipping for the donuts and freeze them upon delivery. I did just that, two days before Christmas. On Christmas Eve, I left them out on the counter overnight to thaw so we could enjoy them for Christmas breakfast.

The jelly and custard filled donuts are interesting--more baseball shaped than filled donut shaped, kind of like a giant fritter. All three of the donuts, the filled varieties and powdered sugar, tasted very similar. They aren't quite as light and fluffy as a gluten-full fried donut but they also aren't a cake donut.

If I were to order these again, I would microwave them for a few seconds before eating them. They seemed to get a bit more moist in the microwave. Otherwise they were a tiny bit dry. Of the store-bought variety of gluten-free donuts, these are the most donut-like that I've tried.

Here's what I really liked about Katz Gluten-Free: the sampler pack. It is free when you order on-line, just pay for the shipping. Since I was already ordering, I added this to my order. It's a compact little box packed full of samples of many of their products. I tried 3 kinds of bread, a cupcake, a muffin, marble cake, a few kinds of rugelech and cookies. The challah bread was divine.

If you are gluten-free or having gluten-free guests, give these donuts a try. It's nice to have more donut options!

Katz Gluten-Free Bake Shop is located in Monroe, NY and ships direct to your door as well as sells to retail outlets. There is a store locator on their website.

Donuts Trendy in 2012?

2012-01-07T13:50:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again. Every December and January the food world is inundated with lists of hot food trends for 2012. This time around, donuts got a little mention.

The James Beard Foundation Blog predicts donuts (or doughnuts, as it may be in their more refined world) will continue with their resurgence in popularity. They've also suggested more regional and international varieties of donuts will make appearances.

The article points out that between 2010 and 2011 the amount of "doughnut-dedicated content" on Serious Eats rose roughly eighty percent. I was so ahead of this trend way back in 2009 when I started this crazy donut blog. For a minute, I did think donuts, specifically novelty donuts topped with Fruity Pebbles and Tang or Maple and Bacon, would be the next cupcake. So far that hasn't happened and I still live in a donut desert with not a single novelty donut shop within 3 hours drive. Oh, Donut Whole, won't you please come to Kansas City?

Here's my donut prediction for 2012: more allergen- and dietary restriction-friendly donut options will be available. I suppose it's not really a prediction since I've already sampled some of the new offerings. I'll be back soon to tell you about them.

Happy New Year!

A Sad Moment in My Donut World

2012-01-02T21:47:00.001-06:00

A little over two years ago, I wrote about the donut shop that started it all for me, Dunkin' Donuts in St. Joseph, Missouri. On December 27th, they sold their last donut.

Click here for the news story from the St. Joseph newspaper.

And click here for the story from The St Joe Channel.

I'm not a big proponent of national donut chains, more a fan of the locally owned shops. But this particular Dunkin' Donuts location was the donut shop of my childhood. It opened the year I was born, I ate plenty of pink frosted donuts in the swivel chairs at the counter. I'll sure miss that place!

Muncher's Bakery, Lawrence, Kansas

2011-12-26T13:14:00.000-06:00

On a cold, dreary Saturday, John and I made the drive to Lawrence to visit Muncher's Bakery.

Muncher's is located in a small strip mall, near a grocery store we visit when in the area. How we managed to miss a donut shop for so long is beyond me. Recently someone told me we had to visit Muncher's to get a cream cheese donut. So off we went.

As we pulled off of the turnpike, I asked the toll booth attendant if he liked donuts from Muncher's. He said he had never been there but knew many people who had. He did question me about making a long drive for them. Maybe the donuts weren't really THAT good.

The first thing I noticed inside Muncher's was the bakery cases. They are wood. Beautiful, old wood. In all of the donut shops I've visited, I've never seen bakery cases quite like these.

The cases were full of donuts, croissants, cakes...just about anything you can imagine at a bakery. John ordered a variety of goodies and I went off in search of the bathroom. It was a long drive to get here...

To reach the bathroom, I had to find my way through the dimly lit interior, walk through no fewer than a dozen old men sitting drinking coffee and eating donuts and wind through the kitchen before turning down a narrow hallway. Nothing fancy, but a trip to the bathroom did provide a good look at the whole place, from the loafing old fellas area to the kitchen where I palettes with 50 pound bags of flour occupied much of the floor space.

So here's the report on the donuts. John thought they were mediocre. He wouldn't drive 2 hours round trip to get them. I am guessing the popularity is based on a couple of things: they are open 24 hours a day--a bonus in a college town and their donuts are cheap. Not that these donuts were bad, just nothing worth driving out of town to buy.

The tiny little cinnamon roll bites were a great size.

The apple fritters were more like a typical filled donut, except they weren't filled with apples, just a few apples in the batter. These are different from most donut shop fritters.

I thought this bench was really cute.
Muncher's Bakery is located at 925 Iowa Street in Lawrence, Kansas. Take cash, no credit cards are accepted.

Go on, have a donut!

2011-10-24T14:12:00.000-05:00

I've got a few quick pieces of donut news to share with you...

First, this article from Fitbie on MSN. The article shares how to shave 250 calories off of your diet with simple food changes. They have suggested switching from a chocolate muffin to a chocolate glazed donut. I've said many times the donut gets a bad wrap. A glazed donut is usually around 200 calories, far fewer than a muffin or a bagel. Now to eat just one...

Second, the fabulous gals over at Electrified Cooks have shared a recipe for Apple Butter Filled Apple Cider Cupcakes, inspired by the fall favorite Cider Donuts. Perfect for this time of year! Let me know if you try it or even better, drop a few by. I'd love to sample them. :)

Le Petit Rouge baked donuts, Kansas City, MO

2011-10-16T10:10:00.003-05:00

This adorable signed called out to me:

And on the opposite side of Reading Reptile's entrance, this:

Well, of course I had to go in!

Inside the Le Petit Rouge bakery case, these waited for me. One plate of beautiful, cinnamon sugar-crusted baked donuts:

The fella behind the cash register in the bookstore called over to me, "Need some cupcakes?" Nope, just donuts today please.

I asked for 3 donuts, a total of $4.06 with tax. The fella told me while they were still good at 1 in the afternoon, they are best when they are fresh, I should drop by some Saturday between 10 and 11 in the morning. Donuts are only offered on Saturday mornings. In all of my donut journeys, only one other bakery has made a similar statement and that was Babycakes. I love it when folks want us to experience only the very best of a sweet treat. Interesting that both places who have mentioned this offered baked donuts.

I brought my tiny box of 3 donuts home. I smelled them. I broke one in half to closely inspect the interior texture. But I couldn't eat them (silly gluten) and they had to wait until almost 11 in the evening to be consumed by my husband. More than 12 hours past their peak, they were still delicious.

My husband John reports the donuts were very sweet even without the addition of cinnamon and sugar. Some donuts would be bland, bread-y, without frosting on top. That is not what these donuts are like, they would be delicious unadorned. The flavor reminded John of a good fried buttermilk donut, but these are baked. The donuts were like eating a really great cake donut without the weight that often comes with a fried donut. At 11 o'clock at night, they were still a great treat, all gone in a matter of minutes.

Le Petit Rouge is located inside of Reading Reptile in the Brookside area of Kansas City. They are located at 328 West 63rd Street, Kansas City, Missouri. Even if it's not Saturday when you drop by, you'll find a delicious assortment of cupcakes, hand pies, caramels, whoopie pies and bars. But go on Saturday, it's worth a special trip just for the donuts!

David Lebovitz AND Babycakes!

2011-09-18T10:39:00.000-05:00

I love it when my favorite things come together. David Lebovitz shared this post, complete with a terrific video, about his recent book signing and baking adventure at my all-time favorite gluten-free, vegan bakery, Babycakes. It's a fun video, watch it!

David Lebovitz at BabyCakes NYC: A Chat and Some Donuts! from BabyCakes NYC on Vimeo.

I've mentioned Babycakes a few times...well okay, more than a few. Thanks to Mandy, I had donuts from their NYC outpost, then visited their Disney World location. Over at 52 Sweets, I made a chocolate chicory frosting for donuts from the latest Babycakes cookbook, and then a couple weeks later baked lemon pistachio twists, also using the Babycakes recipe. Whether you eat gluten-free or vegan or are just a plain ol' carnivore, find your way to Babycakes. You'll be glad you did!

Top Pot Hand Forged Doughnuts Cookbook

2011-09-14T16:43:00.002-05:00

Ever pre-order something on Amazon and forget about it or better yet, get it a week before you expected it? Then the UPS guy drops by and SURPRISE! You've got a great new cookbook to spend the afternoon perusing. That's what happened today, I spent the afternoon reading the new Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts cookbook.

When I was deep in the 52 Donuts project in 2009, it was suggested to me that Seattle was where the donut scene was most lively, full of locally-owned donut shops, a donut truck/trailer and small-batch bakers crafting donuts at the farmer's markets. I didn't make it there in 2009 and have only tried the delicious Daring Donuts from Seattle when they were shipped to me. After thumbing through the pages of this new cookbook, I know I need to get to Seattle to visit a Top Pot doughnut shop in person.

My favorite cookbooks are those that are full of photos. I love looking at photos of food, specifically donuts. You must, too. That's why you are here, right? This book, while not including a photo of every single recipe, has plenty of beautifully-composed donut pictures on every few pages. I really appreciate the photos of the donuts I am least familiar with in this book, the Bulleyes and Pershings.

I also enjoyed reading the history of Top Pot, the history of donuts, the explanation of donut types and the extensive glossary and list of donut-making tools. After spending just a little time reading these pages, I think most folks with a kitchen would feel confident making homemade donuts.

For my gluten-free friends, don't fret! There are two gluten-free recipes included in this cookbook. I'm excited to give them a try soon. After writing about this month's Ratio Rally donut feature and reading this new cookbook, I've got a strong urge to make donuts, lots and lots of donuts! I'm headed to the kitchen now...

Buffalo Chicken Krispy Kreme Sandwich

2011-09-09T09:15:00.000-05:00

Remember last year when I wrote about the Krispy Kreme Donut Burger? And then my husband came up with the Apple FritterLoin Sandwich, which is unbelievably not being sold at a Fair yet. To keep things rolling, the folks at the Krispy Kreme Donut Burger stand at the Kentucky State Fair have added a Buffalo Chicken Krispy Kreme Sandwich.

I am a big fan of Buffalo sauce, however I don't eat chicken, so I cannot offer you a first-hand review. I couldn't find anyone willing to try this $8 sandwich either, other than the guy cooking the Krispy Kreme burgers. He told me he likes the chicken better than the burger.

After hearing this was being offered, what I pictured was a grilled chicken breast with Buffalo sauce on it. That's not what it is. It's a breaded chicken breast that has Buffalo seasoning in the breading. It looked pretty dry, but perhaps it works when dressed with the available lettuce and tomato options.

On the final night of the Kentucky State Fair, a lengthy line of folks waited to get a Krispy Kreme Donut Burger. With just hours remaining before the Fair wrapped up, folks were patiently waiting to get one last Donut Burger. Of those waiting in line, not a single one was getting the chicken. I hoped to have more input to share with you, but it seems what I can share with you is that the burger is greatly more popular than the chicken.

Any of you Donut Fiends try this? I'd love to hear what you thought!

Gluten-Free Donuts, lots and lots of gluten-free donuts!

2011-09-07T21:13:00.000-05:00

If you've followed along with my journey for long, you know mid-way through the 52 Donuts journey I received a medical diagnosis that forced me to eliminate gluten from my diet. I'm so glad I did, as I feel terrific now. I eat better than I ever have in my life without gluten. I've discovered a terrific new way of baking, eating, living.

But I really, really miss donuts.

Each month several gluten-free bloggers join together for the Ratio Rally. If you are unfamiliar with baking by ratio, check out Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. In gluten-free baking, it is quite possible to easily modify a traditonal/gluten-full recipe to gluten-free just by following the ratios. This requires weighing versus measuring of ingredients. In my limited experience baking by ratio, I've had great success. I hope to explore it more soon.

I share all of that with you because this month's Ratio Rally is all about donuts. Visit THIS POST for two donut recipes that look terrific, as well as a round-up of all of the posts near the bottom. I'm so excited to see all of these blog posts about my favorite sweet, the donut, and now have many recipes to try out in the near future. I hope you'll give some of them a try, too!

Ziggy's Donuts, Winter Park, CO

2011-09-02T12:44:00.000-05:00

On a cool Saturday morning in August, John and I rolled down the hill from the Winter Park Resort to the beautiful town of Winter Park for donuts at Ziggy's. What a great little donut shop!

I noticed several fun things about Ziggy's. The bright red chalkboard wall makes so much sense for a donut shop to share seasonal offerings. In front of that wall was every child's dream, a sprinkle station! Ziggy would custom dip any donut and add any of several varieties of sprinkles or nut to the donut while you wait. So fun!

Here are a couple photos of the donut offerings:

Isn't the rainbow frosted one fun?

As with all really good donut shops, the owner Ziggy is very friendly. He asked if we were in Winter Park for the MINI Cooper gathering, Minis in the Mountains, which we were. He then shared with us a really terrific story, recounting memories of his own Mini as if it were yesterday.

Ziggy, a native of Poland, shared with us that he had driven to Holland to pick up his own Mini many years ago. He said it was the trendy thing to do, drive to Holland to get a British car. He bought a 1978 Mini 1100 with Hella driving lights, 10" wheels with Firestone Sport 200 tires and a fabric rollback sunroof. He grinned while recounting the first time he had left his headlights on and needed a jump start. He couldn't locate the battery (it's in the trunk) and had a heck of a time maintaining any semblance of cool while hopelessly looking around the engine bay for the battery.

He drove the Mini back to what was then West Germany and eventually left it with his brother when he came to the United States 28 years ago. For the last two years, Ziggy has been making delicious donuts in Winter Park. Go visit him, not just for the donuts but also for the fun stories Ziggy generously shares.

If you are in Winter Park and looking for great donuts, give Ziggy a call. They will even deliver! The counter was lined with pictures drawn by children and thank you notes from families, grateful to have fresh donuts delivered to their vacation homes.

Ziggy's Donuts is located at 78336 U.S. Highway 40 in Winter Park, Colorado. Call them at 970.726.1116.

Donut King's Shiny New Location

2011-06-24T12:57:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite donut shops, Donut King, has recently relocated. I went to visit the new location and thought I'd tell you all about it.

During my 52 Donuts journey, I visited the original Donut King at the urging of my friend Sheila. It was the donut shop of her childhood. It was such a great donut shop that I included it as the bonus stop on Tour de Donut. Situated between a strip club and a tattoo parlor, the building's bright purple exterior fit perfectly in an area that was certainly colorful.

And then progress happened. For 42 years, Donut King has been located on a two-lane stretch of Chouteau Trafficway. The road is now being widened to four lanes and will include a bike lane on both sides. As a cyclist, I'm excited about this. As a donut fiend, I'm sad about this.

Two months ago, Donut King opened in its shiny new home, a strip mall in North Kansas City. One end houses Quizno's, the other Donut King. In the middle is a dentist office and a medical supply store. There's no discount smoke shop across the street, no Stack's Diner aroma, no used car salesmen pacing the neighboring lot. But there are still plenty of really amazing donuts. In fact, there are more donuts than were ever on display at the original location.

The new location has two enormous bakery cases (enormous compared to the old location) and a spinning bakery tower filled with cupcakes. Overhead monitors flash donut flavors and the purple Donut King logo. A view into the new spacious kitchen reveals carts overflowing with donuts. There is also a drive-through now, a simple window where you pull up and give your order to a real person, not a speaker box. This reminded me of Donuts Ala Mode in Liberty, Missouri, a long-gone piece of donut history where I worked briefly in college. This system works well, since not every flavor is always available and speaking to a person face-to-face makes the ordering process much more efficient.

On the morning of my most recent visit, a fella in UPS browns was ordering donuts with his two kids. Another fella was picking up four dozen donuts. A guy came in, was greeted by name, and discovered the sausage rolls were gone for the day and left without buying anything. He will surely be back soon. I recognized one of the four folks behind the counter as the gal from the old location who had shared with me that her mom had worked there, she could remember coming with her mom to work at the purple donut house when she was a small child. The people of Donut King are still there, the delicious cake donuts are, too. They've even added purple signage to the building, without the flashing lightbulb surround.

I asked how things were in the new location and was told they had been probably twice as busy as in the old spot. I wonder if it is because of the new-ness or if they are pulling in lots of new customers from Cerner's Northland campus and North Kansas City hospital? Regardless, they are still churning out some of Kansas City's best donuts.

This morning I drove by the old location. It's boarded up, stenciled paint says "DANGEROUS BUILDING by order of KCMO." This would make Jamie Oliver smile. The landmark flashing purple sign has been removed. The nearby strip club was being demolished, dump trucks stood by to haul off the broken down remnants of much debauchery.

Donut King is open seven days a week, 5 a.m. to 11 P.M. If you are a late night donut fan, give them a buzz before heading over as they closed at 9 P.M. one recent evening. Donut King's new address is 2320 Armour Road, North Kansas City, Missouri. 816.452.2012.

National Donut Day 2011

2011-06-02T14:32:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow, June 3rd, is National Donut Day, the High Holy Day for dedicated donut-vores.

A little bit of history for you donut eating-trivia fiends. National Donut Day was started in 1938 as a fundraiser for the Salvation Army to honor the women, Lassies, who served donuts to soldiers in World War I. The Salvation Army first served donuts in 1917.

The following donut chains are offering free or free-with-a-purchase donuts on Friday, June 3rd:

Lamar's Donuts is offering a free donut with a hole, no additional purchase required. If you feel inclined, you can make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I love their tagline for National Donut Day, "Imagine: a donut that doesn't require any dough!"

Dunkin' Donuts is offering a free donut with the purchase of any beverage.

Krispy Kreme is offering a free donut of any variety!

If you are looking for a really tasty donut that will cost you just a little dough on National Donut Day, here are my recommendations:

In the KC area, John's Space Age donuts. While it's debatable whether or not it is a donut, I highly suggest the apple fritter. I know I tell y'all to go there often, and that's because it is really that good. Just go, you'll understand!

In the NYC, L.A. and Disney World area, visit Babycakes for an AMAZING donut. Never mind that they are baked, gluten-free, vegan, free of refined sugar and soy and are kosher. I'll bet you can't tell the difference and will run back in to get another. Crazy good donuts.

Where do you plan to celebrate National Donut Day? I'd love to hear about it, tell me what you plan to eat!

Donuts, Customized!

2011-05-26T16:53:00.001-05:00

I attended Eat, Write, Retreat! last week. It was an amazing food blogger conference, even if they didn't serve donuts a single time. While I hope that they will add gluten-free donuts to the menu next year, it would be really hard to top the donuts I got there this year:

This is a custom, hand-painted tile from Renee at Kudos Kitchen. The first evening of Eat, Write, Retreat!, it was announced that five of us had won custom tiles, painted by Renee. They were all amazing, beautiful replications of blog logos. I am so excited to have this on display in my kitchen.

If you have been following any of my 52 blogs for awhile, you've recently noticed a design change. I've not gotten super fancy or anything, but my blog design now includes photos of me and sweets from my kitchen and one donut shop. The logo that Renee so skillfully painted on the tile has been retired, but I do think of it often. I occasionally wear a t-shirt with that logo to run (the back says, "I run for donuts!") and recently came across a few straggling business cards from the days when there was only a 52 Donuts blog, no 52 Sweets, no 52 Foods on a Stick, just one simple spot on the web where I rambled about donuts. My husband created the logo for me at a time when neither of us knew anything about blog design. We are both still blog-challenged, but have learned a bit since the days of this cute little logo with 3 donuts. I couldn't have imaginged that I would be chasing down 52 of anything else ever again after that year of donut adventures. Those donuts were the start of my blog journey and it made me teary to hold this handpainted tile that reminds me where it started, hence the smeary eye mess I'm sporting in this otherwise lovely photo by Olga Berman of Mango & Tomato.

At a time when I am trying to determine where food blogging is taking me, this plaque reminds me where I started 3 years ago, back when I could eat gluten and indulged in lots of donuts. And it's simply adorable. Thank you, Renee, for sharing your talent!

Babycakes NYC at Downtown Disney

2011-04-06T10:59:00.005-05:00

If you follow me over at 52 Sweets, you've read about my recent misadventures dining at Disney World as a gluten-free vegetarian. It was one of the most challenging trips I've taken since going gluten-free. Thankfully, there was an abundance of gluten-free doughnuts available at Babycakes NYC's new outpost at Downtown Disney.

The original Babycakes cookbook was one of the two books I bought the day I was diagnosed with this gluten thing I've got going on. The pages are wrinkled, splattered with ingredients, it has been well loved. Yet I had never visited one of their vegan, gluten-free bakeries. Then Mandy brought a donut to me from the original Babycakes NYC location back in October. The donut and other goodies she shared with me were amazing and you wouldn't have known they came from a gluten-free, vegan bakery. I knew I HAD to visit one of their bakeries! Around the holidays, I signed up with a group of friends for the Disney Princess Half Marathon and shortly after it was announced that Babycakes had opened a bakery at Downtown Disney. Perfect timing!

My first visit to the bakery (oh yes, there were several...) was on a warm, windy morning, a real treat since it was cold and snowing back at home. It was a little hard to find Babycakes, as there is no sign on the outside of the building. I knew it was in the former McDonald's space and was shared with a Fresh A-Peel. We spotted a sign for Fresh-A-Peel and headed in for a peek. There it was, tucked into the corner, a beautiful little bakery counter full of delicious treats. The gal behind the counter was frosting cupcakes and smiling. How great is that?!? Four of us had breakfast, which included all six varieties of donuts in their bakery case and a couple of cupcakes.

After perusing everything in the bakery cases, I chatted with the gal behind the counter for a few minutes. She was absolutely delightful! It was obvious she really enjoys her job. We shared a giggle about people assuming flavor has been removed from baked goodies that are gluten-free and vegan. It is one of my favorite things in the world to share a treat with someone, listen to their oohs and aaahs and then tell them it is gluten-free. What a joy it must be to work in a bakery where you get to see that often, where folks like me can indulge in a delicious treat and share it with their entire family who may not live with the same dietary restrictions.

Babycakes has a viewing window into their dedicated kitchen, so I went to take a peek. Well, more like an extended look. I could have watched these gals baking all day! I've been to several bakeries with open kitchens and the staff rarely look like they are enjoying their jobs. That is definitely not the case here. These gals were all smiles, as was I. My face was starting to hurt from smiling so much. This was heaven for me!

It was time to pull myself away and go enjoy our purchases. My friends, meat and gluten-eating folks, had the cupcakes. I got an unrequested review of the cupcakes, slightly crumbly, not overly sweet and a bit salty. My question to them was if they tasted any different than "regular" cupcakes. Nope, not at all and better than many bakeries. Off to a good start!

We split the donuts into lots of pieces so we could all samples the flavors. My friends didn't sample nearly enough donuts, because I know I put away at least 3 full donuts on my own. The pink vanilla sugar frosted donut was by far my favorite, but I also enjoyed the chocolate crunch, the toasted coconut...they were all divine!

So what is it that makes these donuts so divine? First, let me tell you what they are not. They are not packed with gluten, they contain no animal products, no artificial color, no refined sugar. And they are not fried. How can all of that make for a good donut? I have no idea how it is possible! The donuts are moist, slightly crumbly and packed with flavor. There's none of that nasty fried donut aftertaste, no heaviness in your tummy after eating these.

On the evening before the half marathon, a large group of us dropped into Babycakes for some pre-race treats. Here I was again, with more non-vegan, gluten-eating friends. I have to admit this makes me anxious, I'm always worried they won't like gluten-free treats. No need to worry here! On this visit, I tried the chocolate chip cookie sandwich. That's not something I normally would buy. I make good cookies at home and am also not a fan of cookies with frosting. Until now. Now, I dream about the Babycakes cookie sandwich. I'd like one right now, please. The cookie is crispy, the frosting is sweet without being overpowering. It was the perfect little snack. The best part was that all of my gluten-eating friends enjoyed the treats. I adore them for being willing to try gluten-free, vegan food, another moment at Babycakes filled with big smiles!

During that visit, my husband picked up a box from Babycakes that he had pre-ordered. He wouldn't tell me what was inside, it was a surprise for after the half marathon. Love that fella! It was hard going to sleep that night knowing a big pink box of Babycakes goodness was nearby...but I managed to wait until race day to peek.

After running 13.1 miles, my husband met me at the finish line with that wonderful pink box. Inside were donuts and cranberry apple bread. Since Disney Sports had no gluten-free food available at the finish line other than fruit, I had packed a bagel. Babycakes donuts were so much better than the bagel I had carried in a ziploc bag from Kansas City! This was definitely the best post-race food I have ever eaten. I had a donut and then nibbled at the cranberry apple bread, which, like the chocolate chip cookie sandwich, is not something I typically would purchase. But like that cookie sandwich, I would like some right now please. It was incredibly moist, yet not falling apart like so many gluten-free breads.

My husband told me after the race that when he called Babycakes to order the box of donuts, they had expressed concern about him buying the donuts the day before. They worried that they would be stale the next day, not the fresh product they are known for providing. These folks are seriously amazing! What bakery would bother to tell you their donuts might not be as good the next day? Now that I have had their donuts fresh and day old, I must say there was very little difference. They were still very moist and I could tell little difference. The concern about product freshness is so appreciated though!

On the final day of our trip, I made a last-minute trip to Babycakes to get a box of goodies to bring home. Well, that was the plan anyway. I bought cookie sandwiches and donuts, but made it as far as the airport before devouring the cookie sandwiches. I did manage to make it home with the donuts, which I left in the box from the bakery, wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in the freezer. I left the box in the freezer for two weeks and then thawed the donuts on the kitchen counter. While they weren't quite as good as the ones fresh from the bakery case, they were still among the best gluten-free donuts I have ever eaten, ten times better than any of the frozen gluten-free donuts on the market. Hello, Babycakes? Could you pack those yummy donuts of yours in freezer boxes and sell them to the supermarket? I'd love that!

Often when I bake and share with friends, I am met with the "Oh, these are gluten free" comment, like what I have baked is somehow not going to taste as good, that the flavor or texture is going to be compromised. Babycakes has proven that there is no compromise in making gluten-free, vegan sweets. Donut fans, go visit Babycakes in New York City, Los Angeles or at Downtown Disney. Try their donuts. Compare them side-by-side with "regular" cake donuts. I'm certain which donut will come out on top.

Daring Donuts in Seattle

2011-02-20T11:16:00.000-06:00

These amazing chocolate glazed cake donuts from Seattle arrived on my doorstep this week.

They look good, right? Well, they were amazing! You know when you eat a really high quality chocolate and the flavor lingers in your mouth, reminding you of the goodness you consumed, making you want more? Yeah, that was these donuts. Even though they were two days old when they reached me, they were better than most fresh cake donuts and had the best chocolate flavor of any chocolate cake donut I have ever tasted. I know those are big words--try these donuts and you will understand!

Here is the shocker about these donuts. They are vegan. Gluten-Free. Soy, Corn & Nut Free.

I heard about Daring Donuts from Gluten-Free Girl. Back in December, she mentioned Kit, co-donutier at Daring Donuts, was building a new dedicated gluten-free commercial kitchen and was looking for other gluten-free businesses in need of a kitchen. While the idea of a dedicated gluten-free commercial kitchen tickles me, it was the thought of having delicious donuts that really made me happy!

After the first of the year, I contacted Kit and she offered to ship donuts to me, but only after telling me she worried that it would be like giving someone cold French fries, they are just not the same as those hot out of the fryer. I explained that I understood her concern and was still interested in trying the donuts.

WOW! If the donuts I received are equivalent to cold fries, I simply cannot imagine how good these donuts are hot from the fryer. How it is possible to remove dairy, eggs, gluten, corn, nuts and soy from a donut and end up with these divine treats is beyond me. I would put these donuts up against any full-gluten, dairy and egg containing donut any day, confident which donut would come out on top. Moist, just the right amount of glaze and very chocolate-y. I mentioned they were chocolate-y, right?

I'm tallying up frequent flyer miles now, a trip to Seattle seems in order. I think I owe it to you, donut fans, to find out more about these delicious donuts!

If you want to try these donuts yourself, check out Daring Donuts. Like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter, where they post their farmer's market schedule.

Donuts in 2011

2011-01-29T22:49:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! It's almost February and I have not had any donuts in the New Year worth writing about. Soon I will but in the meantime...

Here's an article from the NY Times about Boozy Donuts, an off-the menu item at Flex Mussels. If you have tried them, I would love to hear from you. In the meantime, I'm going to work on creating my own bourbon caramel custard filling in hopes that a gluten-free donut worthy of such a rich filling finds its way to me soon!

Tour de Donut Recap

2010-11-29T22:13:00.004-06:00

On Saturday, November 20th, 48 intrepid donut fans (plus me) headed out early to visit five of my favorite locally owned donut shops in the KC area. Okay, maybe six...

While it's pretty obvious how much I love donuts, I had no idea so many people enjoyed donuts enough to show up for the first Tour de Donut. I invited friends from a car club I belong to and they showed up in full force--more than 20 zippy little cars. Other friends who love donuts, who love food, who love adventure, joined us. I've got much to say but wanted to start by saying this was one of the best adventures of my donut journeys so far. I've been to donut shops on both coasts, more states than I have fingers and toes to count them on, but nothing could compare to seeing my favorite tiny local donut shops packed to the gills, folks standing on the sidewalk chatting over coffee and donuts, donut shop owners entertaining customers with bad jokes and fresh donuts. It was more fun (and more donuts) than one gets to have most days!

John's Space Age, photo by Eileen Dugan

John's Space Age Donuts was our initial gathering spot. Their apple fritters are among my favorite donuts. I don't believe any donut shop anywhere has a better apple fritter. Their chocolate raised glazed donuts are a rare find. I also really love the atmosphere. It has everything I think a donut shop should have: a vintage counter with stools, regulars known by name and fresh donuts. When I arrived at John's, the sun was rising and my friends from 3 states were gathering on the narrow sidewalk with donuts in hand. It was the perfect place to start Tour de Donut. I stayed behind a few minutes after the 30+ cars of donut fiends rolled out to the second donut shop to make sure I didn't miss late arrivals and saw something that reminded me of why I love donuts. A lady walked in the door and she was met at the cash register with a bag that had *her* donut in it. She said to the guy at the counter, "How did you know?" He replied, "I saw your car pulling into the lot." I've never received service like that at a big chain, nor have I gotten a donut as tasty as what was inside that bag he handed to her. Mayberry, just a little touch of Mayberry on a Saturday morning.

Oz's Maq Donuts House, photo by Jenny Vergara

Our second stop was Oz's Maq Donuts House. My favorite donut here is the pineapple fritter. While here, it was discussed that perhaps the next donut-sandwich creation needs to be some sort of ham sandwich between two of these fritters. Let me know if you're interested--I'd love to capture the moment!

Oz's used to be a Winchell's. While doing a dry-run of the Tour de Donut route, I talked to Maq about the history of this donut shop and his personal donut history. He started working for Winchell's in 1978 when donuts were $1.69 a dozen. He was this area's manager for Winchell's when they closed all of the KC locations. He purchased a couple of them, this location being the last one remaining open. It's not a fancy donut shop, seating is limited, but the service is always friendly. Among all of the donut shops I visited in planning Tour de Donut, Maq was by far the most excited to share his donut history and bounced with excitement when I told him we were coming by for donuts. His enthusiasm for donuts makes me smile.

Fluffy Fresh Donuts, photo by Jim Petersen

Our third stop was Fluffy Fresh. My favorite donut here is the filled long john. It is filled with a fluffy icing, not pudding. Several folks on the Tour also enjoyed the Key Lime donut that is a relatively new offering. By the time we got to Fluffy Fresh, a bathroom break was in order. Many small donut shops are without public bathrooms, as is Fluffy Fresh. The Sherwin Williams store next door welcomed everyone in, which surely made folks competing in the Most-Cups-Of-Coffee contest a bit more comfortable.

Our fourth stop was Ridgewood Donuts in the Blue Ridge area of Kansas City. The guy behind the counter here put on quite a show, telling silly jokes and occasionally tossing a free donut in a bag for a family that wasn't convinced of the need for "just one more" donut. The red velvet donut was my recommendation here, although some folks thought it tasted too much of food coloring. I struggle with this when baking red or green velvet cupcakes, so I knew what they meant without trying the donut. Other people had this donut on their favorites list for the entire tour.

Ridgewood Donuts, photo by Jim Petersen

Our fifth, and last official, stop of the Tour was Poppy's Donuts in Independence. Upon arriving here, one Tour attendee asked me why the chosen driving route took folks through the Sterling area of Independence, suggesting instead a more picturesque route. See, that's the thing about donuts, I believe they are every man's food. Some of the best donut shops I have visited were in parts of town I was told not to visit alone (hello, L.A.!), some are in fancy corporate business parks where I have slid a dollar to the guy in front of me in line who found himself without cash in a plastic-free business (howdy Las Vegas!) and some are in the neighborhoods we all live in, neighborhoods of all sorts. I have enjoyed so many of the things I have seen visiting donut shops, including the run-down neighborhoods. That drive we took on Sterling, well...it took us past a Habitat for Humanity house that was being built that cold morning--those folks deserved donuts. It took us past a motel built in the 50's that has a terrific historic sign out front. I plan to stop to photograph it soon. I never would have noticed it if I stuck with my shiny-and-new route through town. But about the donuts...

Poppy's Donuts, photo by Laurie Sorenson

Poppy's has a really wide variety of donut flavors, a great counter with low stools and cheery gals behind the counter. While waiting to use their restroom (YAY! a bathroom!), I heard one of the gals asking everyone seated at the far end of the counter if they had all been denied a donut at least once. Everyone laughed, they were having fun and eating donuts. My favorites at Poppy's are the cream-filled eclairs and the chocolate cake donut.

Five donut shops in, it was time to declare winners in the two contests I offered at Tour de Donut, most donuts eaten and most cups of coffee. Strategy definitely came into play, but not as much as I thought it would. I expected someone to think this through, to eat only raised glazed donuts at each location. It didn't turn out quite like this but one guy did hold off until the last stop and ate more than half of the donuts necessary to win at the final stop. Nine donuts later, a winner was declared. One gal (who is quite thin and skipped a Weight Watchers meeting to come to Tour de Donut) ate 8 1/2 donuts and at least 5 cups of coffee. And another fella had 7 donuts! The coffee winner drank 5 1/2 cups of bad donut shop coffee. Pretty impressive--although I really thought someone would eat an entire dozen donuts!

I offered up a sixth location, but thought most folks would be exhausted and stuffed after visiting five donut shops. I was wrong. More than twenty folks headed north to Donut King. My driving directions said, "Donut King will be on the right, past the Gentlemen's Club, before the tattoo parlor and used car lots." I neglected to mention it is also across the street from the Discount Smokes shop. It's an interesting area and always good for people watching. Plus the seasonal flavors here are divine! On top of the favorites list of those that visited all six donut shops was the pumpkin donut at Donut King. (Update 05/11: Donut King has relocated after 42 years in the funky little purple shack on Chouteau. Donut King is now located at 2320 Armour Road in North Kansas City.)

About the favorites, the donuts most raved about were the apple fritter at John's Space Age and Donut King's pumpkin. Several mentioned the red velvet at Ridgewood and two mentioned the chocolate filled long john at Fluffy Fresh. One attendee said the pecan roll at Poppy's was divine, very pecan-y. While I did razz him about that descriptor, I know exactly the flavor he was describing--fresh pecans, not that rancid oil flavor that comes from stale or frozen pecans. A couple of folks made a point of telling me that I was right about the BAD coffee at donut shops. It's certainly not coffee house coffee at most donut shops.The overwhelming input I got from folks was how much fun they had, how much they enjoyed the donuts and time with friends old and new, and how long it would be before they ate a donut again. I don't believe it, fully suspecting they will be sharing some of these donut treasures with their friends in the next month. I know I will...egg nog donuts from Donut King are on my holiday shopping list!

There were many fabulous photos taken on Tour de Donut. Thanks to the following folks for sharing photos: Eileen Dugan, Jenny Vergara, Jim Clark, Jim Petersen and Laurie Sorenson. Click the photo below for more...

Tour de Donut, November 20th 2010

Apple FritterLoin

2010-11-21T23:51:00.001-06:00

After watching our friends sample the Krispy Kreme Donut Burger at the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville, my husband John had an idea for another donut-centric sandwich, the Apple FritterLoin. His idea was to use two apple fritters for the bun, a deep fried tenderloin and perhaps a bit of mustard. From the mind of a vegetarian...

We set out early in the morning to a donut shop recommended by Kelly, who works at the Expo Center where we were working. I often ask locals for donut recommendations when I am working out of town and am rarely steered the wrong direction. Last year when working in Louisville, I had trouble getting to all of the donut shops recommended to me. The shop Kelly recommended, Sugar and Spice, was not on the list of anyone I asked last year. Interesting, perhaps a hidden treasure awaited us!

Um...yeah, interesting. After driving twenty minutes to get to Sugar and Spice, we discovered they don't make apple fritters. WHAT?!? No apple fritters? Instead, they have something called an apple critter. About the size of a dinner roll, it's a doughy ball filled with a bit of gooey gel inside, resembling what I can only describe as canned apple pie filling. We bought some just in case we couldn't find an apple fritter and hit the road to find another donut shop.

We ended up in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. Shoe aficionados may recognize this as the city from which Zappos deliveries originate. It also happens to be the location of a donut shop with apple fritters, really good apple fritters.

Counting on our GPS to lead us to the donut shop, we finally spotted Donut Express after passing by twice. Tucked back off of the main street in a tiny strip mall, this donut shop is a gem. We parked beside a mid-80's Lincoln Town Car, burgundy, that looked almost as new as the day it was driven off the lot. Once inside, we saw the car's driver, a lady in her late 70s who looked to have been to the beauty shop to get her hair done recently. She was waiting for her donuts to be boxed, so I took the opportunity to ask her if she had ever had the apple fritters there. "Yes, they have the BEST apple fritters here. I have tried them two or three other places, but these are by far the BEST." That's the only recommendation I needed.

We ordered 3 apple fritters to go, two for the sandwich and one for John to eat sans tenderloin. I asked the guy behind the counter what makes his apple fritters so delicious. There was a bit of a language barrier between us and I only understood him to say something like, "Stem...Apple...Crunchy." I have no idea what the stem has to do with the fritters, but my husband did confirm the fritters were indeed crunchy. They were also glazed on one side only. Often they are glazed on both sides. These were very flat, perfect for a sandwich bun.

Fritters and critters in hand, we headed off to the Expo Center at the fair. Where better to find a fried tenderloin than a State Fair, right? It turns out it is not so easy. Our friend Mark headed off to find the tenderloin and came back with sliced pork loin. Not quite what John had in mind, but if we had to, we would make it work. We set up a time to try out our creation with two friends and headed to their area of the Expo Center, a 10 minute walk from where we were working.

While on that walk, we passed numerous food vendors. I stopped at an information booth and asked about a fried tenderloin. I was told it didn't exist at the fair. When we got to the stage where our friends perform, I decided to take one last chance on the neighboring food court and found the Kentucky Pork Producers stand. YES! They had a deep fried tenderloin bigger than your head. It was crunchy and flat and brown, everything I think a tenderloin needs to be.

Mark, Rob and Bill shared the sandwich. Rob is Babaloo, a funky children's musician that adults like, too, (his CD is in my car right now) and Bill is the creator of a super cool kid's game show. Ever watch that Minute to Win It show? Bill is like a high energy version of that, keeping everyone within shouting distance entertained. His show is a hoot. We had a lot of fun with these guys and they were great sports about eating the Apple Fritterloin concoction.

I don't think I need to tell you much more about the sandwich...the video says it all:

About those apple critters...we used them with the sliced pork loin to make Apple Pork Sliders. The apple critters were about the size of a slider bun. They were not a big hit. While trying to catch a comment about them on video from Bill, what I caught instead was him reaching for another wedge of the Apple Fritterloin. It was that good. Between the three guys, it was completely devoured in under five minutes.The Apple Fritterloin...watch for it at a fair near you.

Krispy Kreme Donut Burger

2010-11-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

In August, I spent two weeks working in Louisville, Kentucky at the Kentucky State Fair. This was the view from my sculpting space:

I'm vegetarian and gluten-free, my sculpting partner/husband is also vegetarian, but we couldn't let this opportunity pass us by. We rounded up our friends Mark, Greg Frisbee and Patti, one of the Lumber Jills for a taste test.

The Krispy Kreme donut burger with bacon and cheese was $8. It was also available as just a burger. The only side dish available was sweet potato fries, which were reportedly very tasty. I asked lots of folks, prior to our friends sampling the donut burger, if they had given the burger a try. Most of them were not interested in trying the burger, but did have the fries. The donut burger gained a horrible reputation and lots of chatter, with local media commenting on it almost daily. While I understand to some extent, I don't think the donut burger is that much worse than other fair food. The bun is 400 calories, compared to 230 calories for a Whopper bun at Burger King. Not that big a difference really, if you are going to go all out and eat a bacon cheeseburger.

Here's a little video I made of our friends sampling the donut burger. This is my first attempt at video on this blog. The sound quality isn't great, but I think you'll enjoy seeing the donut burger and hearing what my foodie friends have to say about the Krispy Kreme donut burger.

The verdict from those who tried the burger: none of them could eat a whole donut burger. All of them said they would eat part of one again. And then my husband decided two apple fritters would make a great bun for a fried tenderloin. Watch for that video soon. I'm betting the apple fritterloin will be coming to a fair near you soon!

A Great Costume

2010-11-01T11:07:00.000-05:00

In the past, Chipotle has offered free burritos on Halloween if you dressed up like a burrito. This year they offered $2 burritos to anyone dressed as a "horrifying processed food product," as a fundraiser for Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.

I had dinner at a restaurant near Chipotle on Halloween. It was hard to snag a parking space, the line was way out the door at Chipotle, yet there was no line at the neighboring salad spot. When I was walking in from the parking garage, I bumped into this lady who was headed home with her bag from Chipotle. Her costume was fabulous!

Made from an inflatable inner tube, it was wrapped with beige fabric, topped with white "frosting" also made of fabric and sprinkles made from penne noodles. She shared with me that the noodles were painted with house paint, which did not deter her dog from snacking on them.

While I'm not sure donuts should be labeled as "horrifiying processed food products," I did really enjoy this costume. Thanks, kind lady in the parking garage, for indulging me in a photo and chatting about your super fun costume!

Today I had a donut, Babycakes NYC

2010-10-29T20:48:00.004-05:00

It's been sixteen months since I have had a donut, a real donut from a bakery.

If you are new to my donut journey, I should explain that about halfway through the 52 Donuts journey, I was diagnosed with gluten-intolerance. I spent the last 6 months of the donut quest watching my friends eat donuts while I chose a gluten-free sweet to eat instead. I really, really miss donuts. Yes, I've had donuts but they have been of the frozen, gluten-free variety or have been baked in my kitchen. I have missed the experience of picking out a donut from the bakery case, of having a choice of more than one flavor, of simply having a donut with a friend.

When I went gluten-free, the Babycakes NYC cookbook made my life a bit brighter. It's gluten-free and vegan, mostly free of refined sugar and still packed full of yumminess. It's hard to believe that baked goods can be so tasty after removing so many of the foundation ingredients. I cook from their cookbook often and recently have been considering traveling to New York just to get a donut from the bakery (well, that and to see Pee Wee Herman's new show on Broadway). But today I got an awesome surprise. My friend Mandy brought me a box of goodies from Babycakes NYC. Fresh off of the plane, she met me in a parking lot with this:

Can you believe it? A box of goodies from Babycakes! A donut, brownies, a chocolate chip cookie and the best slice of sweet, fruity carrot spice bread I have ever had. AND A DONUT! Did I say that? She brought me a DONUT! A GLUTEN-FREE DONUT! If you are tiring of my typed shouting, imagine what it was like spending the afternoon with me when I found out she was on her way back to KC with the box of the famed gluten-free goodness! I spent a few hours giggling and dancing, having trouble sitting still thinking that I just might get a donut, a real donut that I could actually eat. Not a frozen donut, not one that I had to cook myself, a real donut from a bakery. Woo hooo!

Mandy handed over the box while I asked a million questions about the bakery. What was it like? How was the selection? Was it tiny? What did you have? Would you go there again?

And then I promptly dropped the box on the ground. It popped open and these cherished goodies scattered all over the parking lot. I could have melted into the pavement, but instead shouted something pretty inappropriate and scurried to put everything back together and into the box. I would not let a little disaster prevent me from enjoying these goodies!

I finished my errands and realized I was going home to an empty house with the box of goodness. Somewhere along the way on the 52 Donuts journey I discovered how much I liked sharing donuts with friends, so I called Em to see if I could bring my box of goodies to her house. She's always great to indulge me in my baking and donut madness and welcomed me over. We spent the next 30 minutes eating every crumb of goodness that survived the parking lot incident. I barely managed to suppress the urge to phone Mandy, just so I could shout into the phone, "These treats are AMAZING! When are you going back? Got any more in your suitcase? I know you are hiding more donuts!"

The brownies had the deepest chocolate flavor of anything I have ever eaten, gluten-free, vegan or otherwise. Moist, not crumbly and simply rich. They were mini cupcake size and I wouldn't want one any larger--any larger would have been overwhelming to my tastebuds. The chocolate chip cookie tasted just like a traditional, cooked-by-someones-mom cookie. It was perfect in texture and flavor, not a combination easily achieved in the gluten-free baking world. The carrot spice bread was moist, fruity, very cinnamon-y and I would eat an entire loaf of it if it were handy. But you want to know about the donut, right???

The donut was the Vanilla Sprinkle flavor. It is the current record holder for Most Expensive Donut on the 52 Donuts blog. It was $3.25 according to the cute menu postcard Mandy brought back. Wow! After tasting it, I would have gladly paid twice that much.

The hole in the donut did not go all the way through. Em wondered if it helps to hold it together to not have the hole go all the way through, as gluten-free products are often tricky to keep together. It was a dense cake donut with a nice glaze on top, not too sweet with just a few little sprinkles. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this donut was that it did not have any of the icky gluten-free flavor I often encounter when buying gluten-free baked goods away from home. It would have easily passed as a regular donut. I didn't want it to be gone, but couldn't stop eating it either. I don't think this perceived tastiness had much to do with my 16-month donut embargo, I think Babycakes NYC makes amazing donuts. I think you need one and you could bring me one, too. I'd join you for one of these donuts in a heartbeat!

For those of you who do not eat gluten-free (or who do and know how disgusting some of the gluten-free baked goods are) and question what I am saying about the flavor of the Babycakes NYC treats, Mandy compared cupcakes from Babycakes and the famed Magnolia. She favored Babycakes over Magnolia. So there you have it, gluten-free can absolutely be tasty.

Today I had a donut. I am going to bed happy. Stuffed, content and happy. Because I had a donut. Watch out world, Donut Girl just got her mojo back!

Tour de Donut, November 20th

2010-10-15T16:54:00.002-05:00

Howdy donut fans! It's been awhile since I've updated here, but I have still been enjoying a few donut adventures. I've got news to share about the Krispy Kreme donut burger and my husband's follow-up creation, the apple fritterloin, a deep-fried tenderloin sandwich with two apple fritters for the bun. It was tasty, I hear! I'll share those fun finds soon, but today I wanted to invite you, my fellow donut fiends, to a donut crawl, Kansas City style.

The Tour de Donut will be held on Saturday, November 20th. We're starting in Overland Park, Kansas at 7 in the morning and concluding around 10 in the morning in Independence, Missouri. We'll stop at five of my favorite locally-owned donut shops, long enough to have a donut and a cup of bad coffee before heading on to the next stop. For those of you serious about your donuts, a few folks will be leaving the final official stop in Independence to head north to visit a donut shop located between a strip club and a used car dealer.

How many donuts do you think you could eat on such a trip? How many bad cups of coffee served in 8 ounce styrofoam cups could you down? Think you've got what it takes to eat two dozen donuts in one morning? I've got a few fun 52 Donuts prizes to share with the winners. You should probably start training now...Folks from a couple local car clubs are joining us for the Tour de Donut, which promises to make this even more fun!

If you plan to join me on the Tour de Donut, please drop me an e-mail at 52donuts(at)gmail.com. I'll respond with the details. Bring a friend, a full tank of gas and an empty stomach.

Celebrating National Donut Day at Rick's Bakery, Fayetteville, AR

2010-06-14T17:56:00.000-05:00

National Donut Day was on June 4th this year. I was in Fayetteville, Arkansas, which gave me the opportunity to seek out a new donut shop. I asked the locals and found that most of them recommended either the Daylight Donuts closest to their home or on the way to work OR they suggested Rick's Bakery.

In my donut journeys, there haven't been too many bakeries, mostly shops that specialize in donuts. I would still rather go to a bakery for donuts than to a chain I've visited numerous times, so I headed to Rick's Bakery with my husband John, bikes in tow for a ride on the nearby trail.

Rick's Bakery is HUGE. It consumes most of a strip mall in Fayetteville. Two huge delivery vans were waiting to be loaded with deliveries and a steady flow of people were entering through the front door. To the right of the front entrance was the wedding cake area, where many cakes were on display in the windows and bakery cases. Straight ahead was the donut case, the only place where there was a line. A huge neon DONUTS sign was over the case. A fresh orange juice machine that works with whole oranges, similar to one I saw at a farmer's market in St. Petersburg, Florida, was near the donut case. Strange combination, orange juice and donuts, but a delicious offering! To the left was a gift shop area filled with cute aprons, everything imaginable with a cupcake on it, cute gifts, partyware...everything you might need to go with a cake! Beyond the gift shop was a small counter with seating and huge windows into the cake decorating area.

We picked out donuts for John's breakfast, a blueberry fritter, a glazed donut and a chocolate cake donut. I got a hunk of peanut butter fudge. We grabbed a couple of stools and had a great breakfast watching 6 or 7 gals decorating cakes, cupcakes and cookies. I saw Arkansas Razorback cupcakes with cartoon-y pig face, a 3-D dinosaur cake, airbrushed sugar cookies, the St. Louis Arch in pieces drying in either fondant or modeling chocolate...this was by far the best view I've ever had at a donut shop! I could have sat at the counter for hours watching the cake decorators work. It was like being in the studio audience at Ace of Cakes, except without any audio.

A local told me that Rick from Rick's Bakery was on a Food Network Challenge. I didn't get the chance to ask anyone in the bakery for the scoop (they were busy, busy, busy folks!) but do not doubt it. The cakes were amazing, many very whimsical, and if the number of people picking up cakes on a Friday morning is any indicator, they must taste good!

About the donuts...John wasn't tickled with the neon blue frosting drizzle on his blueberry fritter. I understand it being used to differentiate between the apple and blueberry fritters, but it was a very artificial color. The fritter had visible blueberries in it but John said there wasn't much blueberry flavor. He'd rather have an apple fritter. The glazed donut was basic, but good. The cake donut was the best of the 3 donuts he tried and he said he would definitely eat their donuts again should he be in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

I struck up a conversation with a little guy, probably about 5 years old, also sitting at the cake decorating counter, and asked what his favorite donut was at Rick's. He confidently told me the donut holes are the BEST! I asked what flavor donut hole he prefers and was told they don't come in flavors, but you do get six donut holes instead of just one donut. I like this kid's thinking!

Powered by donuts and peanut butter fudge, we headed off to ride Fayetteville's extensive bike trail system for a couple of hours before going to work. This was our opportunity to celebrate the next day's holiday, National Trails Day, a day early. The sugar rush lasted long enough for us to check out a good bit of Fayetteville, which is really a nice little city. If you find yourself here, go visit Rick's Bakery and allow enough time to grab a seat and watch the talented folks decorating cakes and cookies. What a fun place!

Vote For Me!

2010-06-10T14:57:00.000-05:00

I am a finalist in the Gluten Freeville and Udi's recipe contest. Would you please vote for me? My recipe is for Udilicious Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding with Vanilla Bean Sauce, second from the bottom of the list.

Click here to vote. And thanks! Really, I mean it. THANKS!

Whatcha Up To These Days?

2010-06-10T14:53:00.000-05:00

While chatting with another local food blogger at the Duck Funkin' Donuts gathering, I was asked what I was blogging about this year. Two things actually!

First, I'm baking a gluten-free sweet and sharing with a different friend each week. You can read all about it at www.52Sweets.com. For those of you that don't eat gluten-free, there's plenty for you over there. Any of the recipes can easily be made with regular flour. Plus it's a great opportunity to try unusual flours like rice, coconut, hazelnut, potato, tapioca and buckwheat in your baking, many of which are lower in carbohydrates. And you can read about my friends. I think they are pretty terrific people.

Second, I have just embarked on the 52 Foods on a Stick journey. It's a little different than my other 52 journeys, as it will be completed in only 4 months instead of a full year. It's a bit of a challenge but lots of friends are joining me to make it happen. My stomach hurts just thinking about all of the not-so-good-for-us foods we will be consuming, but it's sure gonna be fun!

So there's the scoop, what I'm blogging about these days. I'm still sneaking in visits to donut shops along the way but wanted to let you know what I am up to currently!

Duck Funkin' Donuts

2010-06-08T11:50:00.000-05:00

I'm late writing about this, but it is still worthy of mentioning...

On the day of a new chain donut shop's grand opening, a group of local donut lovers went to John's Space Age donuts instead of supporting the corporate, over-processed, over-hyped donut shop down the street. This gathering was organized by KCMeesha and well attended--so well attended that John's Space Age sold out earlier than usual! There was no fighting over the last apple fritter (which I snagged and delivered across town) but there was some disappointment over the early sell-out of glazed donuts. By early, I mean prior to 8 a.m.

It was great to have an excuse to visit my favorite local donut shop on a weekday, even better to meet in person many of the local bloggers. It was a who's who of the local food blog scene sitting at the counter of John's Space Age. And there were donuts, lots and lots of donuts. Folks were buying donuts by the dozen, quickly emptying the bakery case.

After I left John's Space Age, I went to Fluffy Fresh Donuts on Johnson Drive in an attempt to support another local donut shop on the one day I thought their business might feel the effect of a new donut shop opening nearby. Instead, I was met by this sign hanging in the window:

Perhaps my trepidation regarding the plight of small local donut shops was for naught. I hope the planned influx of corporate donut shops will have no long-term ill effect on these amazing purveyors of fried dough.

Duck Funkin' Donuts, May 19th

2010-05-07T14:38:00.000-05:00

In my donut journey last year, my absolute favorite donut shop in the KC area was John's Space Age Donuts. I was hesitant to visit it so early in the year, because I knew it was a sure thing. Nearly everyone I asked in the Johnson County area said I HAD to visit John's. They were right, best apple fritter anywhere and the best vintage donut shop experience of the entire year. I love that is has been there since 'Space Age' meant something, I love the old formica countertop and the plastic coffee cup holders that sit atop the refrigerator. I love what it represents in donut culture: a single-location donut shop where the flavors are dictated by the baker, not by a corporate office thousands of miles away.

On May 19th, a new location of my least favorite national donut chain is opening within spitting distance of John's Space Age. My guess is they will offer free donuts, causing a traffic jam on Metcalf. But there's an alternative: join me and other donut fans a few blocks south at John's Space Age on May 19th. Drop by on your way to work, grab a dozen to go or have a seat at the counter for a coffee and an apple fritter. Big thanks to KC Meesha for coordinating. There's a Facebook page with more info. I hope to see you there!

Should you spot me at John's, ask me for some 52 Donuts swag. I've got a few goodies to share with those who share my appreciation for all things donut.

Paradise Donuts, Lenexa, KS

2010-05-05T16:53:00.000-05:00

I know, I know...my 52 weeks is up. I've visited more than 52 unique donut shops in 11 states but still can't get rid of the Donut Bug. On April 3rd Jasper Mirabile talked about coffee and donuts on his radio show and I realized I was seriously missing donut adventures! (I also think I would have been a better choice to interview about donuts than the guy from Bon Appetit who went on and on about Voodoo Donuts and either has limited knowledge or didn't clearly express his knowledge about the donut industry and the boutique nature of shops popping up all over the country. But that's not my point...)

Easter Sunday, the very next day, seemed like a good day to hunt for donuts. I had heard a new location of the Paradise Donuts chain had opened in Lenexa and headed out with John to check it out. This strip mall location has a donut legacy. It was a Lamar's years ago and most recently was Steve's Donuts. Apparently it is destined to be a donut shop!

I had never been to a Paradise Donuts outside of Tulsa. In Tulsa, there seems to be a Paradise on every other corner, almost like Dunkin' Donuts in Boston and Chicago. But in all of the ones I visited in Tulsa two years ago, it was obvious that each location was it's own unique and locally-owned small business. I went to one not far from the zoo in Tulsa and was greeted by both a husband and a wife, two smiling little faces both sticking out of the drive-thru window to tell me all they had left for the day was donut holes. A bit odd, but cute and the donut holes were delicious!

The Lenexa location doesn't have any inside seating, but there are a couple of sidewalk benches in front. I am guessing since it was Easter, very brightly frosted donuts dominated the bakery case. I'm still unsure of the blue frosting, but the other colors weren't totally unappealing.

John picked a hefty box of donuts for himself, something I didn't think I would ever see again. After months of being my unofficial taste tester, I thought he would take a lengthy break from donuts, maybe never eat them again. Not so!

In the box of goodies John picked was a donut that looked like a cinnamon roll that had been pushed through one of the Bloomin' Onion As-Seen-On-TV gizmos. I believe the girl behind the counter called it a porcupine. I asked how it was made and she said each was cut by hand with a knife. I'd like to see these made!

John apparently enjoyed the donuts, as there were no leftovers by mid-day. Now that I know he is open to more taste-testing, I may seek out a few other KC donut happenings in the next few months in addition to baking for the 52 Sweets project.

Paradise Donuts is located at 12126 W. 87th Street in Lenexa, KS.

Donuts vs. Cereal

2010-04-20T17:22:00.000-05:00

It seems when people mention a bad food, one that is nutritionally defunct or that we should simply avoid, donuts are at the top of the list. While I am not in agreement with this, I've not spent much time arguing the point. I'm too busy eating donuts.

Here's an article about the sugar content of donuts versus breakfast cereal. Interesting numbers...and a guilt-free pass to have another donut.

Perhaps next I'll argue about the calories in donuts versus drive-thru breakfast sandwiches. Yep, a donut wins there, too!

More Free Donuts...

2010-01-22T10:16:00.003-06:00

On a recent excursion to Quiktrip, John got a coupon for a free donut. A fella was inside Quiktrip handing out the coupons, presumably in an attempt to help people break their New Year's Resolutions as soon as possible.

Being a good donut samaritan, John brought the coupon home so I could see it instead of using it. It's still hanging around over here, but will surely get used soon. I wish instead they were handing out passes for tours of their gigantic donut production facility. I'll keep dreaming...

Did any of you snag a coupon, too?

A New Lamar's...

2010-01-20T11:25:00.003-06:00

Lamar's isn't one of my favorites*, but free donuts are always good. The newest location of Lamar's in Overland Park, Kansas is offering free glazed donuts and coffee the 21st-23rd.

Here's a blog post about it.

*As I've said before, I feel guilty that I am not particularly fond of Lamar's, as they are the local fave with quite a history in our city. But I'll support the 28 Lamar's locations before I will visit the local franchises of a HUGE national chain (9,000 locations) casting a shadow on our tiny locally-owned donut shops.

A Bake Sale for Haiti

2010-01-15T11:50:00.005-06:00

I've joined forces with a few foodie friends to host a bake sale this weekend. Here's the scoop:

We're baking gluten-free vegan cupcakes in two varieties: Chocolate with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and Vanilla with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. And since we're all non-traditional, you don't have to come to the church basement or the sidewalk in front of the health food store to get them--we'll bring them to you! That's right, a bake sale delivered to your doorstep.* Cool, huh?

Cupcakes are 2 for $5 or $10 for a half dozen. To get that snazzy free delivery part, order a dozen or make a $20 donation. Share the cupcakes with your co-workers, your neighbors, your friends! It'll be the best $20 you spend this week AND it helps a really terrific cause.

If you want to contribute less than $20 and still enjoy these fabulous cupcakes, you can pick your cupcakes up at my house in Liberty. Drop me an e-mail (52donuts(at)gmail(dot)com) and we'll work something out!

100% of the money raised will go to Mercy Corps to help with their efforts in Haiti following the devastating earthquake. If you aren't in Kansas City and would like to help with my fundraising efforts, I have my own little page here. If you are in Kansas City and would like to contribute directly to Mercy Corps with a credit card or paypal AND snag cupcakes, please do. I'll take your word for it that you contributed via the web and deliver your cupcakes. Or you can give me a check written to Mercy Corps or cash when your cupcakes are delivered.

HOW TO ORDER: Orders now closed. Thanks for your support!

*Cupcakes will be delivered on Sunday, January 17th and Monday, January 18th, only in the KC Metro area. That includes you, JoCo! If you are unsure if your area is included, holler.

*Want a list of ingredients? I am happy to provide it (not the recipe cuz it comes from a cookbook, a good one that you should buy!). Cupcakes are vegan, gluten-free and free of refined-sugar. Frosting is vegan and most definitely includes sugar. Yum!

Me...On the Radio

2010-01-04T17:10:00.002-06:00

Today I was on the Walt Bodine show to talk about the 52 Donuts project. That's me at the left, along with Walt Bodine and co-host Gina Kaufman. (Blurry photo courtesy of iPhone. In real life, I do not have 3 eyes and 2 noses.)

Some of my earliest memories of television include Walt Bodine's spots on the evening news, which he always concluded with the line, "And what do you say to that?" He would visit local restaurants (of course I remember those the most), visit with notable KC folks and comment on current events. And then one day he was gone, off to the radio and off of my radar for several years while I grew up, went to college, got a job.

Then NPR became a constant companion for me, whether in the car, a cubicle or my kitchen. The Food Critic Friday episodes of the Walt Bodine show are always my favorite. I could listen to people talk about food all day...or read people's blogs about food all day. Listening to Walt's recollections of long-gone Kansas City eateries interests me and always leaves me wanting more of his stories. I was beyond excited to be asked to be a guest on the show!

This is the second time I have been on a radio show, the first time being to discuss my primary occupation on a small local radio station. The program was hosted by a friend and it was like chatting over coffee. I expected today to feel more formal, stiff, somehow uncomfortable but that was not the case. Everyone was incredibly friendly and at ease, including Walt, and the hour flew by. The hardest part of being on the show was choosing where to buy donuts to take with me. I went to Poppy's in Independence and shared their amazing donuts with everyone I encountered at KCUR from the delightful Ruthie at the reception desk to the crew of the show.

My only hope for the show was that Walt would have one of his amazing memories to share. Specifically, I was hoping he would have something to share about the history of donuts in Kansas City. And he did. He shared a story about going to Ray Lamar's funeral, where donuts were served. He spoke of the original Lamar's location in a former gas station and the long lines of people that waited for hot, fresh donuts. My donut wish was fulfilled and another great memory was added to my donut journey.

As for the rest of the show, it was filled with questions I probably could have answered better, more concisely and eloquently. But donuts aren't my job, nor is blogging, and I'm okay with how things turned out. I was asked what blogs I like to read and only two local food blogs immediately came to mind (two of my favorites) but there are many more I should have mentioned. I was asked about blog pet peeves and couldn't think of anything besides typographical errors to mention. I perhaps could have shared more in-depth information on the impetus for the donut journey but instead kept it brief. Coulda, shoulda but the overriding feeling is that I am pleased. It was an amazing experience.

As I mentioned on the last installment of the donut journey, I had thought often of how the 52 installments of the donut adventure should end. It seemed like there should be some sort of party, some celebration that included donuts. But it ended during the holidays, it is beyond cold, there's snow and ice on the ground...I had a million excuses not to come up with a BIG finish.

Today was the BIG finish, even if I didn't do the planning. Being on the Walt Bodine show was party enough, but the incredible number of phone calls, e-mails, text messages and Facebook messages I received congratulating me on the journey. the blog and being on the show was overwhelming. Friends, family, people from my past, all cheered me on through this journey and today was a chance for all of us to connect or re-connect, all because of a donut and the Walt Bodine Show. For that I am grateful.

Walt is 89 years old now, blind, hard of hearing and in a wheelchair. But when he gets in the studio, puts on his headphones and adjusts the microphone, that twinkle is still present in his eyes. I've read the comments urging his retirement and heard many disparaging comments about his accuity. After meeting Walt today and spending an hour on the air with him, I am more certain than ever that he is a Kansas City institution and has earned his spot on the air. I hope he stays as long as he would like. Spending a chilly Monday morning with Walt, Gina and the KCUR crew will long remain a highlight of this journey.

Before we went on the air this morning, Walt asked me if I thought there was a place, anyplace, in the world where there would be no demand for donuts. I told him that was a really tough question, I would need to think on it. He said, "Good, I'll ask you again later." We didn't get around to it, so much to talk about in just an hour, but I have been thinking about it and will answer that challenging question in a blog post soon.

Sublime? Ridiculous? ODD?

2010-01-02T11:24:00.003-06:00

On Monday, January 4th, I will be one of the guests on the Walt Bodine show on KCUR, Kansas City's NPR affiliate. You can catch the show live from 10 to 11 a.m. or download the podcast.

Here's a blurb about the show:

With an almost infinite number of blogs available, what are local Metro bloggers doing to get themselves noticed in the Blogosphere? From the sublime to the ridiculous, it seems no topic is too strange, too kooky or specific. Join Walt and Gina as they talk to local bloggers and ask them what motivated them to share their thoughts about the world with the world.

52 Sweet Treats

2010-01-01T13:50:00.004-06:00

Happy New Year!

Wondering what I'm up to for 2010 since the 52 Donuts adventure has concluded? You'll find my next project here.

Not to worry, I am not abandoning the 52 Donuts blog. I will still share fun donut tidbits from last year's adventure along with other donut information worth passing along. And when I find myself visiting a new place, I will no doubt check out their donut shops.

In 2010, I am taking a different route and baking a sweet each week to share with a different friend every week. I am new to this variety of food blogging and looking forward to the challenge. I hope you'll join me for this journey, too!

Week #52, KC to Springfield, MO

2009-12-31T23:59:00.015-06:00

The final installment in the 52 Donuts journey needed to be spectacular. I considered many possibilities: an international donut excursion, a trip to the famed Voodoo donuts, a tour of a commercial donut facility OR a trip to Springfield! DOH!

Springfield was the last easily attainable item to cross off of my dream donut list. It didn't have to be Springfield, Missouri. It just as easily could have been Illinois, Kansas or Wyoming. It could have been Springfield in any of the 35 states that claim to have a Springfield. It could have been Springfield, North Takoma, the town where the Simpsons reside, the television representation of Anytown, Anywhere, USA. What better place to conclude a year-long journey focusing on Anyman's and Everyman's fried ring of dough.

I asked my friend Sheila to accompany me on this journey. She has been with me on other donut adventures and has many times gotten me into ridiculous trouble-filled adventures, so much so that we refer to our trips together as "Thelma and Louise-ing." She would tell you I'm the instigator of the debauchery and I'll argue until she admits the truth. I knew Sheila would be a fun companion for the journey's end.

We left early on Sunday morning, two days after Christmas with over a foot of snow on the ground. It was still snowing and the wind was chilly. Between my house and Sheila's house, the highway was in pretty good condition, almost two lanes were visible. The Missouri Department of Transportation's website assured me the highway was clear past Harrisonville. I was feeling pretty confident. Then I got close to Sheila's house and the highway was reduced to a cowpath. It was slow going for the next many miles, but never once did either of us make mention of turning back. There would be no turning back...there would be donuts!

The roads started to clear as we approached Clinton, Missouri. We turned off of the highway for our first donut visit, Flavor Maid Donuts. What a find! The girl behind the counter said they had been there for more than 20 years, but she had only worked there a little over a year. We picked several goodies from the bakery case, including what looked like a glazed long john that had a small path cut lengthwise down the donut, filled with fruit jelly. We asked what they called that particular creation and the girl said she had no idea but if she were to name it, she would call it a fruit boat. Fruit boat it is. Sheila chose raspberry and declared the fruit boat divine, complete with seeds in the raspberry jelly. She also said it was one of the best donuts she has had in many years. There were a couple of tables inside Flavor Maid and as is required of all good old school donut shops, three old fellas were discussing local politics over steaming cups of coffee and donuts.

As we were pulling out of Flavor Maid, I noticed a large flock of black birds dining on something in the snow. I stopped to have a look and discovered it was a mound of donuts. The birds were eating day old donuts in the driveway shared by Flavor Maid and the grain elevator.

Heading on to Springfield, our next stop was in Bolivar, Missouri at the Woods Supermarket. I had solicited donut input from three friends (Cathy, Sharon and Mark) who either live nearby or grew up in the area. One said Wal-Mart was about it, two suggested Woods bakery. Woods it was. No matter how desperate the donut search has been at times, I refuse to go to Wal-Mart. I had been warned that Bolivar is a small town, but quickly discovered my definition of small town and other folks definition do not match. Bolivar had plenty of fast food offerings and Woods supermarket was surprisingly large. They even have a fancy coffee counter with a barista!

We headed to the bakery and found what I expected to find, the perfectly shaped donuts that often indicate a par-baked donut. Em and I got a great explanation back in April of the par-baked donut process from a new grocery store in our 'burb and it convinced me to not totally rule out par-baked donuts. They are received frozen by the store, then thawed in a proofing box, quickly fried or baked depending on the variety and then "finished" by the store. The finishing stage, frosting, filling and glaze, are all applied in the store, so they sort of make the donuts. Those are the kind of donuts Sheila and I discovered at Woods. They even had some of the day-glo frosting colors I've come to expect at grocery store bakeries. I bought a twist and an apple fritter to take home.

While walking out of the bakery department, Sheila commented that they had Krispy Kreme donuts in addition to their own. We stopped to see what was available and noticed Krispy Kreme fruit pies (fried pies) and Krispy Kreme cupcakes. I've never seen those before.

On to Springfield we headed. Time was becoming critical at this point, as we had heard the most recommended donut shop in Springfield never had a good selection by late morning. With the roads absolutely clear and just an occasional flurry falling, we made great time getting into Springfield and quickly located St. George Donuts. We went to the St. George location next door to a BBQ establishment, marking the third time this year I have had the combined aromas of smoked meat and freshly fried donuts in my system. For whatever reason, it works! Hmmm....maybe a smoked donut!

The first bakery case was filled with full pound sticks of butter and a mixing bowl. The second case had a fairly extensive selection of donuts and muffins. We chose a few donuts, including a beautiful toasted coconut cake donut, and an egg nog muffin. The lady behind the counter told us St. George is definitely the only donut place worth visiting in Springfield (gotta love a loyal employee) and also suggested a Chinese restaurant to us. Chinese food and donuts--now there's another combination that needs to be tested. Maybe. And if it were to best tested, it couldn't be with those little donut hole things at the Chinese buffet, which are insanely easy to make with refrigerator biscuits.

St. George Donuts was a fun place to visit, but not to linger. We headed down the road to the enormous Bass Pro Shop. We spent the next 30 minutes terrorizing the taxidermied critters with a glazed donut from Flavor Maid. Nothing will get you asked to leave redneck mecca quicker than attempting to feed a 10 foot tall dead, stuffed bear a yummy donut. And claiming that the bear looked hungry will get you nowhere.

Not one to waste a perfectly good day in any town, I registered myself for a 1/2 marathon in Springfield that began at 2 in the afternoon. Sheila stood by while I trudged along in the cold, waited patiently for me while the snow turned to sleet and the windchill declined to near zero. I didn't worry too much about her, as she had enough donuts in the car to sustain herself for awhile.

With the 1/2 marathon finished and the last of the donut stops behind me, Sheila and I headed off to find the nearest drinking establishment to celebrate the marathon finish and the end of the donut journey. We stopped at a typical sports bar in a typical strip mall. The folks working there were anything but typical and prepared a terrific meal for me--a fried egg, grilled veggies and French fries. Springfield proved to be more than Anytown, Anywhere, USA. It proved to be a great place to finish this journey and start planning for next year.

Flavor Maid is located at 1313 N. 2nd Street in Clinton, MO.

Woods Supermarket is located at 703 E. College Street in Bolivar, MO.

St. George Donuts is located at 3628 E. Sunshine Street in Springfield, MO.

Thanks to all of you for tagging along with me on this year-long adventure. It was originally about the donuts but turned out to be so much more.

Week #51, The Donut Place, Kansas City, MO

2009-12-26T11:28:00.005-06:00

As my donut adventures near an end, I wanted to find a donut shop that represents what I have come to love most about donut shops: locally owned, full of character and offering donuts made with love. That's not the adventure I have to share.

I first visited this donut shop way back in July. Em had noticed it in a new shopping area and said a banner was hanging on the outside that just said "DONUTS." I stopped by and found it not yet open for business. I've since been by a few times, every time peering in the door to see large bags of donut flour stacked on the floor, everything looking like they could open any day. My friends Dave and Charlotte live nearby and I asked them everytime I saw them if the new donut place was open. It seemed like it took forever for this place to get up and running!

Finally! In the last week my friend CD asked if I had been there yet. He lives near the owner and said she had relocated her shop from Platte City and had some issues with the move and staffing but was officially open. I wanted to be behind this place. It's a women-owned business, obviously someone passionate about donuts if she went to the hassle of relocating instead of throwing the towel in...both positive indications to me. I was excited to check this place out!

Here's where I start making excuses for the owner of this shop. I went there on Christmas Eve. The only employee in the store was less than enthused to be there, but maybe that was because of the holiday or the cold rainy weather. Maybe the owner wasn't there working because of the holiday. Maybe the donuts were horrible because of a problem with equipment...lots of maybes floated through my head because I really wanted to like this place. I wanted to share with you a positive experience, a glimmer of hope that new non-chain donut places can pop up and provide an amazing experience that puts those nasty chains to shame. Sigh.

Enough with the excuse making and on to the donut buying. There were no raised glazed donuts, mostly cake donuts. The only raised donuts were long johns, twists and bismarks, which were un-filled but the guy behind the counter did offer to fill them. The cake donuts were the smallest I have seen outside of someplace offering mini donuts. They were skinny with a large hole. I don't want to start comparing hole to donut ratio but these were very awkwardly shaped. The word anemic came to mind. They were not the thick, pudgy shape of most cake donuts.

And then there were apple fritters the size of your head. This place is to apple fritters what Dat Donut in Chicago is to raised glazed donuts. The fritter completely filled a standard dozen donut box. It weighed a pound and a half. HUGE. Getting the fritter out of the bakery case proved challenging for the guy behind the counter, as the ones in the bakery case were all stuck together. He got one off of the rack in the back, which was covered with donuts, some varieties not present in the case. I wish I could have seen what they all were. The only raised donut I got was the chocolate peanut butter long john and I was advised it would be in a separate sack since they it was, "a huge mess."

I brought the donuts home and John took a bite of the blueberry cake one first. He immediately asked if I had bought day-olds. Umm...not on purpose. He didn't think they tasted fresh. He ate part of the enormous apple fritter and nibbled on the donuts but didn't seem too enthused about any of them. As of this morning, the apple fritter box is still sitting on top of the frig, un-eaten donuts and a large part of the fritter growing even more stale. I can't recall donuts ever sitting around this house for that long. But I'll make a few more excuses for the Donut Place. Maybe it's because of all of the other Christmas goodies around here. Maybe it's donut burn-out. Maybe they just weren't that great.

Only one week remains and I hope to end with a super old school donut shop experience. I've got a place in mind and am hoping for good weather and clear roads.

The Donut Place is located near Five Guys and Firehouse Subs in the 8900 block of Skyview Avenue in Kansas City, MO. The signage does not say "The Donut Place," it just says DONUTS. I found the name on a flyer posted inside the store. A steady stream of folks was coming in on Christmas Eve. I hope I just caught them on a bad day.

Week #50, Doughnut Factory, Olathe, KS

2009-12-23T20:23:00.011-06:00

A follower of my blog, Quentin, nearly insisted that I visit the Doughnut Factory in Olathe. In fact, he mentioned it TWICE. He even said they sometimes have warm donuts in the AFTERNOON. Right. He further boasted that they make donuts the old fashioned way. Uh huh. Sure. Of course they do, Quentin.

Well, Quentin was right. Doughnut Factory is a gem. I can't believe it took fifty weeks to get there.

Em and I headed to Doughnut Factory late in the morning. She had a tennis match nearby in the early afternoon so instead of making two trips south, we carpooled at an hour more suitable for an early lunch than fresh donuts. We pulled into the strip mall where the trusty GPS said we would find the Doughnut Factory. I'm not overly familiar with Olathe, but recall there used to be a quirky store in that strip called the Stupid Shop. I bought Fart Putty there many years ago and had a great time with it tormenting a waitress at the nearby Joe's Crabshack. I wish I could say I've since grown up but can't. Oh yeah, donuts...we were talking about donuts. The Doughnut Factory is in a strip mall, the same area as Oklahoma Joe's BBQ and the KC BBQ shop, along with other businesses I can't recall. That happens when I see a donut sign.

Em pointed out that she liked the place already because they had spelled "doughnut" right. Along with the "is it a donut without a hole?" disagreement, add this one to our list. I obviously prefer the short version, donut, but either gets the point across. It just seems donut would be more economical, especially when it comes to storefront signage.

We headed in, expecting to find a nearly empty donut case. Instead, there was plenty to pick from. The nice guy behind the counter greeted us warmly. As always, I asked what his favorite donut was and he said it was the maple long john. Another one of those regional names--sometimes it is called a maple long john but everywhere I have been from St. Louis east refers to it as a maple bar. I bought the maple bar, a pecan roll, a chocolate glazed old-fashioned and a plain raised glazed donut. I can't even tell you what Em got, I was too busy admiring what must have been a full pound of chopped pecans on top of the chocolate frosted pecan roll. Wow.

Em and I sat at the only table in the shop, catching up from the holiday craziness. Em had a couple of donuts (what great carb loading for tennis!) and I had a diet soda. The sun was beaming through the window. It would have been the perfect place for a cat nap! Em was sitting with her back to the window and could see into the kitchen. She said, "Check that out! He's making donuts!" Sure enough, the guy in the back was using a hand crank machine that formed donuts and within minutes, the shop was filled with the glorious aroma of freshly fried donuts. Yum. A quick look at my watch revealed it was NOON. Freshly fried circles of dough at noon. Unheard of, except at Krispy Kreme. Doughnut Factory is no Krispy Kreme. There is nothing that resembles a factory at this donut shop, only handmade donuts.

The guy behind the counter (I suspect he is the son or grandson of the original owner but didn't get the chance to ask) told me the Doughnut Factory has been in business for 30 years, 10 at the Olathe location. There other location is in Merriam and I've passed it many times but never stopped in. I will now. The walls were filled with newspaper stories from years past. They were a treat for two donut fiends to read. A small bulletin board was covered with local announcements and a collection of thank you cards from local groups the Doughnut Shop had supported. There was an adorable donut made of construction paper, colored with crayons and adorned with pompon sprinkles from the kids at the YMCA. Everything about the Doughnut Factory screamed old-fashioned donut shop. All it needed were a couple of old men drinking stale coffee and telling war stories. And maybe a location other than a suburban strip mall. But it really is the real deal.

I took my bag of donuts and headed to Em's racquet club, devouring my Sweet of the Week in the car. My gluten-free sweet was a bag of cherry vanilla cotton candy. It was labeled organic. Really, it was. At some point, I said to Em that I might as well pour sugar directly into my mouth and avoid the fluff and sticky fingers. But it was low in calories and fat, so it sort of worked and I had no guilt. I would have rather had a donut. Would someone please start making good gluten-free donuts and sell them at a donut shop, rather than in a box in the freezer section of a health food store? Please?!?

The bag of donuts quickly landed on John's desk. Even though it was Sunday, he was sitting at the computer finishing up year-end work. He commented that the maple long john was incredibly light. I picked it up and couldn't believe how light it was--very fluffy! I don't think I've ever felt a raised donut that was quite as light. That goes along with the very minimal grease staining on the bag. The pecan roll was spun in a circular fashion, kinda like a cinnamon roll but there was no cinnamon filling, just oodles of chocolate frosting and all of those pecans I mentioned earlier. John gave their donuts a thumbs up and said he would definitely go there again. Since he has been forced to eat many donuts in the past year, a mention of going there again means a lot.

Doughnut Factory is located at 11916 South Strang Line Road in Olathe, KS. The original location is located at 9408 Johnson Drive in Merriam, KS. Please support these guys. They have seen many donut chains come and most of them go in 30 years. Let's help them continue that tradition!

A BIG thanks to Quentin for this recommendation. You were right, it was terrific to include them in the 52 Donuts journey!

Week #49, Ronald's Donuts, Las Vegas, NV

2009-12-21T16:23:00.013-06:00

I was so hopeful I would have the opportunity to visit Ronald's Donuts in Las Vegas during the 52 Donuts journey and work gave me the chance. Ronald's is high on my list of donut shops ANYWHERE and it certainly deserves to have it's own week on my blog!

Ronald's is in a strip mall not far from the Strip, a couple of miles maybe. I've heard the area referred to as China Town. It's a tiny little place with maybe 5 or 6 booths and no fancy coffees, just simple brewed coffee. They sell cigarettes at one end of the counter. They don't accept credit cards, cash only. Ronald's looks like a traditional, locally owned donut shop.

But it's not.

Ronald's is owned by Henry and Janie Kang, who are Buddhists. The top two shelves of their bakery cases are filled with vegan donuts. Not the dreadful, dried out, crumbly cake donuts that usually carry the vegan label. Nope, these are some of the best donuts you will ever eat, vegan or otherwise. They have cake and raised vegan donuts, cream-filled, glazed, sugar-coated, and fruit-filled vegan donuts. Just about any variety of donut you can get in a "regular" donut shop, you can get vegan-ized at Ronald's. How they do it is beyond me but they are AMAZING. I would like the non-dairy Bavarian cream filling by the gallon, please.

While Ronald's has a huge national following among vegans, they also have a large local following who could care less if the donuts are vegan. Folks just know their donuts are good. Ronald's repeatedly wins the "best donut in town" awards. I've seen cops, constructions workers, guys in suits....pretty much the same mix of people you see at any donut shop. And occasionally someone will ask for the vegan donuts, but most people order just like they would at any donut shop.

I was in Vegas to work and in addition to having a coffee while John had a few donuts at Ronald's, I bought an assortment of donuts to share with the good people we were working with. I've mentioned before that I work with an interesting mix of people. This trip included working with our agent Mark (who I mentioned during our Kentucky donut adventures) and his lovely wife and son, a 10-foot tall robot, a husband-wife magician and escape artist team, a monkey and his handler, a children's interactive game show host, a variety artist, a hypnotist, Lambchop, BMX legend Woody Itson, a comedy juggler and at least 100 other types of ran-away-and-joined-the-circus folks. And every one of us was there hustling for more work in the upcoming year.

I share the hustle part for this reason. I took a pink box of Ronald's amazing donuts to share because I like to share donuts. Because everyone loves donuts (admit it, you do!). Because donuts are the foundation of shared food and chatter in America. This is what I shared:

The next day, a hypnotist looking for representation by the agency that represents me brought donuts. From Winchell's. They were the saddest donuts I have ever seen. I have a couple of suggestions for Mr. Hypnotist. First, don't ever bring donuts in if I have already been there. You'll lose to Donut Girl every time. Second, Winchell's? Seriously--Winchell's? If you want to impress folks with donuts, go the extra mile and get good ones. Treat them to a donut as unique as you want them to believe your act is. Or not. This is the mess from Winchell's:

I have had a short list of dream donuts in mind this year. I wanted to share a donut with Elvis. I wanted to share a donut with a cop. I wanted to go to Voodoo donuts. I managed to cross two of those off of my list while in Vegas.

John rounded up a really great Elvis impersonator and asked if he would walk to the far end of a convention center to share a donut and have his picture taken with me. What a nice guy--he agreed! John found a terrific Elvis impersonator for this dream donut--Charlie Franks. We shared a laugh about Elvis eating a donut and my ode to Graceland with my animal-print jacket. No other word for this except FUN.

On to my next dream donut, one with a cop. This wasn't what I had in envisioned, it was better! I noticed a Barney Fife impersonator browsing at a tradeshow booth--a booth that sells badges and patches to law enforcement officers. I didn't want to interrupt his shopping, but did ask if he would join me for a donut and a photo when he was done. Well! He was immediately done! He took me by the hand and drug me across the convention center to his trade show booth. He insisted to the gal working the booth that she would get his camera out RIGHT NOW! This guy went from mellow shopper to Barney Fife in 0.5 seconds. He was suddenly ON and boy, was he entertaining. And he even had the bullet in his pocket. The spectacle drew a large crowd, everyone digging for their phones and cameras to take pictures of Barney having a donut.

I had hoped to visit one other donut shop while in Vegas. After working for several days, I stuck around for an additional 4 days to visit friends and run in the Las Vegas Marathon. While driving the route the night before the race, I noticed a small Vietnamese donut shop. While it hasn't been high on my dream donuts list, I did hope to visit a Vietnamese donut shop at some point this year. I've thought about it since bumping into the guy from Dallas while buying donuts atop Pikes Peak. There seem to be a large number of Vietnamese donut shops in some cities and I wanted to check it out. Of course it was closed in the evening but I thought about it again right before the marathon started and asked John if he had any cash. He gave me $3, I tucked it in my running gear and headed off. I was willing to add a few minutes to my race time to stop for a donut and then carry it the rest of the way to the finish. Much to my disappointment, the route went past the donut shop but on the opposite side of the street, which meant I would have had to dodge four lanes of traffic to get there. I decided to skip it, but I could smell it. Ahhhh....

That donut shop is located on the far north end of the Strip. It is also near the turn-around point of the marathon route and a good viewing area for family members of runners. John and my training partner's husband Kirk planned to catch up with me in that area and maybe I would toss a bag of donuts at them. They arrived in that area and never caught site of me. Not thinking that could be because I was having an exceptionally fast race, they instead assumed I was delayed at the donut shop, which they couldn't immediately locate. Kirk found the nearest police officer patroling the race course and said to him, "I don't want you to think I'm being smart with you, but where is the donut shop?" And the cop had no idea. Stereotype dispelled.

A final word on vegan donuts: In February, I went to a fair amount of trouble to get the much-touted vegan donuts from Dee's in Los Angeles. They were amazing donuts. Within a couple of months, the vegan community was in an uproar about Dee's, accusing her baking equipment of being filthy and the worst accusation was that her donuts weren't really vegan, specifically the sprinkles she used. I don't think Dee's exists anymore and I feel bad for sharing a non-vegan donut with my vegan friend G. Ronald's has passed much scrutiny from the vegan community, as shown here. It's the real vegan deal here.

Here are a few more photos of donuts from Ronald's. I love that place. Perhaps the final thing on my dream donut list would be a gluten-free donut at Ronald's. That would be heaven.

Ronald's Donuts is located at 4600 Spring Mountain Road in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Week #48, Sweet Al's Donuts, Cameron, MO

2009-11-30T13:44:00.001-06:00

I grew up just 13 miles from Sweet Al's in Cameron, Missouri and it has been open for business since I was an itty bitty, however I had never been there. A follower of this blog had suggested Sweet Al's and that's good enough for me to drive an hour north to Cameron, Missouri!

A car club that I belong to joined me for the drive to Sweet Al's. We took the backroads from KC and made a quick stop at the Shatto Dairy farm store to pick up fresh milk to go with our donuts. I got a pint of strawberry milk and discovered their pint bottles fit perfectly into my car's cupholder. Now I need to modify a bottle cap for a straw and I'll be set!

Parking is tight at Sweet Al's, well, maybe if 7 or 8 cars arrive at the same time. We parked next door at the bank and headed into a great donut shop, all decked out with railroad memorabilia including a train that runs around the entire shop. Much of the memorabilia was authentic train parts, lanterns and signals. A train buff would have fun looking around here.

The donut selection was huge, plenty to pick from. One of the gals from the car club commented that they had the best raised glazed donut she has ever had. Someone else said their apple fritter was tasty. No one had anything bad to say, except that the fritters were really sweet but not so sweet that an entire one couldn't be consumed by one person.

There is a bit of seating inside Sweet Al's and the staff went out of their way to rearrange furniture so our large group could all sit together. The old guys having coffee had fun teasing us about our little cars and asking if they could join us for the ride in their "pick 'em up trucks." It was a down-home donut adventure, complete with yummy donuts.

Sweet Al's is located at 808 N. Walnut Street in Cameron, MO. They are closed on Sundays.

Week #47, YUMMY Donuts, Dallas, TX

2009-11-20T08:59:00.009-06:00

Thirty-six hours in Dallas afforded me the opportunity to visit YUMMY Donuts, a trendy donut shop mentioned to me by Jenny of Making a Foodie. As always, Jenny gave a great recommendation! Being in Dallas for such a short visit made it challenging to get everything done on my wish list. Dinner at Spiral Diner, cupcakes at Sprinkles, an adventure duathlon, shopping at REI...but there had to be time for donuts! And are there ever donuts in Dallas. On the short drive from the hotel to Sprinkles, I counted SIX locally owned/non-chain donut shops. Dallas would be a great town for a donut crawl!

My schedule in Dallas wasn't conducive to acquiring donuts. I arrived late at night, had to be up early the next morning for the duathlon and by the time the race was over, the donut shops were closed. One last chance to get donuts remained. It would have to be early the next morning and it would also make me cut it close to catch my flight home...but I was getting some Texas donuts!

I headed out in the early morning darkness with rain pouring down to find YUMMY. I arrived a few minutes before their posted opening time of 6. As I pulled into the parking space, the lady inside washing windows smiled and waved, inviting me in even though it wasn't quite 6 yet. Yay!

YUMMY is a cute donut shop. Bright orange walls, crisp modern furnishings...everything I see often at cupcake bakeries but rarely at donut shops. Jenny had used the word "trendy" to describe YUMMY and that's a great description. These folks have done to donuts what has been overdone with cupcakes. Donuts really are the next cupcake, y'all. Prepare to be de-throned, cupcake queen. Donuts have arrived!

The selection in the bakery case was extensive. I immediately noticed that many of the donuts had cute little swirls of frosting in hole area, making them look like a short cupcake. Adorable! There were many flavors from birthday cake to mint oreos, lemon to a traditional raised glazed donut. While the flavor selection wasn't extensive, the donuts were not displayed in massive quantities like many donut shops. Instead, they were artfully arranged, each flavor labeled with only one or two of each on display. Again, very cupcake-y. That's not a bad thing.

Speaking of that raised glazed donut, the gal behind the counter insisted that I should try one. I had read on-line reviews of YUMMY, some not so good, and wasn't holding out for overly delicious donuts, especially not a glazed donut. While it is the most basic of donuts, I think it may be one of the hardest to get right. But YUMMY has done it. I gave the donut to John and he said it was one of the best ever. Seriously, EVER. It was light, fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth kind of good, like a warm Krispy Kreme only this one wasn't warm. Wow.

I selected a dozen donuts, no two the same flavor, but easily could have picked two full dozen. It was a challenge to narrow it down to only 12. Donuts in hand, I headed off to the airport. It was still dark and still pouring rain but already a bright day after a terrific visit to a donut shop.

On the ground in KC just 2 1/2 hours after buying donuts, it was time for donut tasting to begin. Em came over for an early lunch of donuts. We split donuts into halves, then quarters so more sharing could be done. Em quickly declared any donut topped with cookies a great thing. Another donut friend, Sheila, can't stop talking about the lemon donut. Lemon is a trick flavor according to Sheila. Some lemon treats taste like Pledge, some taste too sweet and artificial. Sheila declared YUMMY's lemon donut the perfect lemon sweet treat. I've been bringing lemon-y treats to Sheila for as long as I have known her (too many years) and have never heard her say any of them approached perfect. Go YUMMY!

While at YUMMY, I commented that their donuts were very pretty. I could tell they were decorated with lots of loving care. Each Oreo topped donut had a nice balance of cookie pieces on top. The Fruity Pebble topped donuts were evenly covered with sugar-y bites of cereal. The S'more donut had an even distribution of graham cracker crumbs across the top. The gal behind the counter told me they come in at 3 in the morning to finish decorating the donuts. She said it is time-consuming, but people seem to like it. She's right, or at least as far as this group of Midwestern donut tasters are concerned. We like what you are doing with donuts, YUMMY.

YUMMY donuts is located at 4355 Lovers Lane in Dallas, TX.

I am down to the final five donut adventures to complete my 52 Donuts journey. If you've got recommendations, send them my way in a hurry. I can't believe the year is almost over!

Week #46, Dunkin Donuts, St. Joseph, MO

2009-11-12T21:31:00.009-06:00

UPDATE: Dunkin Donuts in St. Joseph, Missouri closed its doors after nearly 40 years on December 27th, 2011.

Instead of the usual numbered post title, I should have called this post "The Donut That Started It All."

I grew up in a small town in Northwest Missouri. We didn't have a donut shop, not even a Casey's until I was in junior high. Donuts were a special treat. When we went to St. Joseph, we would stop at Dunkin Donuts at the corner of Frederick and the Belt. My entire life this particular donut shop has been a landmark.

My dad and I would sit at the counter and a lady in a pink dress with a white collar and patch pockets would come take our order. She would bring my dad a cup of coffee in a real diner mug and we would each get a donut. I always ordered the pink frosted donut with sprinkles. Sometimes I would get a fruit punch. I don't recall it being a super tasty beverage but I was fascinated by the clear tank that held the punch, the kind that constantly circulated the liquid, spraying a fountain of articially colored liquid against the walls of the transparent tank. I would spin on the stools at the counter, my dad would grumble at me to stop. I usually would stop spinning when bribed with a couple of munchkins (donut holes) to take home. There was something magic about Dunkin Donuts. Maybe it was all of the pink and orange, maybe it was the combination of pink frosting with sprinkles (I'm still a sucker for that combination). Maybe it was time spent with my dad...maybe all of those things combined to make me love donuts. Whatever it was, the St. Joseph Dunkin Donuts is the foundation of my love of donuts.

Recently Em and I went to the St. Joseph Dunkin Donuts. Unlike many small donut shops, DD has donuts all day and into the evening, so there was no morning rush. We headed out early in the afternoon but still found plenty of donuts to choose from. Em moved here from the Boston area and is accustomed to a DD being on every corner. When I first met Em, I think it took her all of 30 minutes to ask me if I knew of a DD closer than St. Joseph. We've since chatted numerous times about DD, our memories and the differences in how DD is perceived in the Midwest and the Northeast.

I picked one of those pink sprinkled numbers, a pumpkin cake and an apple filled spice donut to take home to John. Em got something I had never seen before, filled donut holes. That seems like a tedious job, filling donut holes. We both got fancy coffee drinks, far removed from the cup of black coffee my dad would have ordered. Em also got some sort of pumpkin muffin for later. You really can get everything pumpkin flavored at DD in the fall!

The counter at this DD is long gone, just a few tables are available for seating. We grabbed one and sat down to peruse our purchases. Within a few minutes, an older couple had sat down at the adjacent table. It was hard not to eavesdrop on their conversation and I heard the lady say a DD was soon opening in KC. I apologized for eavesdropping and asked if she could tell me where. She told me somewhere on 151st. She also shared with us that there used to be many DDs in KC. I didn't recall any, but was perhaps more familiar with St. Joseph. Her husband said he thought the DD had been in St. Joseph for 50 years or so. I can recall it being there for 30 years but was surprised to hear 50.

Em shared with me her childhood memories of DD, which included visits to the drive-thru. I have not been to a DD with a drive-thru. She recalled going with her dad and sister to the drive-thru and getting either one donut or two munchkins. After seeing a grandfather loudly haggle with his two whining grandsons while we were at DD, Em wondered if going to the drive-thru instead of inside the donut shop was a way to keep her and her sister from asking for more donuts or debating which ones to get. I can see the drive-thru assisting with parental control.

This was an enjoyable donut adventure, a trip down memory lane and a chance for me to really think about why I love donuts. It really has been all about the experience my whole life, not just about the donut. And it took me 46 weeks to figure that out!

As of today, Kansas City is the home of a brand new Dunkin Donuts. Today was their grand opening, complete with an appearance by George Brett. Em and I chatted about going but neither of us could find the time in our schedules. We joked about open our own DD, a major career change for both of us. You would think two hard-core donut girls would be the first in line at the grand opening, but we weren't. In fact, neither of us made it there on the first day. For me, I think my lack of excitement is in direct relation to our area's franchisee announcing plans to open another DD location just a few blocks from my favorite independent donut shop. It's all about the experience with me and I don't think we need a whole bunch of donut shops that offer the same plastic experience regardless of location. Now go on, go buy a donut this week from your local donut shop. It's sure to make the world a happier place.

Dunkin' Donuts is located at 3705 Frederick Avenue in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Dunkin' Donuts in KC

2009-11-11T12:50:00.003-06:00

For KC Donut fans, just wanted to share this link with you:

http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/1562009.html

I ventured out to Dunkin' Donuts in St. Joseph last week with Em and will write about it soon. Someone will have to tell me all about the new spot, since I don't want to visit the same chain twice this year.

Week #45, Denny's Donuts Normal/Bloomington, IL

2009-11-07T23:59:00.005-06:00

I traveled to Normal, Illinois to participate in a scavenger hunt type race with friends. I asked all over town the day before the race for a donut shop recommendation and only one was ever mentioned, Denny's Donuts. One lady told me there was no other place to get a donut, end of story. Off to Denny's it was...

John and I went to Denny's around 7 in the morning. We chose the Denny's location in Bloomington and had no problem finding it. There is a large sign outside and the building is sizable. Two sides of the building were glass windows, so we could see inside and noticed they also had a small market with convenience store type items.

Inside Denny's, several large tables were filled with old guys drinking coffee and having donuts, telling war stories I'm sure. We didn't have to wait long to get donuts and when I told the lady behind the counter that we wanted eight donuts, she said we should get a box. I like it when the donuts are put in a box, not a bag, but always feel bad asking for a box unless I am buying a full dozen. It was nice of her to offer a box, or maybe she just cares about the donuts enough that she can't stand the thought of them being smashed in a bag. Yeah, that's probably what it was.

She pointed out to us that they had both pumpkin and apple cider donuts available. We went for both, along with an apple fritter and a chocolate long john. I asked what her favorite donut was and she said it was a Persian and the other lady behind the counter said she liked the filled Persian. We got both along with a couple of other donuts. As we were leaving, John commented that this was the first donut shop he had visited that had an automatic door. I wonder if the building was perhaps a supermarket in a past life?

We brought the box of donuts to the starting area of the race where we met up with four friends also from Kansas City. Our friend Paul was familiar with the Persian donut and explained that it is a coiled donut with cinnamon. I had never heard of this variety of donut and wonder if it is regional? Paul is a donut afficianado and shared stories of delivering papers with his dad when he was a kid and going to the donut shop afterwards. I love hearing people's tales of donuts. People rarely talk about donuts without smiling. Love that!

I imposed upon as many of our group as I could with the donuts, but still had a few left and offered them to another team of racers waiting nearby. They took one and told me that they love Denny's, not just because of the donuts but because Denny is a great guy who supports his local community. And then it was race time...two donuts remained and found a home with race volunteers who didn't quite share my enthusiasm for fried dough but I suspect they ate them anyway.

I was really happy to find a good, traditional donut shop on this trip. I've been stretching to find great place to go on this, the home stretch, of my donut journey. Denny's was definitely a great place.

The location of Denny's we visited is at 1107 S. Main Street in Bloomington, Illinois.

Week #44, On the Rise Bakery, Osage Beach, MO

2009-10-31T23:34:00.001-05:00

This month has been full of celebrations in honor of my hubby's milestone birthday. One of the celebrations included a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks for a few days at a friend's lake house.

Usually this time of year affords great fall foliage viewing at the lake. Instead, we were treated to several days of rain. Sometimes there was drizzle, but more often it was steady rain and flood warnings. There were plenty of opportunities to shop at the outlet mall, play skeeball and drive bumper cars, cook elaborate meals and enjoy the company of friends. On our last morning at the lake, we ventured out in a torrential downpour to On The Rise Bakery at our friend's suggestion.

On the Rise was warm and welcoming on a wet day. The atmosphere is reminiscent of a French farmhouse and the aroma of fresh pastries and coffee invited us in. Not many folks had braved the weather, seating was immediately available. We ordered breakfast (an omelet for me, famed Eggs Benedict in several varieties for everyone else) and beignets, served with a raspberry melba sauce that On the Rise is known for. Our last attempt at beignets was in Little Rock and they were not fried to order. This was a much better experience!

The beignets immediately brought to mind visits to Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. The smell was similar and the dough had the same texture. No gluten for me, so I skipped the beignet but not the raspberry melba sauce. That sauce was delicious and I drizzled my fresh fruit with it. I think it would be good drizzled on about anything, maybe even cardboard. It was really tasty.

I really enjoyed breakfast at On the Rise and their beignets were a nice addition to my donut adventures. I hope to eat there again, maybe lunch on their patio on a sunny day. Or maybe just a quick trip in to get a few goodies from their bakery case...

On the Rise is located at 5439 Highway 54 in Osage Beach, Missouri.

Week #43, Ingredient, Leawood, KS

2009-10-28T22:09:00.005-05:00

Recently I had an early lunch with a girlfriend at Ingredient in Leawood. I've had lunch and dinner there several times but had never tried breakfast. I don't think I was even aware they offered breakfast but for some reason, while ordering lunch their breakfast menu caught my eye. Donut holes with a wide variety of toppings were listed on the menu. While enjoying lunch, I saw donut holes being delivered to another table and they looked divine. A return trip to breakfast was in order!

John and I ran in a 5k on a cold Sunday morning. The race ended just across the way from Ingredient. We walked over to Ingredient from the finish line, hoping not to be judged by our attire long enough to order donut holes. Not to worry--several other runners followed course and soon there were six tables of racers having breakfast. Good thing, as not many other folks had ventured out on a chilly Sunday morning.

The list of donut hole toppings was more than a dozen deep. It was difficult choosing just two. John chose cinnamon apples and a caramel drizzle but did pause before ordering to ask the cashier what her favorite two toppings were. She suggested the same two toppings. We both ordered Huevos Rancheros, one in a burrito and one plain, to add a little nutritional value to the donut holes.

An order of donut holes is six and completely fills a very large bowl. Each donut hole is roughly the size of a baseball. They arrived with a light dusting of powdered sugar and a sizable quantity of cinnamon apples. They smelled like Autumn. John was able to eat just two of them in addition to his eggs. The remaining four were loaded into a box and brought home. Although these donut holes are sort of fritter-like, they reheated well for a late afternoon snack.

My breakfast was tasty, the accompanying potatoes were just right--slightly crispy on the outside but still soft on the inside. Not as good as a donut, but it worked. I would definitely have breakfast again at Ingredient, even if they didn't offer donut holes.

And speaking of the donut holes, can you imagine the size of the donut? Maybe these folks need to get together with the folks at Dat Donut.

Ingredient is located at 11563 Ash Street in Leawood, Kansas.

Week #42, Dat Donut, Chicago, IL

2009-10-24T22:53:00.005-05:00

Somewhere around 30 donut adventures ago, I tried to find a locally-owned, non-chain donut shop in Chicago. I failed. Dunkin' Donuts appeared on every street corner and I couldn't find a single donut worthy of an adventure.

In the 8 months since, I have seen Dat Donut in Chicago mentioned in several lists of the nation's top donut shops. I have seen no mention of the quality of the donuts, just the Big Dat Donut, a donut touted to be as big as your head. I really wanted to see such a donut!

On the way to Chicago, I encountered a college student who said she lived in South Chicago. It was my understanding Dat Donut was located in South Chicago so I asked if she had been there. She said she had never heard of it so I dug through my notes for the address. When I shared the address, the look on her face was one of disgust. She said, "Oh, that's not South Chicago. That's the ghetto. I live much further south." Well, now I knew for sure I had to check out Dat Donut.

John and I headed to Dat Donut around 8 in the morning. It was a cold morning, even by Chicago standards, and rain was threatening. The drive from downtown Chicago to Dat Donut was a quick one, maybe 15 minutes. What first struck me about Dat Donut was the parking, FREE parking. After paying $43 to park at the hotel, it was nice to park for free anywhere, but especially at a donut shop. The neighborhood was a little run down with occasional sprinklings of new construction and strip malls. Certainly not the scary ghetto I was expecting.

Dat Donut is in the same building as a BBQ restaurant, Leon's Bar-B-Que. Even though I am vegetarian, I love the smell of BBQ, but BBQ and donuts together? It was divine. And oddly enough, this is the second BBQ and donut establishment I have seen this year, the other in St. Petersburg, Florida. What's the connection between donuts and BBQ?

We waited behind just a couple of folks to get our donuts. The Big Dat really is as big as your head and it's only $2.59. John also got a couple of normal sized donuts, although he pointed out they were bigger than a Krispy Kreme. There were lots of donuts to admire in the case, including what initially looked like the typical twist, but instead it was more of a slip knot. In the short time it took for us to buy donuts, a line had formed. Dat Donut was hopping on a Saturday morning!

We headed out to the car with the intention of going toward the Art Institute of Chicago and having donuts within sight of the lake. We didn't make it out of the parking lot before the bag was ripped open so we could get a better look at the Big Dat. It's a serious donut. I guessed it was equivalent to about five donuts. I expected it to be unevenly cooked or somehow un-donut like on the inside, but it is instead a perfectly cooked donut biggie sized.

The cake donut John picked was quickly ranked as one of his favorites of the entire year. Even though I couldn't eat it, I did get to smell it and even though this annoyed John, I poked it a bit. It was the most moist cake donut I've seen yet! John said the donuts were not greasy at all, which is always a good thing since that makes eating more than one easy.

We brought the Big Dat back to KC with us for further investigation. It weighed 373 grams, or about 13 ounces. I'm not a mathematician, but I think that makes it about equivalent to 5 chocolate frosted Krispy Kreme donuts, roughly 1,400 calories. This is a donut to share with a friend or two...

Dat Donut is located at 8249 S. Cottage Grove, Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60619.

Week #41, Carolyn's Country Cousins Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-20T22:13:00.006-05:00

On a cool, windy weekday, Em and I went to Carolyn's Country Cousins Pumpkin Patch in Liberty, MO. I had heard at least a gazillion radio advertisements for the pumpkin patch and they all mentioned pumpkin donuts. The pumpkin patch is just a few miles from my house so no excuse to miss this donut adventure!

Where I live, we get a twice-weekly local newspaper delivered to our doorstep/driveway/flowerbed whether we want it or not. This "service" costs $2.50 a month and we get a visit from the kids that deliver the paper every month in an attempt to collect the money. In exchange for paying them, we get a coupon to a local business. In the last couple of months, the coupon was a 2-for-1 for the pumpkin patch. I think this is the only time I have used one of the coupons and this one was valuable. Admission to the pumpkin patch is $8 per adult, a little pricey for two gals just trying to snag donuts.

When we arrived at the pumpkin patch, we noticed seven school buses in the parking lot. Apparently this is a super popular field trip destination! We paid our admission and entered the most elaborate pumpkin patch I have ever seen. Well, it's not exactly a pumpkin patch, it's more like a park loaded with stuff to do and they sell pumpkins.

Em stopped for a photo at the "how tall" sign and then we headed to the train depot building to check out the goodies. A nice gentlemen in train engineer's clothes had to let us in the building. It seems they were short handed and he was working in more than one place. The train depot/gift shop held a multitude of train themed items, polished rocks, microwave corn-on-the-cob and fudge. Yes, fudge...pumpkin fudge. We asked if the pumpkin fudge was any good and we were told it wasn't really that good. No, not very good at all. Would we like a sample? Sneaky salesman! Of course it was good and the sample convinced us both to buy fudge.

I had hoped to catch the pig races at the pumpkin patch, but a corporate picnic the night before had left the pigs exhausted so they were given the day off. Instead we tried out the roping cow, the miniature corn maze, visited the farm animals in the barns and checked out the wide variety of pumpkins for sale. We still had not spotted donuts and asked where we would find them. OH--in the building with the big CLOSED sign out front! No wonder we couldn't find the donuts!

Inside the cafe building, the smell of fried pumpkin-y dough was mixed with the fragrance of spiced cider. YUM! We both bought donuts, I had a hot cider and Em had a cider slush. Oddly enough they also had tamales but we passed on that.

Em said the pumpkin donuts were among the top five donuts e-v-e-r. Seriously, she said that. Top Five! They were fluffy, tiny and very pumpkin-y. They somehow reminded me of the donuts fried up at the state fair, the kind that are really good right out of the fryer but not very good by the time you get the leftover donuts home to your husband.

Yeah, about that...I did take my bag of donuts home to John. He enjoyed them, but two hours had passed since they were fried so his level of enjoyment seemed less than Em's. That didn't stop him from eating all of them though. They were really that tasty.

Here's my suggestion to you about the pumpkin donuts, go get them even if you don't have a two-for-one coupon to get into the pumpkin patch. They are worth what they cost plus the $8 admission.

Week #40, Louisburg Cider Mill

2009-10-20T21:48:00.007-05:00

Every year in the Fall, I hear lots of advertising for the Louisburg Cider Mill's Cider Fest. The news reporters often broadcast from there and lots of friends go every year. The chatter about cider donuts alone was enough to convince me to go!

John and I went to the Louisburg Cider Mill on the last day of Cider Fest. We thought we were getting there early, although not early by donut standards, just early by festival standards. We ran a 5k in Independence, stopped to grab coffee on the way and made the hour trip to Louisburg, arriving around 10 in the morning. The parking area was already filling up and lots of folks were enjoying the festivities. They had several fun inflatables for the kids, hayrides, a corn maze, a pancake breakfast, craft vendors, pumpkins...There was enough to do to fill most of the day but we had only a short amount of time and a mission to find the cider donuts.

Inside the Cider Mill's store, we found every possible type of apple product imaginable. Apple candles, lip balm, butter, candy and cookbooks full of apple recipes filled the store. We located a viewing window into the donut and caramel apple prep area and watched for awhile. The donuts were fried in a donut-matic machine then rolled in a cinnamon sugar mixture. Lots of families were watching the donuts being made, enough that we had to wait in line to get a spot next to the window. Ah, the magic of donuts!

After picking out a few apple goodies, we headed to the cash register to obtain some of these famed cider donuts. We bought a bag of 6 and head outside. But our donut mission wasn't over yet.

Our friend Carol had a booth at the Cider Fest and it was her birthday. What better way to celebrate a birthday than with a donut! We put a candle in a donut and surprised her with our out-of-tune version of Happy Birthday. I must say birthday candles look very much at home in a donut. Perhaps this is the start of a new trend. Cupcakes beware!

Our time at the Cider Fest was quickly over and we headed to the car, five donuts in hand. John stopped to share one with a guy directing traffic. It looked like he would need a little donut power to get through the day. By the time we left, there was a traffic jam.

Neither of us had tried cider donuts before so we do not have a comparison. John said they didn't taste as apple-y as he had hoped, but were a very good cake donut with cinnamon and sugar. I thought they smelled delicious and would like a scented candle to match! We had such a great time at the Cider Fest I suspect it will become an annual tradition for us, like the thousands of other people rushing to get their once-a-year cider donut fix.

Week #39, Fast Stop, Independence, MO

2009-09-30T12:06:00.007-05:00

While driving through Independence on our way to the Santa-Cali-Gon Festival, we saw this sign at a convenience store.

Misspelling aside, it looked like a place to visit on a donut adventure. John and I went back on a rainy weekday to check out the donuts.

As we pulled into the parking lot, I noticed the store employee and a fella were busy chatting and smoking cigarettes on the sidewalk. Not only were they blocking the way into the store, they shared their second-hand smoke with me. Great! I'd love an asthma attack with my donuts please. Is there an extra charge for that?

After walking through the wall of smoke, we were smacked with the smell of cheap disinfectant inside the convenience store. I'm not sure what had been disinfected as the place was filthy. The floors were gross, that sticky kind of gross usually reserved for bars and cheap movie theatres. This was the first donut adventure where I was actually pleased that gluten-intolerance would prohibit me from eating a donut. I really didn't want to eat anything from this place.

We located the donuts in a small countertop bakery case near the coffee. John is a coffee junkie but decided to skip it and brave only the donuts. The much-touted donuts were from a commercial bakery whose name I won't print here because it is not their fault this store is filthy. The bakery case is very tidy and I did notice a nice, fresh donut smell when opening the door. John choose a chocolate frosted long john and a glazed donut.

We paid the cashier, who was still busy chatting with the fella and made our way out of the store. We weren't even out of the parking lot before the cashier had returned to the sidewalk with her friend. There must have been some pressing matter that required multiple smoke breaks.

John declared the donuts as average, but perhaps they would have been rated as better-than-average if the experience had been different. Lesson learned, skip the donuts at a convenience store with misspellings on their/there/they're sign.

Week #38, Heitzman Bakery and Nord's Bakery, Louisville, KY Part 2

2009-09-29T15:48:00.029-05:00

Last time I shared our visits to Heitzman Bakery and Nord's Bakery, both in Louisville. Today's blog post is about where the donuts went and who ate them!

Here's where you get a little glimpse into my world outside of visiting donut shops. I'm an artist and most often work with balloons. I work with my husband, John, nearly everyday. I also get the opportunity to work with many other non-traditional artists and a few times a year I get to work with a whole bunch of them all at once. It's kind of like an ADD fest with fried food...

Alrighty, grab a snack and a beverage, preferably a donut and milk or coffee. You'll need it. This is lengthy...

John shared the Maple Bacon Bar from Nord's with Mark. I'm sure Mark has some fancy job title that succinctly defines all of his responsibilities but I don't know what it is. We sometimes refer to him as an agent, sometimes as an entertainment coordinator/producer and sometimes his duties seem to involve babysitting sugar-crazed entertainers whose brains are always on overdrive. Add to that his own background as a variety entertainer and you get a good mix of fun and sensibility. Yes, I just referred to Mark as sensible. One day I will regret this...

After much contemplation and sampling, John and Mark both declared they liked the Maple Bacon Bar from Nord's. Mark said the flavor might be enhanced by including bacon in the dough, not just on top. This was John's second bacon-topped donut this year and he has reluctantly tried them both (see the reluctance in the photos?) and then said he liked them both.

Later in the day I shared donuts with Doug from the Procrastinators, a percussion ensemble that uses five gallon water bottles, barstools and kitchenware for drums. Their show is like those annoying bucket drummers you see on the street corner, only it's enjoyable and sounds good. I guess that makes it nothing like bucket drummers, but you get the idea. We've worked with Doug several times and I've noticed he is always on the prowl for good food and girls. It's always fun to hang out with him and his fellow drummers.

Doug had a cream-filled chocolate long john. He commented that it was the perfect balance of donut and filling and that it was perfectly sweet, not causing his teeth to hurt. So there it is, the seal of approval on a filled donut for those with sensitive teeth.

The next donut to be sampled was the cream-filled donut that Nord's says is the favorite of President Bill Clinton. In a room full of goofy folks, the jokes about this donut were flying. To think all of these years folks had impure thoughts about that stain on Monica's dress...

The donut got the presidential seal of approval from everyone that tried it (I think it was split by four people) and John said the frosting would be excellent on a cake. If he had to pick one donut from all of these to try again, this would be the one.

Around lunchtime, I shared more donuts with Michelle, a living statue artist. It is interesting to watch her perform, primarily because of her grace and skill, but also because of the interactions she has with people. I could watch the reaction on people's faces for hours when they discover she is indeed a living, breathing human and not a stone statue. It amuses me that people never question that unlikeliness of a statue being where she performs, like the state fair.

Michelle prefers a cake donut, although she said she doesn't eat very many donuts and indulged in just half of one for Heitzman Bakery. It got the thumbs up!

Also at lunch, donuts were shared with the guys from Kenya Safari Acrobats. The dressing area for the other artists also doubles as a spot for us to grab lunch and we were often treated to their rehearsals at lunchtime. Nothing like a little serious tumbling to go with my PB&J. By this time in the day, the donut selection was getting picked over and several partial donuts remained in the two bags. I'm not sure what they ate but they all commented the donuts were great. Not surprising because there don't seem to be bad donuts in Louisville...

John and Mark once again delved into the donuts, this time splitting an apple fritter/cinnamon roll concoction. It looked like the flat cinnamon roll common at donut shops, but also had apple chunks in it like an apple fritter. It wasn't quite as crunchy on the outside as a good apple fritter, but I thought there might be a fight over the last little bit of it. It was that kind of good.

Down to the very last donuts, Bounce and Ooo La La, amazing jugglers, simply super variety artists and just great folks, dropped in and tried a donut. I seem to recall a conversation about clogged arteries and expanding waistlines following, but I'm not sure how that relates to this epic donut adventure. Weird.

That wraps up what has been the most fun donut adventure so far this year. Even though I wasn't able to eat any of these donuts, I feel like I experienced each one of them through the tastebuds of a friend. Somewhere along the way, I've realized that not only does everyone love a donut, but most people truly enjoy sharing food with each other. I'm glad I got to share this crazy adventure with each of these people. It was a blast!

Week #38, Heitzman Bakery and Nord's Bakery, Louisville, KY Part 1

2009-09-27T20:13:00.012-05:00

(This is part one of Week #38's donut adventure. Next time I'll share the eating of the donuts...)

Still in Louisville and armed with another donut tip from a local, John and I headed to Heitzman Bakery. When we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed a sign that said, "STILL OPEN." Did that mean "Still open after all these years" or what?

After a short wait for the girl behind the counter to serve one guy, we got our chance to ask. Seems the attached Walgreens is remodeling and has ousted the locally owned Hallmark store and the bakery. Is that really progress? The bakery had received a month-long extension and was able to stay open while their new location was being readied.

A large selection of donuts lined one of the bakery cases. There was nothing really unusual in the offerings, just a nice selection of standards and a large tray of donut holes. The bakery cases formed an "L" and contained a vast array of pies, cakes, muffins, kuchen and cookies. Everything looked like it had been there for years, except the baked goods which smelled fresh and delicious.

The located of Heitzman Bakery we visited was located at 804 Eastern Parkway in Louisville, Kentucky. Please confirm the address before visiting, as a move was pending.

With a small bag of donuts in hand, our adventure should have been wrapping up. We asked the girl behind the counter for directions to the nearest post office, as we had a small care package to send to Afghanistan. She gave us directions but we were a bit stymied by one way streets and an inability to see the giant USPS sign. While wandering around, we spotted another bakery and felt inclined to stop in, you know, to verify the directions to the post office.

Nord's bakery is in a big brick building on a corner in an older neighborhood and has a big OPEN sign in the window. It looked inviting, even from the outside. The inside was absolutely charming. An antique bread slicer and a pie safe were on display. A small seating area was off to the side and I really wished I had time for a coffee and a pastry. Alas, we still needed to find that post office and get to work, but not before buying more donuts...

The girl behind the counter at Nord's was very outgoing and made a couple of suggestions to us. We made our selections and paid, all the while chatting with her about the history of the bakery and the neighborhood. The bakery has been there for over 70 years and changed owners in the last few years but has kept the original recipes. When she asked what brought us in, I told her I blog about donuts and was from out of town. That brought about a whole new list of recommendations and we left with twice as many donuts as we initially purchased, including the maple bacon bar which we didn't even notice. How could we miss a bacon topped donut?!? (If you are keeping count, that's two donut shops with bacon this year, still hoping to visit Voodoo for the original.) We also snagged the reported favorite of President Bill Clinton, a beautiful cream frosted number.

More donuts than we could possibly consume in hand, we headed off to find that elusive post office. It was in a very non-descript building, looking nothing like the post offices of the Midwest. We mailed our package and headed off to work to share our many donuts with friends. I'll fill you in on that soon!

Nord's Bakery is located at 2118 S. Preston Street in Louisville, Kentucky.

Week #37, Plehn's Bakery, Louisville, KY

2009-09-23T13:54:00.006-05:00

While working in Louisville, Kentucky, John and I were interviewed by the Courier-Journal newspaper for an article related to our work (more on that another time). The photographer covering the story, Bill Luster, suggested we visit Plehn's Bakery for donuts.

Plehn's Bakery is located in St. Matthews, a charming area full of locally owned businesses. We headed there on Saturday morning and easily found parking on the street within a block of the bakery. Three cyclists in their super-matchy spandex outfits were getting on their bikes to leave when we arrived. One was attempting to balance a cake in a box while riding his bike. Off they went, cake and all. I hope they got to their destination safely, with the cake intact!

The window was filled with cute cakes. My favorite was one shaped like an apple with a worm sticking out of it. Inside, it was packed. We got in line behind a young dad and his daughter who were debating which cupcake to get. The decision seemed based on the plastic cupcake topper more than the cake flavor. I love moments like this in a bakery or a donut shop.

While we waited in what we assumed was the line, a frantic woman entered the bakery and asked us if we had taken a number. Oh, we didn't know about the numbers. Neither did the dad and daughter in front of us. Since I was standing closest to the now-obvious number sign, I reached for numbers intending to give one to the family in front of us, take one and give the last to the frantic woman. Yeah, that's not how it happened. She stated very loudly that she was in a hurry and would be taking the first number since none of us were in a rush or we would have taken a number when we came in. Oh. Not one to argue (which might create bad donut Karma), I gave her the first number, the family the next and took the last number for myself. Turns out she was picking up treats for her son's football team and practice was nearly over. God forbid she be late to pick up her kid and deliver sugary snacks to his teammates! I totally understood her rush and absence of manners after she explained her dilemma. Yes, those were my eyes you heard rolling.

While waiting in line, I literally bumped into a fella who was trying to order a cake. Not just any cake, a cake with a car company logo on it. I struck up a conversation with him because he had the logo on a large sheet of paper and I happen to drive a car from that particular manufacturer. Turns out a new dealership is being built in Louisville (yes, there are still car dealerships being built, not just torn down) and they were having a party for current owners of said cars the next evening. The cake was to celebrate 50 years of this fun car. And then came the unexpected invitation to join them at their party the next evening, held at a local brew pub. The most interesting things happen while on the hunt for a donut...

We finally ordered our donuts from the vast selection (another bakery in the south with a huge donut selection) and also snagged a container of Benedictine spread. Until this trip to Kentucky, I had never heard of Benedictine spread. I noticed it was a competition category at their state fair and even the grocery stores had it in their deli cases. One on-line review suggested that Plehn's had the best in the country so I knew I should try it!

John's take on the donuts was that they were basic, plain and unremarkable. He had a raised glazed, a chocolate frosted raised and a powdered sugar donut. This was his latest attempt at the Rob & Big style powdered sugar donut challenge and he still has not succeeded. It may be impossible for him to eat an entire powdered sugar donut without licking his lips. Go on, try it! It's not as easy as it sounds!!
My take on the Benedictine spread is similar. It's essentially cream cheese and cucumbers. Think ladies at bridge club having cucumber sandwiches. That's basicallly the flavor, just eliminating one step by mixing the cucumbers and cream cheese together. Not sure why it's such a big regional favorite because it was bland but I am glad to have tried it. It would be better with onions.

Unlike our food choices at Plehn's, the experience was far from lackluster. It was memorable. The staff was charming. A chance encounter with a stranger led to a really fun evening at a BBC, the brewpub I mentioned earlier. Donuts have the strangest way of bringing people together and creating memories. Those memories of Plehn's bakery are probably why the locals recommend it. Not because they have the best donuts in the world, but because it has always been there. I hope it always will be. And John says to tell you their cake is fantastic!

Plehn's Bakery is located at 3940 Shelbyville Road in Louisville, Kentucky.

Week #36, William's Bakery, Clarksville, IN

2009-09-21T15:05:00.010-05:00

This week's donut adventure took me to Indiana. Still working in Louisville, Kentucky but wanting to venture out of the city a bit, John and I went for a short drive to Clarksville, Indiana to visit the William's Bakery.

Our friend Pam in Louisville suggested the William's Bakery. She had never been there but had recently tried their hermits, which I think of us a cookie bar. It seems in the south they have more of a scoop shape and are dipped in chocolate. Without even trying this variety, I can safely say I prefer the southern version!

The William's Bakery had a wide variety of baked goodies with bakery cases stretching from one end of the bakery to the other. Cookies in lots of shapes and sizes, pies, cakes and of course, donuts! A small table to the side was loaded with day-old goodies but we came for the fresh stuff.

After a short wait, John made his selections, which included a donut-shaped pretzel. I've never seen that before. It was made with raised donut dough and chocolate frosting.
John also spotted a French Crueller that was completely frosted with regular glaze and then dipped in chocolate. The verdict was that it was a little too sweet but soft, fluffy dough waited inside all of that sugary coating.

A guy was working in the back of the bakery decorating cakes. I am finding it interesting in this part of the country that bakeries are expected to sell donuts. In the Midwest, donut shops and bakeries are two separate things. I wouldn't expect a bakery to offer donuts (and have found only one that does in Kansas City) and wouldn't expect to find anything other than donuts and fritters at a donut shop. I like that I could buy cookies, pies, donuts and order a fancy wedding cake all in one spot.

I drove past the Donut Kastle in Louisville donut shop and didn't get to try it (I KNOW!!) but thought they had a clever gimmick--they accept text orders. I love that I could text my order and never worry again about not getting a creme-filled chocolate long john. I could sleep easier on Saturday nights if I knew for sure my favorite donuts would still be available at 9 a.m. on Sunday. (You can see their sign in the background of this photo.)

More Southern goodness next week...

Week #35, Krispy Kreme Mobile Dipping Station

2009-09-07T09:09:00.007-05:00

This week's donut adventure was completely unplanned, a total surprise. And what a great surprise it was!

I have been working in Louisville, Kentucky. While out of town, I often try to find a race in which to participate. At a running store in the area, I found out about a race being held at Churchill Downs. Double fun--a race and a chance to see a bit of history!

Off to the race I went, through the tunnel and into the infield of the track. There was a guy at the race with an art car (well, a truck actually) that blew all sorts of crazy bubbles and five gallon buckets of bubble fluid were available with all sorts of cool bubble wands. There was also a guy teaching calf roping with practice roping dummy. That was all fun but...there was a Krispy Kreme truck. Donuts must be near!

Not only were donuts near, it was a really fun set-up. Little boxes containing two glazed Krispy Kreme donuts were stacked up, waiting to be had. After grabbing my box, I took them to the dipping station where they were gently dipped in a swirling vat of chocolate frosting and then dunked into red, white and blue sprinkles. And I got a paper Krispy Kreme hat. Serious fun for a donut fiend!

Scott Weaver, the Krispy Kreme fella, told me that Louisville is the U.S. leader in per capita donut consumption. He was surprised I had never seen a mobile dipping station. Have you?

Week #34, Community Bakery, Little Rock, AR

2009-08-30T23:01:00.001-05:00

The second installment in my Little Rock, Arkansas trip is a visit to the Community Bakery. I heard of this bakery from a gal working at the hotel where we stayed. She said they had the best donuts in town, even better than Krispy Kreme. Folks in Little Rock seem to compare all donuts to Krispy Kreme.

I headed out with my hubby to Community Bakery, which is located in the SOMA, Southside Main Street, neighborhood. An antique store and an art gallery were located nearby and plenty of people were out walking in the neighborhood, some looked to be on the way to work. It was a delightful neighborhood, just barely removed from downtown.

Community Bakery is definitely more a bakery than a donut shop, however the variety of donuts available was substantial. This was the first bakery or donut shop I have visited that offered beignets. We definitely had to get one of those!

John also picked a cream cheese, orange zest filled donut, a chocolate old fashioned, a regular old fashioned, a glazed (the favorite of the gal behind the counter) and a blueberry cake. Only a tiny bit of the beignet was eaten, as it was a greasy ball of dough. I can imagine it would be hard to pre-make beignets for a bakery case. Everywhere I have had them before has fried them fresh for serving. John's favorite was the blueberry cake donut, which he said tasted like real blueberries. He didn't have much to say about the others, probably because his mouth was full of donuts for quite some time.

We enjoyed having coffee at Community Bakery and seeing the folks from the neighborhood drop in for breakfast, which included much more than donuts. The bakery cases were great fun to browse, full of gorgeous cakes and cupcakes, pastries and cookies. Lunch sounded delicious, with at least three varieties of quiche on the daily special board. If Community Bakery was closer to home, I think I'd be a regular visitor!

The Community Bakery location visited in this donut adventure is located at 1200 Main Street in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Week #33, Shipley's Donuts, Little Rock Arkansas

2009-08-23T22:37:00.009-05:00

I had never heard of Shipley's Donuts until work took me to Little Rock, Arkansas. The old timers in town suggested Shipley's. One fella said, "Everyone talks and talks about that darned Krispy Kreme but you can't beat Shipley's." That's all that needed to be said...I was off in search of Shipley's.

Shipley's has been around for more than 70 years and spells donuts Do-Nuts, much like Holt's in Grandview, Missouri. I wonder what that's about? I like it and want to know why it is spelled that way. I read there are over 120 locations of Shipley's, ten in the Little Rock area. I sought out one that looked like it would be in an older neighborhood, always seeking an authentic old school donut experience. And that's exactly what I found.

The exterior of the building was the first indication of a step back in time to the days when donut shops were more common and were actually part of a neighborhood, not part of a new strip mall. It wasn't just the architecture that made me think this, it was the handwritten sign on the door alerting students of the nearby high school that they were not permitted to loiter at the donut shop. I think it said, "Buy your donuts and drinks and move along," or something similar, direct and to the point.

Even though I got there before 9 a.m., the donut selection was pretty sparse. Someone had recommended a sausage roll, but those were all gone. The lady in front of me snagged the last apple fritter. Even though it was a limited selection, my hubby had no trouble picking several donuts.

This location of Shipley's wasn't a sit-down-and-enjoy-your-coffee kind of place so we took the donuts and coffee back to the hotel. As we were leaving, I noticed the drive-thru window was added on to the original building. It was a just a tiny little closet sized addition, stuck right to the side of the building. There's no speaker box or fancy menu sign, just pull directly up to the window and ask what's still available. There is to be a donut shop like that in my tiny little 'burb, now torn down and replaced by a bank with a fancy drive-up. Sigh.

The donuts this week included a raised glazed, a chocolate frosted raised, a chocolate filled and a cinnamon sugar cake. They were all reportedly good. The chocolate in the filled donut was not like pudding and not the chocolate whipped fluffy stuff found at many donut places. It was thick and rich, like cake frosting.

Every donut shop has something unique about it, even those that are part of a large chain. The thing I'll probably most recall about my visit to Shipley's was this sign on the interior window:
You just never know where you might find a buyer for a cemetery lot.

Week #32, Winchell's, Wheat Ridge, CO

2009-08-16T22:16:00.009-05:00

While I don't often visit one of the BIG donut chains, I have had Winchell's on my list from the beginning. It seemed important to visit the "time to make the donuts" establishment, however there isn't one in the Kansas City area so I had to visit one while away from home.

While in Colorado, I noticed there are still several Winchell's in the Denver area. After working in the mountains near Vail the night before and having an early morning flight out from Denver, stopping at a donut shop on the way out of town looked like a good option. We found the Winchell's nearest to I-70 and made an early Sunday morning stop.

It doesn't look like much has changed at Winchell's since I lasted visited on sometime in the late 80's. The logo, the yellow and brown everywhere and even the donuts seem about the same. I noticed the boxes and bags have a catchy little phrase on them, "With a donut in each hand, anything is possible." I totally believe that!

A small window provided a view into the kitchen, where two guys were mixing and then plopping out onto the counter a large gooey ball of dough. John had already snagged his donuts and we needed to get moving toward the airport so I didn't get to see what they were making but there is something reassuring about an open kitchen.

Winchell's gets the award for having the most pink donuts in their bakery case. I love a pink frosted donut, but not just any pink. It can't be a really fake, overly-food colored pink. It needs to be a delicate hue of pink that eludes to a strawberry or cherry flavor that isn't artificial. The only time I really care for a neon pink in my food is when eating a Cherry Mash. Oh, now there's an idea! A chocolate cake donut with cherry frosting and Cherry Mash chunks on top. If I had to bet who might make such a donut, I'd put my money on Wichita's Donut Whole. Yum!

John must have been having a serious donut craving, as he got a bag full of donuts to take to the airport. The grease stain on the bag was immediately apparent, but he said they were tasty. He was fond of the cake donut and said he should have gotten more cake donuts, fewer raised donuts. Regardless, he ate them all. Greasy or not, they were surely better than anything sold at the airport!

The Winchell's we visited is located at 10000 W. 44th Avenue in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

Week #31, Pikes Peak Summit House, elevation 14,110 ft.

2009-08-13T11:14:00.004-05:00

Tucked way in the back of my head, somewhere in the childhood memories folder, is a vague recollection of riding the Pikes Peak Cog Railway and having a donut at the summit. When I found myself nearby, it seemed like a good opportunity to find out if the donuts were any good or not and have what I believe to be the nation's highest altitude donut.

Instead of taking the train, my hubby and I drove up Pikes Peak in a rental car more fit for grandparents than donut seekers. The weather was gorgeous, beautiful blue skies with a rainstorm visible off in the distance producing lightning. Portions of the roadway are unpaved right now and other portions are being re-paved so there was a tiny construction delay, but one with a view so no complaints.

Once we reached the Summit House, we realized the train was there. That means several hundred people all crammed in the Summit House trying to eat, go to the bathroom and buy their souvenirs in 45 minutes. It also meant there were NO DONUTS! We staked out good spots to get donuts once the train left and the donut supply was replenished. John waited at the fudge counter, where the glazed donuts are served and I waited in the snack bar area where unglazed donuts are available.

While waiting for a donut, I met a family from Texas who told me about a Vietnamese donut shop in Dallas that I must check out. Finally warm donuts were brought out and unceremoniously dumped into a plastic bin for self service. I got two donuts and headed to the cash register to pay. (Insider tip, a quick search on-line will turn up a free donut coupon for Pikes Peak.) I spent a whole dollar for two donuts.

Meanwhile, John was snagging donuts at the fudge counter. He was surprised with a discount for waiting so long. An EMT was acting as the cashier (one of two EMTs, both wearing stethoscopes, that we spotted working in the gift shop) and was very kind to the restless tourists waiting for their donuts, some not so patiently.

The other gal behind the counter was full of great information on the history of the Pikes Peak donut. The first homesteaders formulated the recipe 88 years ago and high altitude donuts have been sold ever since. I asked what happened if you took the donuts back to a lower elevation and she said some people say they turn to a greasy ball, some say they turn rock hard and some say nothing happens to them at all.

The donuts smelled wonderful--slightly like a hushpuppy, but perhaps more like the mini donuts at the state fair except they are not mini in size. They were definitely greasy and left a big oily spot on the dash of the car, their spot for the ride back down the mountain. John ate donuts at the top and again later at lower elevation and reported no difference. Interesting!

My gluten-free (and vegan) sweet for the week was a Scout Cookie at Watercourse in Denver. Sort of light the Girl Scout Samoa cookie, only huge and full of goodness from dates, coconut and chocolate. Hello, Denver friends? Please ship more of these to me when the weather cools off. My address is...

Week #30, Thomas James Donuts

2009-08-04T15:14:00.008-05:00

Last week while driving through Kansas City, Kansas, my hubby John noticed a van emblazoned with a fun logo advertising donuts in a strip mall parking lot. He went to check it out, but was a bit confused because the name on the actual donut shop didn't match the name on the van. It still seemed like a really good lead in an area of town I had not yet visited on a donut adventure. I found a website for the company advertised on the van, Thomas James Donuts, and agreed with John that their logo is fun--a monkey! Their website listed two locations, one in KCK and Holt's Donuts in Grandview. I really enjoyed my visit to Holt's Donuts and recalled the lady behind the counter telling me ownership had changed at Holt's in the last couple of years, but the new owner was committed to sticking with their in-house, by-hand methods. I was hoping the shop in KCK was filled with as much goodness as Holt's.

My friend Sheila joined me for the drive to the donut shop. While we didn't see the van, we did quickly spot the donut shop, just where John said it would be. There sure are lots of donut shops in strip malls around KC! The sign said Nadia's Donuts. We were the only folks picking up donuts at the time and the guy behind the counter was super friendly. I asked what the connection was with Holt's and he said it was their other location. I mentioned I write a donut blog and was quickly outed, he had read my Holt's adventure. He said they would soon be offering more of the famous Holt's donuts at the KCK location and that is a great thing in my book.

I picked a few donuts to take home to John, an apple fritter as big as my head, a devil's food cake donut and a cinnamon crunch cake donut. Sheila got about the same thing and we got out of the way so the next customer who had come in behind us could order. I overheard him asking the guy behind the counter what happened to Nadia's and he said something about them still being around during the transition. Maybe there is new ownership here, just like at Holt's, and the commitment to good local donuts is going to continue. I sure hope so!

John said the donuts were delicious. What a relief--they really were as good as Holt's. He didn't say much about the apple fritter, probably because he was busy going on and on and on about the cinnamon crunch donut. He said it may be the best cake donut in KC. Whoa! That's a big statement. He then said the devil's food donut melted in his mouth yet wasn't mooshy moist, just good cake that somehow became melty. Still not sure if he actually liked this place...

Sheila had the same take on these donuts and while she hasn't been to quite as many local donut spots as I have in the last year, she's a bit of a donut connoisseur herself. She grew up not far from the Donut King and has had her share of good and not-so-good donuts. Her only complaint (and she had to dig to find one) was that there was almost too much crunchy stuff on the cinnamon crunch donut. Is that possible?

Thomas James Donuts is located at 7652 State Avenue in Kansas City, KS. Go visit them!

My gluten-free non-donut sweet this week was delicious. Not donut delicious, and boy did I want a donut listening to John and Sheila raves about Thomas James, but it was still a great sweet treat. I made the Peach Pie with Brie--Cupcake Style recipe from Stefani at the Cupcake Project. I used the gluten-free pie crust recipe from the Babycakes cookbook. With peaches so plentiful at my local orchard, the timing was perfect! I topped the delicious pie, cupcake style, with a bit of Talenti Hill Country Peach Champagne Sorbetto. Yum!

Week #29, Casey's General Store

2009-07-24T14:06:00.007-05:00

This week's donut adventure began with a tip from Em. While having dinner at Five Guys, Em and B noticed a banner that said "DONUTS" in a strip of stores in the Tiffany Springs Market area. It was evening, so they had no idea if it was open for business yet or not. I love that my fellow donut fiends are scouting out additional possibilities!

John and I headed out around 8 in the morning to locate this new donut place. Sure enough, there was a little donut shop that appears to be a locally owned establishment, or at least not a member of any donut chain I am familiar with. The interior walls are painted in bright yellow and lime green and it looks ready to roll but was not yet open. Huge bags of donut flour were neatly stacked on the floor and the bakery case still looks pristine, not a single smear of a 3 years old hand was noticed. Something about the interior decor reminded me of the KC Donut Company, but no signage was present other than the outdoor banner so I still have no details...just that we're getting another donut shop in KC!

Plan B was put into action, a trip to the nearest Casey's General Store. In the late 80's, Casey's opened in my home town of 1,500 people. We finally had a place that was open 'til 11 at night, offered fountain sodas AND made donuts fresh everyday. Oh, and did I mention pizza? Pizza that you could buy one slice at a time? My senior year of high school, I would occasionally sneak away during journalism class with a friend to grab a slice of greasy pizza. We were such rebels. My dad loved to get donuts there and delighted in snagging a box of day old donuts for a discounted price. I recall him being a bit perturbed when Casey's switched from frying donuts in the store to using a frozen variety that is heated and glazed in the store. But he still kept buying their donuts.

Twenty years later, I still find something comforting about Casey's. The smell of pizza and donuts is familiar to me and brings back memories. The sight of a Casey's is a reminder that I've stepped away from the city, if just briefly, and it feels surprisingly safe and welcoming. Perhaps that isn't true but is instead a reflection of my hometown, encapsulated in the aromas of a tiny little convenience store that happens to sells tasty donuts.

We pulled into the nearest Casey's, located on a two lane highway between our little 'burb and the KC airport. While we passed cows grazing to get there, we also knew we could be back to all of the conveniences of the city in less than 10 minutes. We needed gas (bonus--gas and donuts in one stop!) so we parked at the pump. A Casey's employee was smoking a cigarette while emptying the trash between gas pumps. She stopped to have a puff or two while talking to John, who was pumping gas, about how spacious his bitty-SUV appeared to be and then zipped off to the dumpster.

I headed in to check out the donut selection and immediately noticed THAT smell. There is something about a Casey's donut that smells different from all others. I have no idea what the smell is but it is good! And there was pizza...and cookies...and rice krispie treats. Everything I remembered being so yummy at Casey's was available for purchase!

John chose a Pull-a-Part, which is like six donut holes stuck together, a maple glazed chocolate brownie and a chocolate glazed chocolate cake donut. While I couldn't eat any of these goodies, it didn't stop me from sticking my head in the bag several times to get a good whiff. I could almost taste them...well, except for that chocolate maple number. I am not sure I have ever had chocolate and maple together but John swears it is good.

As we were paying for the donuts and the requisite gas station coffee, I spotted a box of day-olds. That's a first on the 52 Donuts journey. My dad would have bought them.

My sweet this week was a tiny white cake from Andrea's Gluten Free Bakery with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. While not donut good, it was among the best gluten-free sweets I've had.

Week #28, Johnny's Donuts and Hamburgers

2009-07-16T12:03:00.009-05:00

Em and I headed out on Friday morning to grab a donut and make a second stop at Christopher Elbow for ice cream.

Our intended Donut stop was Johnny's Donuts and Hamburgers. I knew it was in an iffy neighborhood but I often find really good food in such neighborhoods. That is not what we found at Johnny's.

As we approached, we noticed the parking lot was absolutely empty. Not a single car. Em pointed out there wasn't even a car for the donut maker. Not easily steered away from a donut, we parked in the empty lot and headed for the door. Em pointed out a HUGE can of bug spray (see pic) sitting on the windowsill of the kitchen area. Ewwww.

Still not discouraged, we headed for the door only to find it locked. I could see in the door and on a large tray was a mound of donuts, not nicely displayed, just piled in a big mound. Hmm...how bad did we really want a donut? I pulled on the door one more time just to make sure it was locked. The rattling stirred someone inside, a fella wearing an apron, who came to the door to tell me that they were closed until 10:30. I guess we didn't want a bug spray glazed donut anyway. Sigh.

Johnny's Donuts is located at 4424 Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, MO

Off we went for our intended second destination, Christopher Elbow Chocolates. I first had their delicious ice cream on National Donut Day and was looking for an excuse to try more flavors. A donut-less donut adventure provided that excuse.

A trip to Christopher Elbow is always fun, with hundreds of chocolates beautifully displayed, just begging to go home with you. The addition of a hot chocolate bar and ice cream makes it even more tempting! On this trip, I got a pint of the Sweet Corn and a pint of the Chocolate Venezuelan Spice. Em got a pint of Creme Fraiche and a pint of Fleur de Sel Caramel, one of my favorites from the first trip. We split one green tea chocolate and hit the road, all the while Em insisting that we were going to load up the road construction sign that was laying on the sidewalk. Neither of us has been arrested yet on a donut adventure, but she seems determined to stir up some trouble. And I think that makes it just a tad bit more fun.

We had an ice cream tasting in Em's kitchen and I enjoyed all four flavors. If I had to choose a favorite, it would be a draw between the Sweet Corn and the Creme Fraiche. I expected the Venezuelan Spice to have a little more heat to it, but instead it was mostly a rich chocolate flavor with a nice amount of cinnamon, like a really good Mexican hot chocolate, frozen. The Creme Fraiche had a hint of citrus to it--delicious! I raved about the Fleur de Sel Caramel before so will save you from reading about it again, although it is good enough to write about twice.

I chose the Sweet Corn to accompany this week's donut. I had a Kinnikinnick gluten-free vanilla glazed donut. I dusted it with corn meal and added a scoop of Sweet Corn Ice Cream, sprinkled with sea salt. The salt really completed the flavor of the ice cream. Christopher Elbow's Sweet Corn ice cream is like the sweetest corn bread I've ever had, or maybe a yummy corn chowder. Em makes corn chowder with bacon, so perhaps a sprinkle of bacon instead of sea salt would also be good with this ice cream.

Christopher Elbow Chocolates is located at 1819 McGee Street in Kansas City, MO.

Week #27, World's Fair Donuts, St. Louis MO

2009-07-06T12:01:00.008-05:00

This week's donut adventure was the furthest I have driven in a car to get a donut. I left home at 4:30 in the morning on July 3rd for the four hour trip to St. Louis. Since many people were off of work for the holiday, traffic was minimal for the entire drive and I arrived right on time to meet my friends who live on the other side of the state.

Jill and I pulled in at about the same time and chatted on the sidewalk near World's Fair Donuts for just a few minutes before Thad showed up. And just a few moments later Jill's neighbors Stefani and Jon joined us. I have known Jill and Thad for many years. We're artists working in the same industry and have been friends for years but I don't think we have ever shared donuts before. Stefani is a fellow food blogger (you should visit the Cupcake Project!) and Jon is a professional photographer. My two passions, art and food, collided on the sidewalk in front of a donut shop. Conversation flowed before we ever made it to the donuts...but you knew we wouldn't skip the donuts!

A word on choosing a donut in St. Louis: Since I'm not from the area, I asked around for a donut suggestion in St. Louis. One friend suggested the Donut Drive-In. Thad suggested Olde Towne donuts in Fenton. Stefani put out the call to the St. Louis Foodies and the overwhelming response was World's Fair Donuts. I trust the foodie community and just from the appearance of World's Fair Donuts, they sent us to the right place. It is an old school donut shop, complete with a non-stop flow of patrons even late in the morning by donut standards.

World's Fair Donuts has no inside seating, just a huge bakery case full of every variety of donut one might need on a Friday morning, plus fried pies. I have never seen fried pies at a donut shop before and asked my St. Louis friends if that was a regional thing, but none of them was aware of a huge fried pie trend in the area. Interesting!

Since I can no longer indulge in regular donuts, I'll share what Jill said about World's Fair: "World's Fair Donuts had 2 coffee sizes, small and large. I was impressed they have not upgraded to the new American sizes. The small coffee I ordered was in a 6oz cup with 5oz of coffee. Other restaurants would call the World's Fair large a small (or tall,) and the small a free sample cup. Only cost me $.99 for a coffee and cake donut. The donut I ordered was really sweet, but perhaps not to others who eat more donuts; I don't think I've had a donut in years. I liked the atmosphere. Glad to see urban sprawl hasn't put them out of business."

I think Jill and Stefani both had the buttermilk donut. Stefani said it had a cinnamon flavor to it, which was unexpected but tasty. I was flabbergasted at the prices. A fifty cent donut is almost unheard of and I've paid as much as $2 for a donut.

Donuts and coffee were consumed on the sidewalk before Jill, Thad and I headed to Global Foods. It's the size of a supermarket, but packed with foods from many different countries. This place is foodie heaven! Each aisle has a sign indicating what country you'll find foods from. The produce section would have added at least a few hundred more strange fruits to MightyGirl's 1,000 fruit list. The chocolate area gave me great opportunity to purchase gifts for friends who enjoy Kinder, Milka and Ritter bars. I got a Japanese soda, flavored with lychee, curry ketchup from Germany and several other interesting items that were new to me. I want to go back and spend hours perusing this place!

While I could have spent an entire day at Global Foods, we had lots more fun to pack into the day. We zipped over to Trader Joe's, loaded up a couple of carts of goodies to bring home and then it was time to say goodbye to Thad before heading to the movie theatre. Jill and I went to see FOOD, Inc. and I think you should see it, too.

After saying goodbye to Jill, I made a stop at another location of Trader Joe's to pick up frozen treats and noticed a Container Store across the street so had to stop there, too. In a perfect world, my lovely city would have IKEA, Trader Joe's and a Container Store...and a gluten-free donut shop. Until that happens, I have to pack as much shopping into one day (and one small car) as I can.

I had one last stop planned. I still had not indulged in my weekly sweet! I stopped in Chesterfield, Missouri at Andrea's Gluten Free Bakery. I got chocolate cupcakes for my weekly donut substitute and a slew of gluten-free goodies. Then it was time to point the car west, with at least 3 hours of driving ahead of me. Plenty of time to contemplate how I was going to get all of the Trader Joe's and Andrea's goodies into the cupboard. It was the perfect day spent with friends, old and new, and lots of food adventures.

World's Fair Donuts is located at 1904 S. Vandeventer Avenue in St. Louis, MO.

Thad, Stefani, Jill and Jon

Week #26, Judi's Family Bakery, North Kansas City

2009-07-01T22:55:00.009-05:00

Twenty-six weeks, halfway there! I wasn't sure at the beginning of this project I would be able to find 52 different donut shops or that I would find the motivation to stay on track with my plan of eating only one sweet each week. I've had only one small detour from the one sweet a week plan and am a bit sad that I am halfway through the project--there are still so many donut places I want to visit!

Week #26 brings a bit of change to the 52 Donut Project. As I mentioned a couple of weeks back, my doctor recommended a gluten-free diet. I begrudgingly agreed to give it a try, although I did sneak in delicious, very gluten-y donuts twice in the first three weeks, the final time being last Sunday at the KC Donut Company. With reduced gluten intake, my body has stopped producing the gluten antibodies that allowed me to eat gluten, even if my body was intolerant. Now eating gluten causes discomfort (okay, so it's really pain and it lasted 4 days), so much so that eating a donut seems unappealing. Can you imagine? A month ago I couldn't imagine that anything could cause me to not want a donut. Now I know what it takes to get me to stop eating donuts. Okay...so that's really more than you wanted to know about my health woes but it will help to understand where I'm going with this.

My love of the donut goes far beyond just eating the donut. I love the experience and it has taken this project to make me realize just how much I enjoy sharing food and the experience with friends. The time spent together, the laughter, the occasional snarky quip that accompanies superb people watching...Visiting a donut shop each week is a social practice for a wide variety of people, a practice that crosses many boundaries. I adore it. I am not willing to give up my weekly donut adventure, even if the consumption portion of the adventure must become voyeuristic.

Here is where I need your help: I will need one of you, my dear friends, family, readers, strange donut stalkers, to join me for a donut each week. I don't want your review of your favorite neighborhood donut shop, I want to go with you to your favorite neighborhood donut shop. I want to enjoy the experience with you, talk about life, catch up, while you have a donut or two or twelve. I'll have coffee and then I'll blog about it. Not so different from what's already going on, just that I'll be counting on you to tell me all about the donuts. And if the donut offerings include something meaty or exotic, of course you'll be expected to try it!

And now on to the donut adventure...

Many times I have driven past Judi's Family Bakery. Located close to a bridge that crosses the Missouri River, I often pass by in an attempt to avoid traffic jams on the nearby interstate. Never once had I stopped in. I tried one Sunday to have a donut at Judi's but they are not open on Saturdays or Sundays. I went with John for a donut on Friday and the place was busy, busy, busy, even at mid-morning (8:15) by the standards of the nearby industrial businesses.

Nearly always, I ask the folks behind the counter what their favorite donut is. Too often I get the non-commital, "I like them all." Seriously, no one expects you to like every single donut. You must have a favorite and it's great if you'll tell me. I might like it, too. The next scenario usually happens when the owner of a donut shop is present. "I really like the cherry/chocolate-grape/patriotic-sprinkled-in-January donut." This donut is the one that no one is buying that day, either because it looks unappetizing or is unappetizing. And it is suddenly the owner's favorite. It goes into every dozen box of the customer that says, "Just give me an assortment." This week's adventure started similarly when the guy behind the counter said to us, "We love allllll of our children." When I pushed for one favorite, he repeated himself. Not one to give up easily, I asked the girl behind the counter. She replied, "I really like the blueberry cake donuts." Out of the side of his mouth, the guy behind the counter said, "Oh, I HATE those!" Ha!

John chose a chocolate old-fashioned, a raised glazed, the blueberry cake and an apple fritter. There were plenty of varieties to choose from, including a star-shaped donut which I have only seen before at Krispy Kreme. There are a few places to grab a seat at Judi's but we had to get to work, so we took the donuts to go. On the way out the door, I noticed a copy of The Donut Book sitting on a shelf. What a great book to have for folks to browse while enjoying a donut!

While I couldn't indulge in any of the donuts from Judi's, I did take a long look and had a sniff of the bag of greasy, fried goodness. The blueberry cake was very blue, lots of blueberries present in the donut. The apple fritter was interesting in that it was nearly 2 inches thick. John said it wasn't crunchy on the outside (his favorite part of an apple fritter) and there were very few apples in the dough. The apples that were in the dough were all concentrated in one end of the fritter. He said it was more like a raised donut than an apple fritter. John's Space Age hasn't had a serious apple fritter competitor for awhile!

While we had a fun adventure at Judi's, John wasn't overly impressed with the donuts. He said they were kinda like getting a donut at Quiktrip, which isn't horrible just not memorable. I'm glad the experience was.

Judi's Family Bakery is located at 1250 Burlington Avenue in North Kansas City, MO.

Next week I'm hitting the road for another donut adventure. Stay tuned...

Week #25, KC Donut Company, Olathe, KS

2009-06-22T08:34:00.007-05:00

John had spotted one location of the small local chain, KC Donut Company, while zipping through Olathe, Kansas a month or so ago. Further research revealed four locations, all within just a few miles of each other. We visited the location at 2014 E Santa Fe in Olathe.

This location is in a strip mall with a KMart. Nothing else appeared to be open in the shopping area early on a Sunday morning, as seems typical of strip mall donut shops. There was plenty of activity around the donut shop, usually a good sign.

As we entered, a perky young thing behind the counter greeted us with, "Bag or Box?" Hmmm...we hadn't even pondered the offerings yet but better go with the bag. The offerings were many and we had a tough time narrowing it down to fit in the bag. We chose a German chocolate, a raised peanut butter chocolate, a cake peanut butter chocolate, an old-fashioned and an apple fritter.

Off we went with our bag for the 45 minute drive home to enjoy the donuts. There is no seating area inside this location of the KC Donut Company. It doesn't feel like a big national chain inside, but also doesn't have the character of a decades old, locally owned donut shop either.

I tried both of the peanut butter chocolate varieties and think the frosting was better on the raised donut. I love peanut butter, even more when combined with chocolate, and think this is a great combination on a donut! The German chocolate was on a raised chocolate donut and was yummy. The apple fritter was enormous!

I enjoyed our visit to the KC Donut Company and would drop by again if I were in the neighborhood. If nothing else, I'd stop by just to have one of their bright pink glazed cherry donuts.

Week #24, Duke's Bakers Dozen

2009-06-17T23:51:00.007-05:00

A friend of a friend recommended this week's donut stop, Duke's Bakers Dozen in Belton. John joined me for the 30+ minute drive in the rain to a part of the city we are not overly familiar with. I could not recall ever being in the business district of Belton before. Several miles of taquerias, buy-here-pay-here car dealers and random businesses that looked like they have been there forever greeted us. There was little activity going on around any of the businesses, excep the donut shop.

Baker's Dozen is in a small strip of stores which includes a Mexican bakery and has a tiny parking area. There were plenty of folks coming and going, a single guy in his 50s, three generations of a family, the grandfather toting the Sunday newspaper, a mom in a pickup truck nagging her kids to hurry up. We headed inside and were immediately hit in the face with the commingled smell of grease and cigarette smoke. Apparently Belton does not yet have a no smoking ordinance and there was a lady sitting at the end of the counter closest to the front door puffing away. I am pretty sure this marks the first donut shop I have visited on the 52 Donuts journey where smoking is permissible.

The multi-generation family I mentioned earlier snagged the last few available counter seats, so we got our donuts to go. The lady behind the counter bagged up our donuts quickly and had us on our way. She wasn't too interested in conversation with anyone but was sure doing a great job of putting exactly what was ordered in each persons bag. We got a raised glazed, a jelly filled, a chocolate cake and a few others that John couldn't resist.

By the time we reached the car with our donuts, the bag was already dotted with grease spots. One bite of the raised glazed donut revealed the culprit. The donuts were dry and crusty on top, yet somehow greasy.

While the donuts were far from the best I have had (in fact, they were among the worst), Duke's Baker's Dozen is an authentic local donut shop and I would go there again just to see if the donuts are ever any fresher or less greasy. And with their extensive hours of business, I just might find reason to drop by again.

Duke's Baker's Dozen is located at 103 N. Scott Avenue in Belton, MO.

Week #23, National Donut Day!

2009-06-10T08:48:00.017-05:00

Friday was National Donut Day, the High Holy Day of the Donut Kingdom and I had big plans to celebrate. I had planned a menu that included a donut in every meal for the whole day. And then came the recommendation from the doctor that I eat a gluten-free diet for the next three weeks. What's a donut girl to do?!? It took a bit more planning, a lot more cooking and a serious change of plans for the day but the celebration had to go on!

I started National Donut Day off exactly as planned with a trip to Krispy Kreme with John. They were giving away a free donut of your choice and one should never pass up a free donut! As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw a huge van full of Mennonites, several of them carrying Krispy Kreme boxes. We had a good laugh about a group of people known for their baking skills stopping at Krispy Kreme.

John was going to score big at Krispy Kreme, since I couldn't eat anything there. We picked out our two free donuts and bought one. I feel a little bad going someplace and only taking the free thing, so we did buy one extra donut. John got three yummy donuts and we headed back home for my first donut baking adventure and a bit of donut-y breakfast.

While John inhaled his Krispy Kreme donuts, I had Apple Cinnamon Donut Holes from Olivia's Oven, a local Gluten-Free bakery. It was just a couple of weeks ago that I had a conversation with Michael at the Donut Whole in Wichita about the difficulty of making a Gluten-Free donut. Even though I have enjoyed other goodies from Olivia's Oven, I wasn't holding my breath about these donut holes. Surprise! They were AMAZING! If one could smoosh together a raised donut and a cake donut, you'd have the texture of these yummy little balls of goodness. Absolutely delicious! Em tried one later in the day and said the texture was very muffin-like. She's right, yet they had that exterior crust of a donut all rolled in sugar and cinnamon. They tasted like Autumn. Yum!

And then it was time for my first attempt at making donuts. While I love donuts, adore donut makers and the donut experience, I lack the skills to be a professional donut maker, especially one that is currently prohibited from using products with gluten. I bought a bag of Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix. I used coconut milk with the mix for a little additional sweetness and added a bit of agave nectar. The dough was not at all roll-able so there would be no use for my donut cutter. It was far too sticky to go through the donut maker contraption I bought at the As Seen On TV store. John saved the day by suggesting I put the dough in the mechanical pastry bag from Williams-Sonoma. It did the trick! I made little loops of dough on parchment paper and left them to rise while I went out on the next chapter of the National Donut Day adventures.

I adore chocolates from Christopher Elbow but have not yet figured out a way to incorporate them into a donut adventure. In addition to Friday being National Donut Day, it was also the debut day of Christopher Elbow's ice cream and sorbet. Being a fan of his almost-too-pretty-to-eat chocolates, I knew the ice cream would be delicious. With flavors like sweet corn, pineapple cilantro and rosemary caramel, deciding on flavors was going to be tough. I got stuck in a little traffic snarl but still managed to arrive right as the doors opened at 10 and was the first one to order. I got a pint each of Fleur de Sel Caramel, Tahitian Vanilla Bean and Lavender Vanilla for Em. By the time I got three pints of ice cream and paid, the line was getting lengthy. Word of a good thing spreads fast!

Back at home, ice cream safely tucked away in the freezer, it was time to fry the donuts. I can't remember the last time I fried anything and quickly realized why I eat donuts out. Frying is messy! I heated the oil in a small pan and fried the donuts one at a time, which wasn't too bad since I only had 18 of them. I brushed them with a bit of agave nectar while they were still warm and they actually resembled a donut. Sure they were gluten-free, but at least they were shaped like a donut.
Em came over to retrieve her ice cream and we had warm donuts with the most amazing ice cream I have ever tasted. I am not a fan of ice cream and the last time I recall having ice cream was about two years ago. That said, I'm glad Christopher Elbow ice cream comes in pints and not gallons, because I could make a gallon disappear quickly. It was that kind of good. My favorite was the Fleur de Sel Caramel. While reluctant, I did sample Em's Lavender Vanilla ice cream. It tasted like Lavender, so much so that Em exclaimed, "It tastes like PURPLE!" Not something I would want a full scoop of but it was interesting to try. And the donuts were yummy, too, a bit like funnel cake. My first attempt at Gluten-Free baking was a success and the donuts were quite good. Not like the ice cream was good and not like my favorite donut shop good, but good in a very unrefined, homemade kind of way.

For lunch I whipped up a homemade Sloppy Joe sauce with lots of red and green peppers and onion and used Amy's Bistro Burgers for the "meat." I'm vegetarian and usually use Boca crumbles or something similar to make Sloppy Joes, spaghetti sauce, chili, etc...but all of those products contain gluten so I had to find an alternative. The Bistro Burgers worked well and were a bit heartier than the crumbles. For a bun, I used two donuts. This was inspired by Peculiar Fare's version with Krispy Kreme donuts. And like the Krispy Kreme version, this was delicious. It was the best Sloppy Joe sandwich I have ever had!
Afternoon snack time rolled around and another donut was in order. I bought frozen gluten-free Kinnikinnick donuts at Hy-Vee and based on the weight of the box, was guessing it contained 6 bricks instead of 6 donuts. I warmed my donut up in the microwave and had a scoop of the amazing Fleur de Sel ice cream with it. The ice cream was good, the donut was just okay. It was very dense and the vanilla frosting was very, very sweet. Unlike eating a fluffy, airy, donut, these donuts let you know you have eaten something. And they are the second Canadian-made donut I've tried. Canada seems to have better standards when it comes to restricted-content foods, like peanuts or gluten.
My original plan for dinner was to special order glazed, unfilled long john's at a local donut shop and then stuff them with a hamburger substitute, cabbage and onions, kind of like Bierocks but with a donut. Em suggested I try something similar but with roasted pears and brie. Since buying a store-bought donut was out, I had to find a gluten-free alternative and came across this recipe for Sufganiyot, a jelly-filled donut served during Hanukkah. I made the dough and it was a much more roll-able dough than the donuts I made in the morning. While letting the dough rest, I roasted the pears in the oven, sliced the brie and chopped up a few walnuts for a little added crunch.
These fried nicely and made a really yummy dinner. The recipe made enough dough for at least 16 so I only used half of it, freezing the rest for another day when I can try the more traditional Bierocks filling. I dusted the pear and brie donuts with a bit of sugar, but this was an otherwise relatively unsweet donut.
Even though I had to make a few changes to my plan for National Donut Day, it was still a success and I tried lots of new donuts that I would have otherwised overlooked. I learned a lot about gluten-free baking in one day and have so much more to learn. Hopefully I'll get a reprieve from the gluten-free diet soon, but if I don't, I know there are lots of donut options still available to me. Or I'll just tag along with everyone else and blog about their donut adventures!

2009-06-02T18:42:00.003-05:00

Friday is National Doughnut Day, the High Holy Day of the Donut Kingdom. Join me in celebrating, would ya? I'd love to hear how you plan to celebrate and read about your donut adventure.

Dunkin' Donuts is giving away one donut with the purchase of a beverage. Krispy Kreme is giving away one donut per customer, no purchase necessary. It seems the big donut conglomerates are passing on the charitable aspect of National Donut Day this year or at least aren't advertising it.

I've got a day full of donut goodness planned, some of it a bit atypical. While I don't want to give away the details, I am planning to include a donut in each meal...Yum!

Week #22, Donut King, KCMO

2009-05-31T10:19:00.005-05:00

Update 5/11: After 42 years in the funky purple shack, Donut King has relocated to a sparkly new strip mall. The original location is part of a road widening project. Donut King is now located at 2320 Armour Road in North Kansas City, MO. Read about the new location here.

This week's Donut Adventure was a visit to Donut King, located at 3913 North Chouteau Trafficway in Kansas City, MO. When I first heard of Donut King from a friend who grew up in the neighborhood, I was told to make sure I got there early, as they sell out. Donut King is now open 5 a.m. to 9 P.M. (that's right, 9 at night!) 7 days a week and makes donuts more than once a day, so sellouts are no longer a problem. I've been to Donut King a couple of other times, enjoying eggnog and chocolate mint donuts and was looking forward to visiting as one of my 52 Donut stops.

John joined me again this week (he's becoming quite the donut connoisseur!) and we left around 8 in the morning for the short drive to the Donut King. As we were approaching the interstate in our homogenized little 'burb, we noticed a panhandler and his dog at the top of the off ramp. John wondered where he had parked his car and commented that the dog was just a ploy to pull on people's heartstrings. I suppose we are both a little cynical. I did worry about the dog who looked to be just a pup and not yet skilled in the ways of panhandling, pulling on the leash and bouncing around as leggy puppies do, dangerously close to moving cars.

With no traffic on Sundays, the drive to Donut King took just a few minutes. There were several cars parked in front, so we parked next door at the Tattoo/Motorcycle Accessories store. Not only is the Donut King building itself colorful, so is the surrounding area. One can have a cocktail at a seedy tavern, get a lap dance, a tattoo, purchase a buy-here-pay-here used car AND get a great donut all within the same block!

Two fellas were sitting out front on the sidewalk on Donut King's only seating, two benches. They were dressed alike and as we got closer, I noticed they were Quiktrip employees. I asked why they were getting donuts at Donut King since they have their own donuts at work. If you've ever been to Donut King, the answer is obvious and their answer was no surprise--the donuts at DK are awesome!

We stepped inside the standing-room-only donut shop and were immediately confronted with a difficult decision. Donut King offers over 30 varieties of donuts everyday plus a special flavor each month. This month's flavor is peanut butter with a chocolate drizzle. John suggested we get a peanut butter donut and a jelly filled donut, alternating bites for the PB&J experience. Our decision was made more difficult by the "Buy 6 Get 6 Free" coupon we tore out of the local paper this week. We finally decided on six for us and asked the lady behind the counter to duplicate our choices in a second bag for our freebies. We got a peanut butter, a powdered sugar, a cinnamon sugar, an Oreo, a blueberry and a raised glazed donut.

Donut King's cake donuts are delicious and are very...well, cake-like. Sometimes cake donuts border on being like bread but the DK donuts are like eating a delicious baked cake. There is no greasy residue on the bag when you get it home. The peanut butter, blueberry, powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar were all atop a basic yellow cake donut. There were no blueberries or peanut butter in the batter, just in the glazes on top. The powdered sugar was oddly un-sweet. We both licked the sugar off of our parts of the donut and are still wondering where they get this un-sweet powdery stuff. The Oreo topping was on top of a chocolate cake donut, also very yummy with a nice rich chocolate flavor without being too sweet. The raised glazed donut was unremarkable, but that's okay because this place is all about the cake donut.

We stopped to talk a little more with the Quiktrip guys who were still hanging out on the front step. I asked if either of them had visited the Quiktrip commercial production facility where all of the donuts delivered to our local QTs are made. Neither had, but both had seen a video of the process and said it was like Krispy Kreme on steroids. Their comments have not quelled my desire to see a huge commercial production facility at some point in this year's donut journey.

It was time to head back home as a full day of work was ahead of both of us. We had that extra bag of 6 donuts and planned to drop it by Em and B's house on the way home. As we pulled off of the interstate, the panhandler and his dog were still there. I knew what I had to do, the donuts had to be shared. I pulled up to the red light, rolled down the window and told the toothless fella we had fresh donuts for him. His face lit up and he immediately opened the bag, peering inside at the sugary goodness. While he was checking out the donuts, I asked what his puppy's name was. He stammered, stuttered and finally managed to say, "Her name is Goofy." The first donut he pulled out of the bag was the cinnamon sugar. He broke it into two pieces and laid both of them on the ground for the dog. My heart is warm with donut love for the rest of the day.

Week #21, The Donut Whole, Wichita, KS

2009-05-26T17:25:00.017-05:00

This week's post is a pretty lengthy donut adventure. You've been warned. Go get a few donuts and a glass of milk, then settle in for a few moments of sugar-enriched reading...

A couple of months ago I heard about The Donut Whole, reportedly a super cool donut shop in Wichita, Kansas. I was immediately leary, assuming there wasn't much in the way of trend-setting food or hip donut stops in central Kansas. I might have also thought that about the people in Wichita. I was so wrong...

This trip required a little more pre-planning than most of my donut adventures, including calling ahead to speak with co-owner Michael Carmody to let him know we were coming. I am not in the habit of letting donut shop owners know I am coming for a couple of reasons. First, I don't want them to be uncomfortable or on edge with my visit. I'm not a food critic and I want to experience a donut shop as it is every single day. One donut shop owner spent our entire visit frantically cleaning when she found out I have a donut blog. I would have rather talked donuts than watch her clean. So sometimes I don't talk about my blog with the donut makers at all or if I do it is on my way out the door. The second reason is that I want to pay for my own donuts. I have been on the other side of that discomfort, being offered free donuts and then feeling like I couldn't say what I really thought about the donut experience. But this time I thought calling ahead was imperative, as I really wanted to talk with the folks at The Donut Whole to find out how a fun and funky donut shop could work in Wichita.

Last Thursday John and I hit the road in the ragtop for the 3+ hour drive to Wichita. There were few stops on the way, no time to waste, donuts were waiting! The weather was perfect, just a light jacket needed, and traffic was light. The GPS (whose name is Nigel) pointed us right to The Donut Whole, which was easy to spot with the giant rooster on the roof. We drove past for a quick check of the neighborhood and easily spotted several other fun stops--3 tattoo and piercing shops (donut tattoo anyone?), a bundt cake bakery, a candy store, a spice shop...My pre-conceived notions of Wichita were changing already and I hadn't even had a donut yet!

We parked and headed into the Donut Whole. The front area is full of seating options from booths to unique tables. There's a stage for live music (that's a first!) and one wall is covered with burlap coffee bags. The floor is covered with leopard print carpet. Are you starting to get that The Donut Whole is not your typical donut shop? In a booth, two guys in suits were having a discussion about the economy (both with laptops open), at another table a girl with vibrant purple highlights in her hair was talking on her cell phone, nearby three teenagers were talking about the difference between a job and a career. That last little bit of eavesdropping made it hard to not laugh out loud, as I'm still trying to figure that out myself. The vibe was more coffee house than donut shop. I was already thinking it would be great if more coffee houses offered good donuts to go with their java. Hmmm...

A hallway filled with local art separates the front area from a second room with the donuts. Before checking out the donut offerings, a quick stop to the bathrooms was in order--we had been in the car for a couple hundred miles. And yes, this is the first time I have written about the bathrooms at a donut shop. I am not promising it will be the last either. The bathroom walls were tagged by a local graffiti artist. There was no typical bathroom graffiti, but colorful, well-defined donut-themed tagging. I stopped just short of taking a photo in the bathroom and now wish I would have. You can find pics of the bathrooms over at Flyover People if you really need to have a peek.

Donuts were waiting...a bakery rack with too many choices was on display behind cases full of retro and unusual varieties of candy and chocolate, like a chocolate cherry chile bar. My apologies for the lack of details on the chocolate offerings. I was honed in on some of the most creative donuts I've seen yet! Rootbeer Float with a dusting of malt, S'mores, Cherry Cordial, Maple Bacon, Peanut Butter & Grape...We selected a dozen donuts to take home and a couple of donuts each to eat there with friends from Wichita who were meeting us. We noticed only two maple bacon donuts remained in the rack and tried to order them, only to be told they were being held for someone. Slightly bummed, but still excited to try all of the varieties--and there were many, even on a Thursday! John was ordering coffee brewed from locally roasted beans for both of us when I spotted Michael sitting nearby so I introduced myself and was pleasantly surprised to find out those two maple bacon donuts were being held for us. Calling ahead really had been a good thing this time! And I got to pay for them so all was well in my donut world.

We had a great time talking with Michael and briefly met co-owner Angela Etter. It was refreshing to talk with donut shop owners who enjoy what they are doing. The lack of enthusiasm may be my biggest gripe at chain donut shops. Michael shared that he started making donuts at home, using two burners on a stovetop and social networking to let folks know when donuts were available. Friends in California talk of finding their favorite taco trucks via Twitter and there is a tiny bit of that here in KC, but who knew this could be true of donuts in the Midwest?

I had a gazillion questions for Michael. He was great to answer all of them, not just with canned answers either. It wouldn't have been surprising to have a donut shop owner hesitate to answer my wacky questions, especially when I prod about things like product sourcing and the inspiration for donut flavors. I really wanted to know about the flavor combinations, specifically the Maple Bacon donut, since it is often talked about as a signature flavor of Voodoo Donuts in Portland. Michael readily admitted Voodoo was the inspiration of DW's version. While I haven't been to Voodoo yet, from photos alone I think DW has slightly improved on Voodoo's variety by using bacon crumbles instead of full strips.

And then came a major highlight of the trip...an offer to visit the inner sanctum of The Donut Whole. That's right, we got to see the Donut Robot. (It's kinda like this.) Donut making was done for the day but we still got an education on the making of cake donuts. I wanted to know why cake, not raised donuts, and the answer was an obvious one: labor and the time required to get a finished product. I might just start liking cake donuts a little more, even if they have more calories than raised donuts. I have a better understanding of the flavor possibilities and intricacies involved in a batter based donut now.

The Donut Whole has been offering vegan donuts on Tuesdays, now on Wednesdays, and I wanted to know if there was a large enough vegan following in Wichita to be worth making them once a week. Michael's response was brutally honest and I appreciate that. He mentioned some vegans can be a bit of a pain. Okay, so I'm cleaning that up a little...but I do understand how some angry misanthropic vegans make it difficult to cater to their needs with their complaints and self-rightousness. Please share a little veg love with these folks the next time you drop by for a vegan donut. The vegan line of discussion led to talk of gluten free donuts, which I have yet to see anywhere. Michael nearly made my head spin with talk of how gluten proteins gelatinize in hot oil, preventing excess oil absorption, so without gluten there's more oil, creating a greasy glob of something very non-donuty. Seriously, this guy is the Alton Brown of donuts.

After just enough donut talk to make us really hungry, we grabbed a table and tried to wait for our friends to arrive before indulging in the most perfectly sized cake donuts I have seen. I enjoyed a really good plain ol' coffee, you know, the kind with no fancy frothed milk or hazelnut triple caramel dulce de leche flavoring. The best part may have been the diner-style coffee cup which surprisingly did not jump into my purse, even if it does belong in my kitchen.

Right on time, Amanda, Dana and Julie walked in and we spent just a few minutes looking over the donuts we bought before they went to pick out theirs. John went to get more coffee for us (it really was good coffee) and spent a few more minutes talking with Michael about the history of the building. It has a long history of being a food service establishment, which is interesting, but I found the eclectic decor to be even more interesting and enjoyed a few minutes looking around by myself while everyone else ordered donuts and coffee. Remember those giant lions at the park that had water fountains in their mouthes? There's one of them inside DW. And a pinball machine, a scoreboard, a functioning jukebox, even a fallout sign.

Our friends joined us with a cleverly labeled box of donuts. What a great plan! There are so many flavors of donuts that it would be impossible to remember the name of each flavor. We tried several different flavors, splitting each donut into many different pieces so we could try more flavors. I really liked the Choco Crunch with Cocoa Pebbles and the Peanut Butter Grape. John was a bit hesitant about the Maple Bacon but ate the whole thing and said it was a pleasant surprise, although it did make sense to him as lots of bacon has a maple smoked flavor and some like pancakes, maple syrup and bacon together. My plan was to try 4 different flavors, 1/4 of each for my weekly two-donut allotment. I ended up trying an extra 1/4 of the original buttermilk. It was BY FAR the best basic cake donut I have ever tasted. This place isn't just about quirky unusual flavors but has a really good basic donut, too. No reason to feel guilty about eating these donuts either, as they are made with local flour and dairy products.

After eating plenty of donuts, drinking far too much coffee and talking about other fun things to do in Wichita, it was time for us to say goodbye to our friends and the Donut Whole. Another 3 hours of driving was ahead of us; the coffee and sugar buzz wouldn't last much longer. We snapped a couple more photos, said our goodbyes and made it a whole block down the road before stopping at Monica's Bundt Cakes. They have a hole in the middle, which makes them almost like a donut, right? While we were having donuts, Julie had suggested we stop at Monica's. It was a great recommendation and we had fun browsing the cakes, the bakeware and unusual baking ingredients for sale.

The plan was to leave then, but we ended up going a few more blocks further to the Nifty Nut House, one of Monica's recommendations. It's a huge warehouse full of nuts, candies, snack mixes and dried fruit. I spent more money on locally canned salsa and dried fruits than I did on donuts! Now I've got plenty of non-sugared, sulfur free dried pineapple to make raw vegan donut holes.

Since we had already strayed way off of our route, we decided to stop by the Sugar Sisters, a bakery recommended by our Wichita friends. Another great recommendation! These girls know how to show off a city! The Sugar Sisters offers four sizes of cupcakes from teeny tiny to a jumbo size that would be very share-able. The bakery case had 4 or 5 varieties of quiche on display but we were still too full from our two donuts to consider having lunch. We got a box of cupcakes to bring home for friends and finally decided it was time to head home. Or was it? That Dog 'n Shake across the street looked interesting! Oh, alright. Back to the interstate we go.

Before leaving for Wichita, our friend Mary told us to stop by Burns, Kansas and visit the Mennonite store for bulk spices. While looking for info on Burns, Kansas (population 278), I discovered portions of the movie Mars Attacks was filmed there. The donut shop in the movie was constructed in Burns, complete with a 26-foot diameter donut. A donut connection existed so we planned to drop by on the way home even if it was slightly off of the beaten path.

When we finally pulled into Burns, after driving 20 miles behind a tractor on a two-lane road, I spotted a fella watering petunias planted in huge Rubbermaid storage containers. I parked the car and chatted with him for a few minutes, asking about the roosters that seemed to be on every front porch in town. Roosters are their community art project and the Lions Club has installed a large one along the road. I guess if the Donut Whole can have a giant rooster on their roof, this tiny town should have them on every possible perch. He offered to show us the spot on the highway where the donut was blown up during the Mars Attacks filming, but we passed and instead headed into the Mennonite dry goods store to get Vietnamese cinnamon for Mary.

By now it was very hot, 85 degrees or so, and our sunscreen supply was running low. We drove a few more miles along a two lane road before finding the interstate again and heading back to KC, now toting a dozen donuts, a box of cupcakes, three mini bundt cakes, several tubs of cinnamon, a jar of salsa, six pounds of dried fruit, honey mustard pretzels and 4 flavors of Jelly Belly sport beans in the back seat.

Once back home, I called Em and invited her over for a donut buffet. In all of the day's excitement, I never managed to eat a meal and found myself with a serious calorie deficit. Darn! It looked like I would have to help Emily sample even more flavors of donuts to make sure I consumed enough calories for the day. Wouldn't want to let my body slip into starvation mode by consuming only 600 calories for an entire day. I think I managed to sample at least 12 different donut flavors from the Donut Whole and cannot pick a favorite. The Cherry Cordial was dreamy, sugared breakfast cereal on top of a donut adds a great crunch, malt on a root beer donut is yummy....well, you get the point. I ate donuts until I had no remaining calories left. It was so worth it.

This donut adventure was one of my favorites so far. Great company, amazing donuts and the realization that Wichita is a pretty cool town made for a fun day. Just last night someone told me Wichita has a hip new hot dog restaurant, complete with a veggie dog. Go on, twist my arm. I might just visit again...

The Donut Whole is located at 1720 E. Douglas in Wichita, Kansas.

Week #20, Gold-n-Glaze Donuts

2009-05-18T10:48:00.005-05:00

We hit the road early yesterday, driving about an hour north to visit Gold-N-Glaze Donuts & Coffee Shop in St. Joseph, MO. Friends in the area suggested we visit this locally-owned donut shop, one of those "there forever" kind of places. The recommendation was a good one!

We met our friend Bentley at the mid-way point of the drive and zipped up I-29 into St. Joseph. Gold-N-Glaze is located in the downtown area, an older area full of storefronts, some restored and some not, complete with signage from many years ago. It would be a great place to take lots of photos if you like old signage (I do). While driving through downtown, we noticed several old cars gathering in a park. Bonus--a car show!

We spotted the donut shop and parked along the street. It was obvious before we even entered, Gold-N-Glaze is the real deal. Old folks filled the tables inside and were checking us out before we even got out of the car. The storefront window is painted with the name, no fancy vinyl graphics, just traditional window painting. I haven't seen that at any donut shops lately. The inside is tiny and all of the old folks enjoying coffee and gossip continued checking out us newcomers as we ordered yet their conversation was uninterrupted. Someone's granddaughter had been in a car accident and legal driving age was being debated.

The donut selection was still great at 8:30 in the morning. I snagged a raised glazed donut, a cake donut with chocolate frosting and an apple fritter. John got a cream cheese cherry donut (the second cream cheese I've seen!), a pudding filled powdered sugar donut and a maple bar. I can't tell you what Bentley had, I was mid-sugar fix by the time he sat down with his donuts. The lady behind the counter poured two coffees for us and offered additional drinks to us, including milk that was in a gallon jug in the refrigerator behind the counter. If you are fussy about your coffee, this is not the coffee shop for you. There were not 16 varieties of artifical sweetener lining the counter, only one container of sugar and another of powdered creamer.

The donuts were good, not great but good. My raised glazed donut was cold, almost like it had been refrigerated. The apple fritter was good but not as crunchy as some. Still very tasty and for those that are not fond of big chunks of apples in their fritters, this is one to check out. The cake donut was good without being disgustingly sweet. John commented that everything he tried was not overly sweet, which we both like. We challenged John to eat his powdered sugar donut without licking his lips and he managed only two bites before giving in to the urge. The powdered sugar donut had yummy pudding filling and just enough powdered sugar to sweeten the deal. The maple bar was my favorite. Shaped sort of like a long john, only shorter, the maple bar was unfilled but frosted with just the right amount of frosting, which was delicious! I'd like another!

The cream cheese cherry donut was interesting. It looked like a raised glazed donut with the hole removed, then replaced to leave a small indention for the filling. Check the photos, as describing it is difficult.

We chatted for quite some time, finished the donuts and coffee and headed to the car show, which was a hot rod show. Then we took a spin on St. Joseph's beautiful parkway, some of the most picturesque twisty roads in the middle of a city I have ever seen. It was a fun end to a great donut adventure. The world somehow seems brighter today, just knowing authentic donut shops are still around, even if they take a little digging to find.

Gold-n-Glaze is located at 1825 Frederick Avenue in St. Joseph, MO.

Week #19, Market Pantry, Target

2009-05-12T12:18:00.005-05:00

Last week while at work I met a little guy, Daniel, who was celebrating his eighth birthday with his family. I asked him what exciting things he had done for his birthday and he said, "We had Canadian donuts!" My thoughts immediately turned to Tim Horton's, but further conversation revealed that wasn't it...

Daniel has an allergy to nuts and his family discovered that the Market Pantry donuts offered at Target are produced in a nut-free bakery in Canada. They had tried to determine if any of the U.S chains can guarantee a nut-free donut and have been unable to. I can only guess that cross-contamination is a huge issue in most bakeries. While I didn't hold out a lot of hope that imported, probably frozen donuts would be tasty, I knew I wanted to try these Canadian donuts!

I went to my local Super Target and found the shelf of Canadian donuts. While I'm not certain of the details, Daniel's family did say he eats the raised glazed donuts, not the cake ones because of an additional allergy. So I was after the raised glazed donuts (my favorite anyway) and their spot was empty on the shelf. I found a bakery staff member to help and she said they always have extras in the freezer. I quickly had 6 frozen, raised, glazed, nut-free Canadian donuts in hand AND they were on sale for $1.50. They are regularly $1.99, still a great price for 6 donuts, especially if they are good. These are by far the cheapest donuts I have sampled yet!

The frozen donuts had to sit at home for several hours to defrost while I went about celebrating Mother's Day. Early in the evening, I came home and popped open the box. I was immediately surprised at how soft, how fluffy and just slightly sticky with glaze they were. Not what I was expecting from donuts that can be purchased on a shelf and come packaged in a plastic clamshell container. I warmed one up in the microwave for a few seconds and dug in...WOW! I didn't expect an exceptional donut and was so surprised at what I was tasting. The donuts were absolutely delicious, almost as good as a warm Krispy Kreme! The only thing missing was a donut shop experience but the yummy donuts almost made up for it.

Big thanks to Daniel and his family for this donut tip. Now I know where to find tasty donuts close to home when I'm having a serious craving.

I hear rumblings over here at Donut Central that a donut roadtrip may be happening soon. Watch for a not-in-K.C. donut adventure soon!

Week #18, Houlihan's

2009-05-07T09:00:00.007-05:00

This week's Donut Adventure took me to Houlihan's for their Bedhead Brunch, which includes Italian donuts.

John and I met Em and B mid-morning and were a bit surprised at how empty the restaurant was. We don't eat at Houlihan's often, I think it was over a year ago the last time we were there. Apparently a lot of folks eat there as rarely as we do and only 4 or 5 tables were occupied.

We grabbed a table on the patio, which seemed like an indulgent treat considering how cold and wet it has been lately. There was a cool breeze but the sun was peeking through the clouds often enough to keep us comfortable. I'd like more days with similar weather!

After ordering entrees from the brunch menu, we ordered a dozen Italian donuts. The menu described them as nutmeg and cinnamon donuts sprinkled with powdered sugar, accompanied with a Kahlua fudge sauce and a white chocolate sauce.

The first thing I noticed when the dis-interested server brought them to our table was that there was no dusting of powdered sugar. I wasn't sure what the Americanized version of an Italian donut would be. I was expecting something like zeppole, which are made with a yeast dough. Instead, what was served was more like a sweet hushpuppy. John said they reminded him of the corn fritters served at our favorite Gulf Coast seafood shack. B thought they were a bit overcooked as the outside was flaking off from the inside. I'm still not sure if it was the outside of the dough that was flaking off or the super thick coating of cinnamon and sugar.

And then there were the sauces. The chocolate sauce had no Kahlua flavor to it, at least not that I could discern. The white chocolate sauce reminded us of many different things, from the ectoplasm in Ghostbusters to snot to something James Cameron used to slime characters in Alien. The sauces were not served with spoons, but dipping the donuts directly into the sauce proved disastrous. As I mentioned before, the outer crust was prone to flaking off. Dipping them into the sauce resulted in big chunks of crust being left in the sauce. We finally found a server to get spoons for us. After perhaps too much chatter about the sauces, the conversation turned to what defines a donut. B asked if anything rolled up into a ball and fried counts as a donut? It does at Houlihan's.

I would eat these again, but not to soothe a donut craving. They are more like a fritter or hushpuppy and the sauces were not much of an enhancement. I think they were best without the sauce. It was a super fun adventure with friends, plenty of great conversation and lots of laughs, a few related to the donuts. I hope to do it again with a change of donuts.

The Houlihan's visited on this donut adventure is located at 8660 Boardwalk Avenue, Kansas City, MO.