Donut Baby!!

As if there wasn't already enough reason to celebrate with the coming 4th of July holiday, I was greeted this morning by a text from our loyal follower Brett Lindholm exclaiming "It's a Boy!" Ethan James Lindholm bounded into the world this morning to proud parents, and loyal donut hunters, Brett and Corey Lindholm. Let's congratulate the proud parents and welcome a new donut hunter to the world!

And for more people who compare the newborns to donuts, as you know I would do, please visit:

Mommy Miracles - the story and video are just too much to pass up!

Congratulations!!!

Did you ever wish you could throw a donut at a cop?

The Tuesday Nut

If you count yourself among those people who have ever wanted to throw a donut at a cop, or just slip a nice fat Jelly Donut under your license when you hand it out the window, you can now join your brother and sisters on the fan page. " I wish I could Throw a Donut at a Cop". And, as I have to defend myself in traffic court on a hefty fine very soon, I think I may do just that.

Do you want to throw a donut at a Cop? If so, we want to hear about it.

Donut games on Friday, bake, sell, and stack!

Friday is one of those days that more than any makes you wish the next day would be Saturday. Why, well, because it is. And, just like my ability to resist eating a dozen donuts, unless they are right in front of me of course; it's that much harder to focus on the tasks at hand while at work because Saturday is right in front of me.

That being the case, and knowing that the majority of working American and the world at large will likely be in agreement, I did some hunting and came up with a few good donut distractions to help get you through.

1) Digby's Donuts - Brought to us by http://www.gamefools.com/ - is a fast paced and exciting form of Donut Tetris which is sure to give you a mindless break for several minutes. Help Digby, stack and sell as he bakes his donuts faster and faster to keep up with customer demand. The graphics are simple and fun and the sound effects give you a sense that there is some real weight behind these rings; I'm hungry now. Watch out for the burned donuts,  make sure they hit the trash or Digby will give you what for!

2) Donuts Donuts, from the free game genius of http://www.mindjolt.com/ , Donuts Donuts pits you against a board of several varieties and tests your skills in a game of Tetris meets Connect Four ; or connect 3 in this case. Once you figure out the mouse maneuvers, line them up until you can't line them up anymore.

See what your best score is!!

The Birth of the Donut

Our astute follower, Brett Lindholm, was on his game yesterday sending the donut man a text to remind us all that on June 22nd, 1847 the donut was officially born! Thank you Brett. But let's delve a bit deeper into what the story surrounding 6/22/1847 was really supposed to be the birth of; the "donut hole".

The story goes: "the invention of the modern doughnut is credited to a sailor from Maine, a Dutchman named Hanson Gregory. His mother, Elizabeth, was known to make a good olykoek, or "oily cake." She made some for him to take on one of his voyages, and she also sent along a recipe, so his cook could make some more. These cakes didn't have holes in them, however. One story says that the sea captain invented the donut by impaling one of the cakes on the ship's steering wheel, to keep his hands free in a sudden storm, on June 22, 1847. The spoke drove a hole through the wheel, naturally. Gregory discovered that he liked the cake better with a hole in the middle and ordered his cook to make them that way for the rest of the voyage."

Therefore June 22, 1847, would officially be the birth of the "donut hole" rather than the donut itself, and there is still considerable debate surrounding it.

A second version of the story states that "that Elizabeth Gregory made those olykoeks originally of two things—dough and nuts. That's how it got the name, at least in English. The dough was circular, and a nut was in the middle. The dough cooked around the nut; it wasn't like the nut was just stuck in a hole in the middle. So, the story goes, that Hanson Gregory, Elizabeth's son, requested that the nuts be taken out of them."

But of course many a baker will tell you that, a donut or doughnut, without anything in the middle, tends to cook faster and more evenly. So regardless of who put that hole in the donut, rest assured it's a good thing :)

A day in the life of a doughnut

The Monday Nut

Today is a great day in Boston! Coming off the first Stanley Cup in almost 40 years, the Bruins parade that followed, and the fact that it's sunny and 70 degrees - what more could you want then Jack Johnson and some donuts!??

With that, I give you a Day in the Life of a Doughnut. Enjoy :)

The Donut Dip 54 years, 3 generations and delicious donuts!!

Wednesday Nut

Angela Carbone, of The Republican, said it best when writing of the 50 year history of the Dip in 2008. "They could shoot "Happy Days" here, and about the only things they'd need to change are the price of the doughnuts and the latte machine." It's good to know some things never change.

Located at  1305 Riverdale St, West Springfield, MA, the Donut Dip was opened in 1957 by Charles Sheridan after losing his job as a GM Hathaway Bakers due to a general strike. Needing to provide for his growing family Charles hired one of the Hathaway bakers and more than half a century later the Donut Dip is on the 3rd generation and still turning out some of the best donuts in New England.

I have visited the Donut Dip several times in the past and, as I regularly map out trips in reference to donut shops, last Friday I was fortunate enough to have a reason to go back. Having met the new owner of a classic motorcycle I was delivering in the parking lot, I headed inside for a coffee and donut. I was fortunate enough to be greeted by the wide smiles of Kathleen and Kate, who were diligently stocking the racks for the Friday night rush. Having a 10+ year history with the Donut Dip, Kathleen was only too happy to swap donut stories and introduce me to the baker, Rich, who was busy glazing fresh cherry cake glazed..yum. Rich, also a 10+ year veteran of the Donut Dip, is surprisingly the freshman baker of the crew. He gave me a breif tour of the kitchen, showing the Dutchess cutter which can cut 30+ yeast donuts at a time, the proofing cabinets, fry tanks and cooling racks. "We still do it all by hand!", exclaimed Kathleen as I looked around wide-eyed. As if I needed additional proof, she handed me one of the fresh sour cream cake donuts, which the Dip is famous for, "See if you've every had anything like this"...delicious; light and moist inside, crisp outside with now grease- perfect!

If you're in West Springfield, make a few minutes and find the Donut Dip, where past meets present and taste is everything. I'll see you next spring for some Hot Crossed!

http://www.masslive.com/news/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-3/120159515954430.xml&coll=1

How to Make Vegan Donut Holes

The Monday Nut

On Friday I was given some very unfortunate news from my Dr., a list of foods to which I could be sensitive and those that should be avoided as they could potentially cause irritation aggravating the arthritis in my spine. No, "donuts" were not specifically on the list, but many of the ingredients that comprise donuts are; needless to say I was devastated. "Does this mean my donut eating days are  numbered?" I thought as I contemplated the palate of bland, tasteless foods, which were listed as "ok to consume" ? The last straw was seeing coffee highlighted with a (3), the number designating that unholy zone of "maximum irritation"- noooo! Not only were my beloved donuts about to be taken from my daily consumption, but along with them the light brown swimming pool I so often bath them in. I quickly became depressed and sank so low that I reached the very depths of  donut despair. The great thing about going to the farthest depths of despair very quickly is that you soon reach the bottom, after which the only way to look is up :)!!

Upon looking up, I was greeted by Ani Phyo, and her recipe for none other than Vegan Donut Holes; proving there is a God and he likes donuts. Ani's recipies revolve around a raw food diet and are always vegetarian vegan, using only whole fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. If you can make a Vegan Donut hole surely you can make a Vegan donut; it turns out many people have.

Though I'm not cutting out the traditional donuts, sorry Dr., I'll be on the lookout in the coming months for alternative donut recipes and the healthiest donut options available. Please send in your favorites and I'll conitnue to provide updates on mine.

Thanks Ani!!

http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/117372/how_to_make_vegan_donut_holes.html?cat=22

National Donut Day is here - Free Donuts for all!!

Happy National Donut Day! Though the intent of the directory is not to necessarily to bolster national chains, we will never neglect to highlight what those chains do for the donut masses: namely give away free donuts today :) Head down to your local participating Dunkin Donuts or Kirspy Kreme to get your hands on one.

But let's not forget the humble beginnings of Donut Day among the free goodies. The Huffington Post always has a great write-up this time of year and today was no exception.

"This holiday actually traces its roots all the way back to 1938, when the Salvation Army declared the first Friday of every June to be National Donut Day, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. It was originally intended to help the needy during the Great Depression."

In fact, they went way over the top with a Dollars to Donuts breakdown of donut sales by region, varieties, and annual comp sales. It looks like 2010-2011 was a stellar year. And while the size of the hole in the donut is often linked to economic prosperity, one thing is for certain, no matter what mood your in or how fat your wallet is there's nothing like a donut to make the day better!!

Visit the Huffington Post for the full articles with contributions from my good friend Sally Levitt Steinberg, author of The Donut Book

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/02/national-donut-day-2011-dunkin-donuts_n_870514.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/03/national-donut-day-2011_n_870719.html

In Defense of a Daily Donut..YAHOO!

When Men's health isn't making men throughout the world feel the ache of painful inadequacy in comparison to the perfectly sculpted abs of its cover models, they are providing reasons-o-plenty that we should feel great about not having the perfectly sculpted abs of their cover models; for that we love them and will continue to dream of being rock solid while double-fisting donuts and beer.

Thankfully, Yahoo Health and MH Reporter Kiera Aaron, has given us permission to continue to pursue these delicious delusions while giving both our appetites and egos reasons to celebrate: In Defense of a Daily Donut. The article touched a very personal note for Donut Man as I was recently told by a rheumatologist that I should go on an anti-inflammatory diet to help ease the arthritis in my spine. But, thanks to Kiera and her commitment to subverting the "all-or-nothing relationships with forbidden foods", I'm going to sooth my spine with some Boston cream.

"When is Restriction Bad? “Denying yourself a full food group or even one specific food will make it more desirable,” says Sondra Kronberg, M.S., R.D., NEDA spokesperson, and director of the Eating Disorder Treatment Collaborative. “You’ll want it even more because it’s forbidden—and your body will physically crave it if you’re depriving yourself of a given nutrient.”

We can see in Kiera's has been able to find supporting evidence that donuts are in fact a "nutrient" that, once a body has become accustom to should not be completely denied less we face dire consequences; such as wanting more donuts. So remember, moderation is the key, that and finding a professional who will agree that we need to keep eating donuts for the sake of mental stability. Eat your donuts, do your crunches, and if you can't make the cover of Men's Health, well, sit down on the stool with the rest of us and order another jelly. Life is sweet!