Saturday, January 10, 2009

Searching For A Good Donut

I do hate to complain, but is there anybody out there who can make a decent donut? We used to have an excellent bakery here, "Harold's". Harold made the best donuts that I have ever tasted. Everybody stopped by Harold's for donuts on the way towork at one time or another during the week. Harold's donuts were big, they were airy, they were lightly glazed. In short, they were perfect.

Harold excelled in other areas, too. His cookies were delicious, his cakes sublime. Little children felt deprived if they didn't get a birthday cake from Harold's. Brides didn't feel properly married if their wedding cakes weren't made by Harold. And, speaking of cookies, Harold had a cookie for each holiday. At Thanksgiving, his cookies were shaped like turkeys, etc., with icing piped on. At Christmas, they were trees and Santa Clauses. At Easter, he produced bunnies. Well, you get the idea.

Alas, the day came when Harold decided to hang up his apron and retire. And, when he went, he just closed the door and went, taking his donut recipes with him. Since then, our town has been bereft, wandering from place to place, unable to find donuts that come close to meeting Harold's standards. And, nobody makes the holiday cookies any more, either. Bummer!

The closest Krispy Kreme is in Branson, but they do make daily deliveries to the grocery stores here. They are pretty good donuts, but they're at their best when they are fresh off the line, hot and dripping with glaze, but we don't experience that. When we get them, they're cold. They're small. They're over-glazed. They're under-filled. Their chocolate tastes funny. Did I mention that they're SMALL? And, if we buy them in the afternoon, to have with our coffee the next morning, they're stale. Bleh.

Walmart's donuts are ok. I guess. But, they only make a limited number of them per day, and when they're gone, they're gone until the next morning. If you can't get there before eight a.m., you might as well stay home and have cereal. And, what's with that glaze ?

It has been several years since Harold's closed, and we still grieve. But, eventually, we'll have to let go. Harold is not coming back, and neither are his donuts. So, we bid a fond farewell and continue our search for the perfect donut. Maybe in time, our memories will fade, and Walmart's donuts will get better and we'll get a Krispy Kreme, and we'll be able to appreciate what we have. Until that day comes, though, we'll make do.

Why? Because, even an inferior donut is better than no donut with the morning coffee.

8 comments:

kenju said...

I've seldom met a bad doughnut! But you are right about hot, fresh Krispy Kremes. We have a shop here in Raleigh that predates my moving here (1969). They light up their sign when the hot doughnuts are coming out and if you are lucky enough to get some of those, you're in heaven! But since I am supposed to stay away from sweets now, we never get them anymore. Bah.

Kay Dennison said...

The best doughnut shop in town is a mere six blocks from my house. It's been there since 1947. They make the best maple cream sticks in the world.

They have grown from a "mom & pop" business into 200 locations -- mostly in NE Ohio.

The good news is that they have maintained their quality over the years.

The thought of them elicits a Pavlovian response and if there weren't a freakin' blizzard outside, I'd be jumping in Miss Ruby and dashing down there for a "fix".

Darlene said...

My mom used to make the best donuts. They must have had at least a million calories per donut being fried in all that grease, but they were pure heaven when still hot.

I only buy French donuts now, if at all. We have a Krispy Kreme in Tucson, but it's not anywhere near me and I have never tasted one. Guess I still have some living to do.

Margie's Musings said...

I have had to give up donuts so I don't gain any more weight. I weigh 140 and that the top weight for someone 5 4".

Bob has diabetes so that was the final blow to our donut eating.

When I was young, I worked part time for a Daylight Donut place and Briley made the world's best donuts. For some reason, people in their 30's don't gain weight as easily as those in their 70's. He used to give me all the leftover donuts at the end of the day and I froze them and warmed them up Wednesday nights after prayer meeting and invited friends over for cocoa and donuts.

Cazzie!!! said...

My Grandma used to make lovely cinnamon donuts, and you could smell them from down the street they were so yumm! I want one now, ,lol.

Karen said...

I think you need to move to a place where they have better donuts.

Peggy said...

Once you've had donutty perfection, the rest leave you rather indifferent, don't hey?

Perhaps Jay could learn the trade?

Joy Des Jardins said...

I LOVE DONUTS!!! I don't know if they're my favorite vice....I have so many to pick from. We have a Dunkin Donuts just a few short blocks from me...RATS! It's way too inviting. Thank God I don't have a Krispy Kreme's close by...DISASTER! I can see why you feel so badly losing Harold's. Being a 'sweets lover' all my life, my built-in radar notices all the bakery signs I drive by. A really good bakery is hard to come by.