Where have all the good donuts gone?

I am a self proclaimed donut connoisseur. I remember when donut shops were everywhere, and eating them for breakfast wasn't considered a mortal sin. There was Mr. Donut with the best chocolate cake donuts that had just a tad of a coffee taste -- they were "mocha" before we even knew "mocha"-- and they were dipped in glaze.

These shops were teeny tiny and people sat at a counter on stools and ate the freshly coiffed delicacies while they drank coffee, kept warm in glass pots on a burner. They didn't serve anything else: donuts, coffee, milk in mini cartons and orange juice -- that was it.

I remember a local shop, Dippy Donut. They had a great sign on the wall in the shape of a donut with a mirror where the hole should be. Around the donut was painted, "The object of a life should be to keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole." Their donuts were bigger than Mr. Donut, and they had a cherry cake donut, like no other -- that's cherry dough, mind you, not just a white cake donut with cherry frosting.

And then, of course, there were bakeries, actual bakeries that made their own baked goods (and fried goods in the case of donuts). You could walk in and order a "home-cut", and they knew what you were talking about. That's the kind my dad would always get: homecut. I used to think, "That must be a grown up thing to do. When I am grown up I'll understand the logic of ordering a completely plain donut, but for right now I'm going to go ahead and do the childish thing and order mine complete with frosting and sprinkles." I love the fact that my dad ordered homecut donuts and would drink coffee from a thermos when we went on weekend drives in our Volkswagen camper. I love the fact that we had a Volkswagen camper, but that is another post entirely.

Now, as I have "matured", I've never had a hankering for a homecut, but I have craved a maple frosted with peanuts -- a variety reserved for the much older generation a bakery employee once told me: "We only make a few of those these days. Most of the people that like that kind are dying off."

Dying off like the penchant for donuts in general, I would suppose. Well, I am happy to say that I have passed on the donut gene to my son. He loves his donuts! Sometimes even before his mommy can get him fully dressed in the morning. . .

Fried Dough Live On!