Meanwhile.... Pt. 2

[mrc1214]

I like Dunkin Donuts but it depends on which one. Some are better than others. The chocolate donut is by far my favorite. They're everywhere here we have 4 in my town. Best donuts in my area are from the bakery but you have to get there really early they sell out fast.

[zryson]

That brings back memories because many years ago I chatted with a collector who specialized in rare and hard to find vintage prints and he sent me a catalogue (which I still have in a folder) and it listed all these foreign movies that had superheroes like Batman and Superman but not the more recognizable ones we all know and love. There was even a Jaws rip-off and other sci-fi ones. It made for fascinating reading at the time.

[dan bailey]

I attempted some repairs around the house earlier and well, it didn't go too well. Growing up without a Dad, I didn't really learn a lot of things boys do. So when it comes to using tools and other machinery its all a bit bewildering. Very hit and miss.

That's my (ir)rationale as well.

[dan bailey]

MHere, you can get Krispy Kreme in just about every grocery store and Speedway (gas chain/convenience store),

Krispy Kremes that haven't just come off the conveyor belt might as well not exist.

[zryson]

I sometimes wonder how my life would have turned out if my Dad had been around but its also a odd feeling sometimes because I see people out with their Dad and they look so happy. The Dad so attentive and I think it must be nice. But its like the road never traveled or looking into another world that never existed. It might be interesting to imagine the what ifs but it can do your head in too if you imagine it too much.

[zryson]

Speaking of food, anybody have a big Xmas dinner this year? My best friend goes home every year to spend it with his family and they have a good meal each time. Sometimes its turkey or chicken with lots of vegetables. Other times its seafood with lobster and prawns, etc. My Xmas dinner is very modest by comparison. Its just on a small plate with some salads and maybe a tiny bit of meat (usually ham or chicken). There's no Xmas tree or lights or anything like that either. Hasn't been in a long time. I sometimes like seeing the lights people do on the lawns though but I've noticed in recent years fewer people seem to be doing that.

[Slam_Bradley]

The small Arkansas town where I went to college, Magnolia, is the home of what appears to be one of the last few remaining examples of what a bit of research has informed me used to be a fairly widespread chain of donut places -- Spudnuts. The name comes from the fact that they use potato-based flour. I never tried them while I lived there, for some reason, but the last couple of times I was there in December while they were open (I guess it's family owned, & as often as not they've taken the weekend in question off, & for that matter I don't think they're open Sundays, anyway) I availed myself of their fare. Pretty darned good -- I guess because of the flour content, the donuts, cinnamon rolls, etc. are a bit more substantial than most place's offerings.

Dunno how they perform commercially, but they've been there forever, so I suppose sales are satisfactory. In a town of 10,000 or so, plus around 3,000 college students (when I was there it was more like 1,800), they don't have any competition, though once upon a time there was a pretty darned good Southern Maid place a couple of blocks from campus (whereas Spudnuts is maybe 4 miles away, in what passes for Magnolia's business district).

Last I looked, there was one in the next county seat over, too. Sometimes, I guess, Arkansans are slow to give up on a good thing.

The original franchise started in Salt Lake City. They were all over, particularly in the Northwest in the 40s and 50s. There are a few left (around 60 or so). The parent company is long-since defunct, so they all have their own recipes now.

[Slam_Bradley]

Krispy Kremes that haven't just come off the conveyor belt might as well not exist.

This. There's about a 45 second window where Krispy Kremes are good. Beyond that you'd have to pay me to eat them.

[Scott Harris]

This. There's about a 45 second window where Krispy Kremes are good. Beyond that you'd have to pay me to eat them.

I think this is why they ultimately failed here in New England. They congeal pretty much instantly. Dunkin Donuts, on the other hand, you can eat the next day if you feel like it. Sure, they are better fresh, but they don't turn into a ball of lard overnight.

[dan bailey]

I sometimes wonder how my life would have turned out if my Dad had been around

As do I every now & then. Then again, one of us (my dad & me, that is -- not you & me) probably would've killed the other ... I'm told he was over on the John Birch Society end of the political spectrum, pretty much the opposite of how I turned out. Though whether I'd have ended up on the far left if I'd had anything like a (lack of) home life not straight outta Yoknapatawpha County (a scenario in which my very troubled father's ongoing absence, both before & after death, certainly played a crucial part), who knows?

[zryson]

I think its a very human thing to do to imagine the what if's if life had gone another way. When I think of absent Dads, the story and life of Eva Hart comes to mind. She was just a girl when she and her parents boarded The Titanic. Her Mother had bad feelings about the ship so she slept during the day and stayed awake during the night by reading or knitting. Eva remembered exploring the ship with her Father, and tragically he was one of the some 1500+ who died that awful night. Later she remembered looking at the house where she and her parents were to live and it reminded her of the road not travelled. Looking at a life that never was.

[Jolly Mon]

When Krispy Kreme expanded to the northeast,they opened a store here in Manhattan on my block. It was my habit to get a table in the back, have my coffee and creme-filled donuts, and watch the freshly baked donuts travel via conveyer belt to be glazed,doused in chocalate or injected with custard. Sorry to see it close up. At least that location is now a Chipolte Mexican Grill. And you watch them make your meal via an assembly line.

We were without donut shops for many years, here in the wilds outside of Milwaukee. Life was bleak, though healthier. Dunkin Donuts hadn't been seen outside of Milwaukee proper for years. Then nearby Brookfield got a Krispy Kreme. And life brightened briefly, for donuts had returned and could be had hot & free when the magical light glowed out front. They weren't as good as Dunkin Donuts, but at least they were donuts. But after a couple of years, they closed and their building was taken over by a mattress store. I sometimes wonder if it still smells like donuts. But at last, Dunkin Donuts has returned, and donut worshippers line up every morning for their devotionals. And their smoked sausage breakfast sandwich is tasty too.

[dan bailey]

How are the banana-flavored donuts?

Heavenly, I'm sure.

[Slam_Bradley]

We were without donut shops for many years, here in the wilds outside of Milwaukee. Life was bleak, though healthier.

This makes me wonder...do they not have in-store bakeries at any of the grocery stores thereabouts? Because most of the grocery stores here have bakeries and do donuts. Now, most of them aren't that great, but one of the locally owned stores has really good donuts from their bakery.

[Ish Kabbible]

Some Dunkin Donut locations converted to Tim Hortons in NYC a few years ago. I never understood that change