LaMars - Omaha Donut Shootout

I forgot to ask which Lamar's the Donut Shootout donuts were from, because I don't think I've seen one in Omaha. But there is one near where my dentist just moved to. Because that's convenient. Or a bad idea...
My husband and I have decided that LaMar's is very hit or miss, dependent on what time of day you get there or what day you go in general. At our first Donut Shootout stop, they had some Lamar's that weren't memorable, but at the second location I got this beauty. Yeah, I just called a donut a beauty. I've been doing this for too long.

Anyways, red velvet! It was delicious! Very moist and great frosting. It was my overall favorite for the shootout and I can't wait to see if I can find it in store. 5/5

North Dakota Outdoor Show

For my birthday this year, Hubby and I went to North Dakota. Because why not? Actually it was because neither of us had been there (four states left for me!) and they were having an outdoor show, something I've always wanted to go to. So we headed up for the weekend and I was blown away by the things campers have in them these days. I grew up with a 1988 Coleman Pop up that slept 6 of us and had no a/c and no bathroom, but plenty of opportunities for family bonding time in the basically one big room that it was.

This post is themed "things I didn't think they could put in RVs"

1. "Tile backsplashes" that were actually just stickers. So I guess not as shocking.

2. Stairs. In an RV??? Where do they lead?

3. A lofted bedroom for the kids of course. 2 bedrooms in an RV? Crazy!

4. Back to kitchens, here's a kitchen island! This kitchen is nicer than my apartment kitchen!

5. I thought the lofted bedroom was cool, but then we saw RVs that had second bedrooms on the main floor (main floor in an RV? Insanity)

6. This may be an older technology, but I'd never seen one. A central vacuuming system! How convenient.

7. Double sinks in a bathroom. This bathroom is totally bigger than my apartment bathroom. 

Man. You can go RVing and never leave your RV! I didn't take pictures of all the tv's, because they were all basically full of televisions at this point. I'm not saying I always want to be tent camping, but I don't think I could do any of these. One RV cost over $400,000. Maybe we can get a tiny trailer someday, like a teardrop. Or another Coleman pop up! :-)

Dunkin Donuts - Omaha Donut Shootout

What: Valentine's Day heart donut (chocolate frosted raised filled donut)
Where: Omaha Donut Shootout
When: Saturday, February 13th 2016


I've had Dunkin's plenty of times, and sometimes they're good and sometimes they're bad. I was excited to try the heart shaped one at the shootout because, obviously, it isn't available all the time. Also, it looked to be filled with a fudgier filling than most filled donuts. Or really just a chocolate filling when most filled donuts stick to vanilla or fruit flavors.

I definitely enjoyed it because I like Dunkin's chocolate frosting. I don't care too much for sprinkles, but they added to the look of the donut enough that I just dealt with them. I wish chocolate filled donuts were more popular, but it's always nice to get something different. I'd give it a 3.5/5.

Donut Shootout!

Omaha Food & Spirits Magazine put on their first Donut Shootout in Benson on February 13th. They modeled it after their Pizza Shootout, which I have sadly never been to. Better add that to my list. 

Tickets cost $5.50 and had to be bought in advance, so I sent my aunt to make sure they didn't sell out before I had a chance to get to Omaha. She and my other aunt decided they'd try some donuts with me so I didn't have to go it alone.

We went to the Waiting Room first and exchanged our tickets for wristbands. First time I got a wristband for donuts! There was quite the table set up at the back of more donuts than you can probably imagine all cut in half. I was thinking they would be quartered which would have encouraged more sampling and less waste. At the Waiting Room we had donuts from Petit's Pastries, Sunrise Donuts, Winchell's, Donut Stop, and Dunkin Donuts.

The crowds at The Waiting Room and Reverb Lounge weren't bad, but Krug Park was packed. The people manning the donut table said they got slammed at the beginning of the event because a lot of people thought they were the only location (the event was listed as being at Krug Park Bar but if you read the event page the other bars were mentioned). I was sad that we missed some yummy looking cherry donuts at Krug Park, but we had plenty of others to sample so I can't be too disappointed. At Krug Park, they had more donuts from Winchell's and Petits, and some from Harold's. The crowd at Reverb Lounge was more calm and they had donuts from Krispy Kreme and Sunrise Donuts.

I probably ate about 2 full donuts with all the samples I was trying, so look for reviews to come in the next couple of weeks of all the awesome donuts I tried!

Sandy's Donuts - a guest review

What: maple bavarian cream, butterfinger raised, chocolate frosted cake and cocoa puffs raised

Where: 300 Broadway, Fargo ND

When: Monday, March 7th, 2016

Maureen has wanted me to write a guest review ever since she started flirting with me and crashed Man Time with Tyler at Lamar's Donut Shop.  But I have been a bad husband.  So after being married for a year and five months, I thought it was time I write a review.  For Maureen's birthday, we traveled to Fargo, ND because neither of us had ever been to North Dakota.  We have a tradition for our vacations.  I always look for local doughnut shops and breweries for us to check out.  On this trip, we checked out Sandy's doughnuts.  There is a neat story behind the origin of Sandy's.  It's founder, Sandy, was laid off from his job in his mid-fifties.  He looked for a job but no one wanted to hire anyone that old.  Sandy had baked doughnuts as a child with his mother and he continued making them throughout his life.  Often, he would share his homemade doughnuts with his neighbors.  One of these neighbor's suggested he open a doughnut shop after he went months without finding a job.  And that is just what he did.  Sandy's opened its doors in 1983 and now has two locations in the Fargo area.  That is enough history.  Now it is time to rate Sandy's doughnuts.  Of all the doughnut shops we have been to, Sandy's may have the largest selection.  I wanted to try half a dozen but Maureen limited us to four.  By the end of the day, we ended up with a doughnut from Tim Horton's and a local grocery store so it was good she held me back at Sandy's.  The four we chose was a Dark Chocolate cake doughnut, a Maple frosted Creme-filled raised doughnut, a Butter Finger's candy bar raised doughnut, and a Vanilla frosted raised doughnut with Cocoa Puffs.  I really wanted to try the Maple Walnut Long John but Maureen is not fond of nuts on doughnuts and pastries.  My favorite doughnut was the Maple frosted one.  The frosting was very good and the creme was not overpowering.  If you can't tell, I don't always like creme-filled doughnuts.  The Dark Chocolate doughnut was a good standard doughnut.  I liked the frosting but it wasn't as good as the frosting at Randy's donuts in Lincoln.  The dough was a little dry but not too bad.  Maureen and I both agreed the doughnut with Cocoa Puffs was the worst.  Annoyingly, the Cocoa Puffs kept falling off and they didn't have much flavor.  At least the dough was fresh, but that could not make up for the average frosting and unsatisfying Cocoa Puffs.  The dough on the Butter Finger's doughnut was just right and you can't go wrong with Butter Finger's candy.  Amazingly, the Butter Finger's stayed on the doughnut better than the Cocao Puffs.  Unlike Maureen's, my reviews will always include information about the coffee.  Sandy's coffee was some of the best I have ever had at a doughnut shop.  They brew their own coffee which is always a plus.  They only had a Medium to Light roast, but it had a rich and full taste.  Describing flavors and tastes is not my forte.  But all you need to know is the coffee was very good.  Overall, I would give Sandy's a 7 out of 10.  It was no Randy's donuts or even as good as Lamar's.  Maureen doesn't like Lamar's but their doughnut's have a soft spot in my heart.  I liked the great selection at Sandy's and the fun marketing.  There were signs in the shop that said,  "Take time to stop and smell the doughnuts."  On their doughnut boxes, they had a caricature of a cave man pushing a doughnut.  Their slogan, "We didn't invent the doughnut, but we perfected it," is a good one and it is on all their boxes next to the picture of the cave man and the doughnut wheel.  As Maureen pointed out to me, it was nice that they had a lot of specialty doughnuts but they also had all the standards.  If I am in Fargo again, I would definitely go to Sandy's again.  It would take at least ten trips to try all their doughnuts.  Sandy's also delivers doughnuts to businesses in the area and allows you to order online,  That is another thing that sets them apart from most doughnut shops.  You have reached the end of my first review.  Hopefully, Maureen will want me to write another one.  I will try and be a better husband and write another review after our next trip takes us to another doughnut shop.

The Official Platte River Playlist

In 2008 my mom's side had a family reunion at Platte River State Park. It was our first reunion in quite some time and the first time my Dad brought out his guitar in almost as long. So we made an official play list and sent out CDs in the runup to the reunion so people had some time to "study up" on the songs that my dad would be playing. And just some of our favorite camp fire singalongs.

Onto the playlist:

1. Blow Up Your TV (John Denver)

2. North to Alaska (Johnny Horton)

3. Take Me Home Country Roads (John Denver)

4. Homeward Bound (Simon & Garfunkel)

5. Teach Your Children (unknown?)

6. Sloop John B (The Beach Boys)

7. Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald (Gordon Lightfoot)

8. This Land is Your Land (Peter, Paul and Mary)

9. City of New Orleans (Arlo Guthrie)

10. Blowin' in the Wind (Peter, Paul and Mary)

11. Thank God I'm a Country Boy (John Denver)

12. The Boxer (Simon and Garfunkel)

13. Puff the Magic Dragon (Peter, Paul and Mary)

14. Battle of New Orleanes (Johnny Horton)

15. Mrs. Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel)

16. Taxi (Harry Chapin)

17.  King of the Road (Roger Miller)

18. Leaving on a Jetplane (Peter, Paul and Mary)

19. Grandma's Feather Bed (John Denver)

20. Red Rubber Ball (Cyrkle)

Tim Horton's

What: Canadian Maple (think Boston Cream but with maple frosting)

Where: Fargo, ND

When: Monday, March 7th, 2016

We decided to go to Fargo for my birthday this year because why not. Plus it was state number 46 for me, only four left! (Montana, West Virginia, Hawaii and Alaska, in case you were wondering. I forgot how close North Dakota was to Canada and was completely surprised to see a Tim Horton's there. Then I remembered we were maybe two hours from the Canadian border, if that.

Obviously we stopped because, as I told my sister, you gotta review the good with the bad. I'm not saying Tim Horton's is bad by any means, I liken it to the Dunkin Donuts of Canada. But this was one in a gas station, so it probably wasn't the best Tim Hortons.

Anyways, the Canadian Maple was perfect, as I remember it from the chance   encounters I had with it in Boston. I wish more places had maple in general, but especially filled maples. 5/5

Birthday donuts!

Making Donuts, Part 4. Filled Donuts!

For my last donut making experience before giving up donuts for Lent, I wanted to make Boston Creme donuts in the shape of footballs for the big football game in February. So I went back to my aunt's house to mess up her kitchen :-)

Made a batch of the raised dough that I've come to love and cut them into the shapes of footballs with a cookie cutter. Obviously no holes in the middle. The heart shaped donuts in the back were made with some frozen dough as a test to see if you could freeze half the dough for making later (you can!). I'm still always so scared that they won't rise. But they always do, so I should calm down about that.

Once they were all fried and cooled, it was time to figure out the filling. For my first try with filled donuts I used instant pudding. I would not recommend using instant pudding to anyone else. I felt that the donut dough absorbed too much of the pudding and got soggy. I also did not have access to a filling tip for frosting bags, we had to improvise. We tried a couple different tips and it was hard. You have to be careful not to schmoosh the donut while getting the tip through the outside of the donut. Then you have to fill it and go by weight on when it is done being filled. Some got a little too full and some barely got any in. It was the hardest thing I've done while baking in awhile. There was also a lot of laughing, so maybe that was getting in the way.

After they were all filled it was time to frost them. I used my Mom's patented (ok, not really, but it's a family favorite) fudge frosting recipe. It's super easy to remember because it's 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4. 1/2 c butter, 1/3 c milk, 1/4 c cocoa. Cook on the stove till it just starts to boil, cool and add powdered sugar until it is a good frosting consistency (about a pound and a half). Frosted all the footballs and hearts and laid them out to set. Then used some cheap tube frosting made for writing on cakes and such to draw the laces on. The laces really were key in making them look like footballs.

Some of the hearts got some sugar crystal sprinkles and I really ended up liking how those tasted with the frosting. I did not try filling them, so I ended up liking the hearts better than the filled footballs. I'd like to try a jelly filling next, maybe lemon.

Making Donuts Parts 1, 2, 3