I guess I better mention Krispy Kreme at some point

Before a review, a story.

I got a text from my mother a couple of months ago, mid May I believe, that saddened me. She informed me that the Russel Stover Outlet in South Carolina that we often stopped at on road trips between Florida and the Northeast would be closing.

This was big news for our family.

I can't remember the last road trip I took with my mom were we DIDN'T stop at a Russel Stover store. At most major events, we had boxes of chocolates to share with relatives. Camping at Platte River State Park for my aunts' 40th and 50th birthdays? Giggling like 10 year olds with my aunts and cousins and throwing candy around the cabin while wearing the Russel Stover hats. Hanging out in the hotel after my brother's wedding in 2010? Eating chocolates and playing rummy. Heading into Omaha last October for my great aunt and uncle's 60th wedding anniversary? Gotta stop outside Kansas City for chocolates! BLT's can wait!

I know this is a donut blog, but I have to sometimes try to explain my insane family. And besides the Russel Stover obsession, we may have had a Krispy Kreme obsession. Not as hard core as RS, but it was there.

My parents, sister and I once took an impromptu road trip to South Carolina from Florida to try to see my bother while he was on tour with his band. This was in the age before cell phones and we had no way of contacting him to make sure they were still playing there (or even where they were playing) and to let him know we'd be there. You can probably guess how this ended, us hanging out in an internet cafe trying to find someone online who knew anything about the tour and then returning to the hotel defeated that we never found him. Turns out the show got cancelled and they weren't even in town that night.

But! The trip was not a total waste, because of course there was a Krispy Kreme practically across the street from our hotel to stop at in the morning. There is a Krispy Kreme in the greater Orlando area, but it's in Winter Park and we don't make it out there all that often. So it became a thing for a couple of years that any road trip we took had to include at least one Russel Stover stop and one Krispy Kreme stop. Sometimes we stopped at the same Krispy Kreme (NW corner of DC on the outer loop, open 24 hrs). Sometimes we had to call someone at a computer to find one for us (neither my parents nor I have a smart phone. The two oldest siblings have graduated to smart phones, but my next oldest sister and I are still holding out. For who knows what, but we're holding out!)

We still stop at a Krispy Kreme if we see one on our travels, but we haven't made any last minute calls for people to help us find one. You just can't ignore the "Hot Donuts" sign when you're on the road.

Hy-Vee Donuts

Where: 6001 Village Dr, Lincoln
What: Maple cake donut
When: Wednesday, July 24th, 2013

Hy-Vee is a huge grocery store chain in the midwest out of Iowa. There prices aren't as good as Super Saver's, but there selection is better. And they have a gas rewards program where certain items earn you 1-10 cents off per gallon of gas. You guys know I'm all about that (but I won't buy a product just to save on gas, I'm not that crazy. I have to actually need/want it). This week is bags of lettuce which is AWESOME because I've been eating lots of salads for lunch.

Oh yeah, the donut review. Sorry. I've had Hy-Vee donuts before, probably about 5 years ago in Omaha. But not the cake ones. So this one was my first maple cake from Hy-Vee.

There was a lot of frosting on the donut, filling the center hole, and the donut was dense but still moist. It was 89 cents and I'd say a 3/5. Nothing to write home about and not worth making a special trip for but probably good for office breakfast meetings.

Oh how I love the Onion...

Not-That-Important Employee Snatches Best Donut in Box

Best part: "Several employees told reporters that they were incensed at Schuler’s transgressive act, repeatedly noting that the “top-tier” donuts should be exclusively reserved for managers and the other more valuable members of the team."

I would like to know what the "top-tier" donuts would be. Can we make a list? Three best donut types. Everyone go! I'll post mine tomorrow, with a new review.

Also, ways to avoid this office blunder:
1. Make sure to get multiple maple cake donuts if you are the supplier.
2. Cut donuts in half! The frozen yogurt place I went to tonight had dividers for your cups so you could separate different flavors. Everyone loves to mix it up!
3. If you are the newbie, wait until only three donuts remain and then take whatever you want from those three. If people still complain, at that point it's their own fault for being so slow!

Family Reunion Food

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I'm in the middle of a move and the wireless at the new apartment is not the best...so I may be MIA for awhile...
But I thought I'd list all the food we had this past weekend! Because I like lists and food, obviously.

Friday:
LaCasa's pizza (hamburger & plain)
Salad
Chips
Chocolate Hy-Vee Cake that said "Halpenny Cuz Normal is Boring"
Vanilla Hy-Vee Cake that said "Halpenny When You Want the Very Best"
Mudslide Cake
Gluten Free brownies
Snickerdoodles
Chocolate chip cookies
Beer/wine/buzz balls/pop/water

Sunday:
Fried chicken
Ribs
Potato salad
Coleslaw
Chips
Baked beans with whole strips of bacon on top
Carrot/raisin/nut salad
Romona's coleslaw
PB M&M cookies
Chocolate Butterscotch Oatmeal cookies
Sugar cookies
Romona's lemon cake
Beer/wine/buzz balls/pop/water

I feel like I'm forgetting something...

Random stuff that comes in handy at family reunions

Painter's tape
packing tape
scissors
cheap pens
permanent markers
wet towel in a bag (again!)
tons of coolers and ice (more ice than you can ever think you'll need probably)
camp chairs
semi-disposable leftovers containers
trash bags
lighter

Family and Donuts

Since the beginning of my memories, Sundays were for mass, donuts, and brunch. Since most of my memories start in Texas, the donuts were mostly Shipleys.

Whenever we get donuts as a family, we each get to pick out what type we want. But that doesn't matter much, because almost like clockwork when we get home, a butter knife appears in the donut box and the donuts get cut into fourths as you want them. Everything is shared and everyone gets to try all the different types. Now, maybe we didn't do this when we were super young because I can't imagine four kids sharing very well. But that's how we eat donuts today.

And when I brought donuts to work one day after our annual review by the head haunchos, I made sure to bring a knife. Everyone had to try maple cake at least :-)

Photos by

Daniel Edelman

In honor of families...

Today begins my family reunion weekend on my dad's side. I barely remember the last one, it was probably 1989. My mom's side has had a couple recently, one in 2008 with just her siblings (10 plus her) and offspring and then one last summer with all her cousins (approximately 60 first cousins and all their children and grandchildren) on her dad's side. We like family in the midwest :-)

I will try to squeeze a donut run in sometime this weekend, especially since my brother in law (and more specifically, his amazing camara and photography skills) will be around, but I make no promises.

Instead, it's family story time! And tonight, we start with one of my favorite things about family gatherings...the coolers.

I noticed about 10 years ago that at any family function, people were arriving with coolers. This did not happen on my mom's side. It probably took me another couple of years to realize what was in the coolers.

Beer. Everyone brings their own. It isn't because we don't share. Because we totally share a ton. Nothing is really off limits at gatherings. I'm not even sure the exact reasoning behind it or when it started. Sometimes chairs are brought as well. But the coolers are my favorite. And no one is offended or looks at you funny when you show up with yours or pull a beer out of it halfway through the night. It's just par for the course.