Lunchtime FAIL

In an effort to give the kids a fun meal (and reuse some leftover breakfast) I served up the:

Peanut Butter and Jelly on Chocolate Chip Pancakes:

Peanut Butter Nuttella and Fluff on Waffles:

While, in concept this could've worked, it really didn't. I'm thinking it's mostly due to the dryness of the 'buns'. Next time I'll slice the pancakes and waffles ahead of time.

He Said :: Donuts

Dear Dawn,

Thanks for the lovely posting on Donuts. I just wanted to share a few local, independent donut joints (i.e. not Dunkins) that have particularly tasty offerings:

Best Jelly Donut - Betty Ann Food Shop
The next time you need to go to the airport, leave an extra hour (if your flight happens to fall during their hours of operation) to stop by this hole-in-the wall. When Johnny, my local barber told me about this place, I had to admit I was skeptical -- but it's the real deal. The other donuts I tried were pretty average, but the Jelly Donuts here are amazing. They're chewy balls, covered in sugar, and filled with a generous serving of jelly.

Best Glazed Donut - Mike's Donuts
While their donuts, as a whole, are on par with Dunkin Donuts, they excel in one particular category -- their glazed donuts. I, like Dawn, appreciate the way in which a Krispy Kreme donut melts in your mouth. Mike's does a great job delivering a comparable experience with their glazed donuts. Luckily, these guys are in striking distance from my house.

Best Everything Else Donuts - Kane's Donuts
If you haven't yet made the trek out to Saugus for Kane's donuts you're missing out. The donuts are fantastic and the place has a great vibe -- a true old school donut shop. They've definitely gotten a bunch of hype, but it's well deserved. Oh, and their coffee rolls are disturbingly humongous.

It's National Cream-Filled Donut Day!

I already posted today, but how could 21 hours of the day go by and me not knowing that it's my favorite donut's own holiday? Who knew that there are American Food Holidays? Only in America can we celebrate the eating of food every day of the year, and have only 3 listed "health holidays".

Back to the topic of honor, cream-filled donuts. God's own creation, I'm sure of it, the perfect ratio of cream to donut to powdered sugar or glaze. My favorite chain donut is the Krispy Kreme glazed Kreme filled one. As I hail from the East Coast, my first exposure was by happenstance... I was setting up for an educational conference in Anaheim and one of the teamsters walked by with a box of donuts and offered me one. After the first bite, it was a true 'When Harry Met Sally' diner scene moment in my life.

As far as bakeries go, lots of folks can do a cream-filled donut justice. My tops is from Eet Gud Bakery in Hamilton, NJ. The cream donuts are long like a jelly stick. I have no photos of these donuts handy because they don't last long enough for me to get my camera out.

Of course, there is a Dunkin Donuts at the end of my street. After a customer feedback form online complaining they didn't offer the vanilla cream donut, they were diligent and began to offer it, I'm sure out of fear of retribution had they not added it to the rack. DD does a good job at the donut, and I enjoy taking a long walk around the block so that I can eat one afterwards.

Enjoy your favorite food on its own special holiday, or if you're like me, any day!

The Hot Dog is the new Cupcake

As cupcake shops open up in every town and city across the US responding to that sweet demand of MORE CUPCAKES, I've noticed something very peculiar. At every turn, large hot dogs are appearing. I did some interwebs peeping and confirmed my suspicions that it's a 2010 trend.

I'm a personal convert, the large hot dogs are sub roll sized and you can eat just one, as compared to 2 small dogs with 2 buns and fixins. Over the summer, I had the Loeffler's hot dogs purchased right from the manufacturer's store in Trenton NJ, and they were AMAZING. Once my eyes were opened to the large hot dog, I noticed that they were popping up at clam shacks, family grills, roach coaches, and specialty stores are starting to appear. The guys at work even took a lunch road trip downtown to Speed's to pick some dogs up.

My first hot dog restaurant love affair began via introduction by my trusted food advisor Gary Stager with Rutt's Hutt in Clifton NJ. The place is a true throw-back to 1971, especially the bar on the other side of the restaurant... a must-see if you're in northern Jersey.

Where's your favorite hot dog place?