Red's Donuts Family Love Fest - Monterey CA

There was a lot of love in Monterey as 31 Bloughnut relatives descended for Grandma Edna's 100th birthday. Needless to say, there were numerous trips to the Grand Daddy donut shop of them all, Red's Donuts on Alvarado Street in downtown Monterey.

Dominating the counter with my brothers, nieces, nephew, and cousins was a truly holy experience. Our tally for Saturday morning was 8 maple bars, 1 chocolate cake, 3 chocolate cakes with sprinkles, 1 cinnamon roll (microwaved with butter), 1 chocolate custard bar (to go for mom), and 5 cartons of milk. Donut hangover!

Younger Brother and I brought Grandma a maple bar on the morning of her 100th birthday, 25 Jan. 2010. We love you Grandma!

For our next posting we will re-visit Colonial Donuts in Oakland near Lake Merritt. You will see the most perfect maple old-fashioned (which someday will be re-created in bronze as a hood ornament for my truck). Thanks for visiting.

Colonial Donuts - Oakland CA

On this rainy Tuesday morning we visited Colonial Donuts near Lake Merritt in Oakland. Did you know there is a secret entrance from the Trader Joe's parking lot?! As usual, the crowd was mixed: old dudes getting their morning fix, slightly out-of-sorts folks, and young professionals on their way to work downtown. As predicted, the old-fashioneds were really well-formed (what's their secret?). I got a maple OF and a maple french. The OF was nice and crunchy but a little heavy for our liking. The glaze was a little crunchy but not terrible. The french was light and eggy, and HUGE! Just the way we like them.



The OF became a model for a bronze hood ornament I am making for my truck. I made about a half dozen molds out of wax at the Crucible Tuesday afternoon. I will refine them over the next couple weeks then pour the bronze!

Bob's Donuts - San Francisco CA

For our first posting we had to get do-do's from the Grand Daddy (at least of the Bay Area), Bob's Donuts on Polk Street. It was late, it was a Saturday, and Polk Street was feeling a little yuppie and loud so we got them in a bag to go: maple bar, maple old-fashioned, maple french, crumb cake, and chocolate old-fashioned. A little heavy on the maple, I know, but what can I say? My mom is from Pennsylvania.

The donuts didn't travel well back to the Panhandle, especially the maple bar which was placed upside-down in the bag (?!) Damn did they taste good though. The old-fashioneds were crunchy and not too heavy, just the way we like them. The french was properly sponged and had a nice slab of maple goodness on top. We saved the crumb for the morning coffee which was the right call.

Extra stars for our timing: after midnight, when all of our donuts had been pulled out of the fryer within the hour. Some were still warm upon ingestion. If you haven't been to Bob's yet you must. Now if we could only get them to serve better coffee.

You are in for a treat as our next posting will come from Monterey when we visit the king of donut shops, Red's Donuts on Alvarado Street. I will be in town for my Grandma's 100th birthday! (One of her many secrets to living a long healthy life is the glazed old-fashioned)