Golden Rings of Melt-in-Your-Mouth Goodness

    It was beautiful living in Texas where donut shops could be found on every street corner.  In our town of 7,300 people, Dayton had three donut shops in addition to the two grocery stores and several gas stations that sold these light and fluffy, golden rings of goodness.  Of course, PDub and I would bless our dear bellies with this not-so-good-for-you breakfast at least once a week.  When we had returning visitors (mostly parents), their first request for food wasn't for the ever popular Tex-Mex or chicken-fried steak but instead for Happy Donuts, a chain owned by some very happy Vietnamese people.  When entering the shop, you would be energetically greeted, and if they had not seen you before or they just forgot who you were, they would proceed to say, "Long time no see," making you feel genuinely missed (even if it was your first time visiting).  There's nothing like covering your face with powdered sugar or digesting one of their special twists.  I say "special" because these twists were not only filled with cinnamon and sugar and then glazed, but they were also topped with the chocolate most of us know from long john's.  A sugar rush if I dare say so myself.
    I grew up in a small town where the donut shop was a thing of the past.  For a short period of time, we had The Donut Shop where I still remember visiting with my dad, eating a chocolate long john, and washing it all down with a paper carton of milk.  The Donut Shop closed far to quickly in my opinion because then my Saturday mornings were filled with not-so-good donuts from the surrounding grocery stores.  No worries, I would get Krispy Kremes whenever we ventured over to St. Louis, but the lack of these was insufficient to satisfy my needs.  Luckily, Texas fulfilled this hole within me.
    Spoiled, that's what I was after living in Texas because now the nearest donut seller is a grocery store.  We have fancy bagels within walking distance but no donuts.  I seriously question myself daily on why we moved to such a donut-less place.  After three weeks of neglecting my need, I fired up the stove-top, heated some oil in my cast-iron skillets, and got to work on perfecting a recipe to satisfy my appetite.  Although it's difficult to mess with the kitchen every Saturday morning, I still take it upon myself that these donuts must be made to continue my way of life.  You will find my simple recipe across the tabs above.

Donut.....Do not mind if I do....Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone into law enforcement.....