Donut Date the First

This last week we (Misses Calah, Jenya, Marina, and i) began a wonderful tradition: Donut Date.

Thursday was the first. in our lunch discussion on Wednesday Misses Calah, Jenya, and i somehow got onto the topic of donuts and which bakery/store made the best ones. So it was decided that each of us would stop by one bakery and bring in a raised glazed donut, raised chocolate icing donut, and a cinnamon roll (because why wouldn’t we want to include cinnamon rolls?). Unfortunately my bakery of choice doesn’t sell donuts so i was only able to bring in a cinnamon roll. But that’s ok, folks! We decided it could still be in the running.

Thursday’s contenders were Macey’s bakery (the one in the grocery store), Payson Market, and Shirley’s Bakery in Provo (this one doesn’t sell donuts). The three of us made sure to go on a drink run first because you just can’t have a donut tasting without a drink (being the soda connoisseurs that we are).

Miss Marina joined us and we had a grand ol’ time tasting each donut and commenting on the deliciousness of each. It was a wonderfully hilarious time as well because we were all full of funny commentary; plus we tried to share the love of donuts with fellow coworkers and they all thought we were crazy (they did still take donuts though).

The raised glazed donut:

Payson Market was the overall champ as it was a thicker donut with a more cinnamon-y flavor. Although i did like the creamier sweetness that Macey’s donut had.

The raised chocolate iced donut:

There were mixed reviews in this category and a true champ could not be declared. The Payson Market donut had a more icing-like chocolate icing versus the chocolate ganache-iness of the Macey’s donut (which then gave the Macey’s donut a stronger chocolate flavor). Do you prefer a stronger chocolate flavor or a thicker icing?

The cinnamon roll:

Macey’s won hands down. i believe it was because i believe it was actually a swirled donut with cinnamon sugar in the swirls and then glazed. Whereas the traditional cinnamon rolls from Shirley’s and Payson Market, while delicious, where heavier the icing was too sweet for our taste.

Personally though, cinnamon rolls have never been my favorite breakfast pastry. The icing is much too sweet for me and i don’t like how heavy and bready they are (which is odd because i LOVE bread!).

Well there you have it, folks. The champions of Donut Date the First. We’ve decided that it shall be a monthly occurrence in which each of us will find a new bakery and bring the same donuts (so we can more evenly compare).

So stay tuned for next month’s champions!

(And who knows, maybe someday we’ll circle back and have a Champion of Champions contest like Cupcake Wars and Chopped do).

the magic begins

"Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of Number Four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much..."

(excerpt taken from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; as if you didn't already know).



So long folks, i'm off on a much-loved adventure!
 

life lately

it's been awhile, a long while, since i've written anything. And i'm ok with that. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions, activities, getting stuff on my list checked off, and family time.

First things first (because i know you're just dying to ask): things with the ArmyMan are not really things anymore. Again, i'm ok with that. He's basically been living the zombie life by working two jobs and whatnot and with an hour still between us it makes hanging out kind of difficult. So you know what? We're friends and i'm good with that. (With both of us being pretty busy my Summer Bucket List has been set on the back burner for now).

i also finally found housing! There were a lot of emotions involved and oddly enough Miss Calah and my housing experiences were very similar throughout the months of May and June. it would seem like we each found the perfect house and then something would fall through. Then it would happen again. it went on for several weeks and it seemed to be rather draining on us both (moreso on her since she and the family were moving to an actual house and i was simply finding a different apartment for the next year). Finally it seemed like it magically happened for the both of us. The house came through for her and the family and i went to see an apartment that just felt right. The feeling after walking through was something i couldn't fight and couldn't let go. So i now have a place to live next year and the stress of finding housing has lifted (the stress was starting to make me really freak out and feel nauseous if i thought about it too long).

Now that Miss Calah and her family have their house it's been a few weeks of moving and unpacking. i've tried to make myself useful as a babysitter or unpacking-helper-outer (just roll with the weird words, i'm tired here). Even though it's been exhausting, as moving always is, it has been so much fun to see them start to grow into their house. it's become their home and their belongings are starting to find their places. it's almost hard to imagine that they lived at the other place at all.

i've never been much of a picture-taker (i'm not even about to call myself a photographer) so i don't have tons of pictures of anything; high school, church activities, the college years. i want to change that, so i've been trying harder the last few weeks to document the little things in picture format. Finally getting an instagram account is helping this; although i'm trying to hold out as long as possible before i fully convert and start using hashtags. Since i've been up at Miss Calah's so much over the past few weeks i've mostly been documenting her and the family (and little Miss Evie).

Little Miss Evie loves their new backyard and the summer evenings have been full of drawing with chalk, making friends with the Rollie Pollies, and playing with her car, airplane, and lawn mower.

We even took a couple of trips in "Ah' Eh'ee's car" (Aunt Emme's car in case you don't speak toddler) and Miss Evie was SO excited.

She's also a natural at collecting rocks.

A fascinating fact from the last week is that i've discovered a love of tea (don't you worry, it's all herbal). i think it's time to cut back on all of the soda but i still want something yummy to drink. i just bought the most darling, cozy looking mug that just has "tea" written all over it! it actually says "coffee" all over it, but whatever. The Celestial Seasonings berry teas are delicious and warm and cozy. Basically just perfection in a mug.

My love of baking is starting to expand from cupcakes to other baked goods; i just made my first ever bundt cake and it turned out absolutely AMAZiNG! Just check out that beauty:

Life lately is pretty darn fab, if i do say so myself.