a Gastronomical Birthday

Today is Taryn's birthday. We usually allow the children to request a special meal or two. Taryn requested Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast. Bob took the idea up a level and decided to take us on a doughnut tasting tour of NW Arkansas.

First stop, Shipley Do-nuts, which has recently opened several stores in the area. Bob popped in and got a dozen holes (they threw in a 13th) and two chocolate covered. The doughnuts were very light and soft, and the flavor was good. The glaze tasted very like what I came up with once when trying to make it at home. There was no crispness on the outside, and they left a greasy aftertaste (kinda like cold Red Lobster biscuits).

Next Bob dropped me off at Aldi for a few groceries, and he went to WalMart for Promised Land chocolate milk (which is awesome), and then over to an independent "Olde Tyme Doughnuts" that is mentioned here. These pastries were quite heavy, dense, and chewy, and Bob detected a hint of nutmeg. No grease detectable.  We passed the milk.

We took Sunset over to I-540, stopping at a Daylight Doughnuts. They were out of chocolate covered, but did have a few holes left. We found this store managed to combine the bad parts of the previous two, and created a doughnut that was heavy and greasy. There was also a much heavier nutmeg flavor, and a somewhat stale quality.

Up to Rogers, and then over toward Krispy Kreme. But first, across the street to Bizzy B's Bakery. They did/do not have doughnuts, but Bob selected a "chocolate croissant" that was smothered in powdered sugar, filled with very dark chocolate, and had layers of chewy pastry (rather than the flakiness we came to love in England). When we went there the night before Daniel was born I got something chocolatey that was very nice - a pie of some sort, I think.

Finally, Krispy Kreme.  The "hot doughnut" sign was on, and though press releases last year said they would no longer give away free hot doughnuts (and I didn't even know they did before I heard that they didn't anymore), they did. :-) So we each got a free hot glazed doughnut. These simply melted in our mouths. Then we each picked out a variety, and we got a couple more (as a dozen is cheaper than 9). We slowly enjoyed those, watched the doughnut assembly line, drank the rest of the milk, and washed. Then we began to evaluate the taste of the shelved doughnuts, and realized we hadn't got a simple chocolate-covered one, so we bought one of those. We found it overwhelmingly sweet (they glaze them first, then add the chocolate), but very light, slightly crispy on the outside (probably because of the glaze), and with a vanilla flavor (again, the glaze). The chocolate was good.

Overall, I (and most of the children) liked KK the best.  Bob preferred Shipley.

After breakfast (it was now 11am), we headed over to Academy Sports to get a new string for Bob's bow. We waited to ask a man, and he simply stated that they didn't carry that (no apology, much less a "have you tried ___"). So we let Naysha look at shoes for a minute. I picked out 5 or 6 pair that were marked $30 or less, and she decided on one, so we headed out.

Taryn wanted to get a guitar case for her new guitar (I forgot to mention that, didn't I? We got her a guitar from a flea market after Bob's uncle approved it as nice, and then they took it to MO to a shop for a few minor adjustments, and now it's top-notch), so we went down to Fayetteville to Guitar World. They picked out a case that the man assured them would fit (and they could exchange if it didn't).

We went to Braum's for butter (it's on sale), then to Popeye's for lunch, where the biscuits were just coming out of the oven. Then I saw the receipt from Academy, where the shoes rang up as $50. Sigh. Assuming they would give us the $20, it would hardly be worth it to drive all the way back to Rogers for it. And if they didn't... well, we  didn't want to go back through the fittings - Naysha is pickier and less decisive than I am. So we let it go.

We made it home at 3pm.

At 5 we left for the Huntsville Pantry, then prayer on the square. Then Taryn talked Bob into pizza for supper at the Little Pizza Place. It was very good. Home again by 7:30 where Taryn made no bake cookies.

And I reckon that's enough.