Hello everyone. Today I will be writing about one of my favorite treats. Doughnuts have been around for many years and are still one of the popular desserts. They are delicious with coffee and milk. You can eat them at breakfast, lunch, midnight snack, anytime. Everyone has a favorite kind of doughnut, plain, chocolate, vanilla, and glazed. You can have them stuffed with jelly or custard. Frosted and topped with sprinkled candies are scrumptious. My personal favorite is coconut. A lot of people I know don’t particularly like them. My second favorite is chocolate. All of them are delicious; it is so difficult to choose when anyone purchases them.

I started eating donuts when my family and I lived in the Roseland neighborhood in Chicago. It was in the early 1970s and, the best place to buy them was at Gately’s Peoples Department Store. It was at 11201 S Michigan Avenue. The donuts were made and sold in the basement of the store. Everyone who visited the store was thrilled to see the donuts made there. The conveyer belt where the donuts were placed and dropped into the fryer was the most entertaining thing I have ever witnessed. We bought them occasionally when my mother was doing her grocery shopping there. Anyone who lived or visited Roseland said that watching the donut machine was everyone’s favorite memory.

The donut shops that I do remember growing up were well-known to many people in the Chicagoland area. There was Amy Joy Donuts, Puff Fluff, Bosa Donuts, Winchell Donuts, Yum Yum Donuts, Mister Donut, Entenmann’s Donuts and, Dunkin Donuts. Dunkin Donuts is still around and, a few that I mentioned are in other parts of the world. Bakeries in Chicago that are no longer around had delicious donuts too. Burny Brothers and Dressel’s were wonderful. Another place that is still around is Huck Finn Donuts. I go there sometimes and, their donuts are better than Dunkin Donuts.

Amy Joy Donuts is another place that people in Chicago have cherished memories. I never went there, but I have heard of the donut shop mentioned by many people on social media. Many people wished it would make a comeback. One store-bought donuts that I remembered a long time ago was called Sap’s Glazed Donuts. When I lived in the Ashburn neighborhood as a teenager, my mother did some shopping at a grocery store called Wise Way Foods on West Columbus Ave. It was the only store that carried them. Packaged by the dozen and, they were delicious.

Dunkin Donuts has been selling for a long time, and now they have expanded their menu in recent years. First, Dunkin Munchkins went on sale and are snackable donut hole treats. Those are good and, they come in many flavors. Muffins, bagels, and breakfast sandwiches are now on the menu. Coffee comes now in different flavors. Tea, hot chocolate, lattes, and iced drinks are also on the menu.

To me, donuts tasted much better when I was younger. Ingredients have either changed or been removed for health purposes these days. I know they are bad for your health and I have been careful in recent years. I still get a craving for them sometimes. They are one of life’s guilty pleasures and, you are entitled to indulge yourself from time to time. Just don’t tell anyone. Thank you. Pete Kastanes. Admin for Vanished Chicagoland Facebook Page.