Grab a Donut!

The day is not over so grab a doughnut or donut! I hesitated on posting this celebration this morning since investigation revealed the REAL National Doughnut Day being in June. BUT, voila! A discovery has unveiled TWO National Doughnut Days, one official and the other perhaps for enjoyment because someone needed something else to celebrate on this day. 

The summertime National Donut Day is one of the more legitimate food holidays out there. It was established by the Salvation Army way back in 1938 to honor the Dough Lassies, female volunteers who made donuts for soldiers serving overseas as a way to boost morale. It was a successful effort and led soldiers to use the slogan "doughnuts will win the war!" Source: Huffpost Taste

Check out The Surprising History Behind National Doughnut Day...

Now for the murkier of the two holidays, the National Donut Day on Nov. 5. That holiday was, like so many of the other food holidays, completely fabricated by national food councils as a way to sell goods. These holidays often have no rhyme or reason to them.

So, it is not too late to celebrate November 5 as a National Doughnut Day! The word for this afternoon is DONUT, DOUGHNUT, doughNUT! The doughnut has already been celebrated in specialty categories so simply revisit for some new ideas to enjoy now, this evening or perhaps even a midnight snack...Not your plain donut!, A Sandwich & Dessert, and The Tastiest Cover Up.

The image alone is enough to make you want to bite into one right NOW!

The doughnut, or donut as some prefer, has become an iconic American pastry. Its beginnings were quite humble but none the less it has climbed the culinary ladder toward national domination. 

First step: mechanization. In 1920, Adolph Legitt, a Jewish refugee from Czarist Russia, invented the first doughnut machine. According to Saveur his machine churned out 80 dozen doughnuts per hour -- and made fresh-from-the-fryer, consistently identical doughnuts readily available to the public. This innovation also cloaked doughnut production in an aura of spectacle. Hungry crowds could jostle shoulders, watching as the dough rings turned golden in oil before being pulled out, dusted with sugar, and distributed. Read the article on The History of Donuts...

It is probably too late in the day to make your own donuts but there are plenty of donut shops open ready for you to walk through their doors! You may even find a special going on in celebration of this not so well-known holiday!