Pumpkin Cream Donuts at The Donut Man

Having been a Donut Man loyalist since I first sampled their now-legendary Fresh Strawberry Filled Donuts a few years back, I was really looking forward to trying their Pumpkin Cream Donuts last weekend. I mean, hello, pumpkin filling and fresh, creamy goodness piled high on a big, fluffy donut, what's not to love?

The answer, it turns out, is plenty. I'm not saying it's the worst pumpkin-flavored concoction I've ever tried, but, sadly, this seasonal favorite doesn't hold a candle to The Donut Man's rocking Strawberry and Peach bretheren. It's not terrible, but, it's just weird tasting. And though a warm donut underlayer always sounds appealing, in theory, in actual practice, it left me seriously jonesing for some proper pie crust instead.

That said, the Tiger Tails were incredible (as always), the colorful Cream Puffs pictured below were amazing (even two days later!) and Greta loved the Halloweenish sprinkles on her chocolate donut, so, any way you look at it, we came out ahead. Thanks, Donut Man!

Posted with Blogsy

“It’s oh so nice to go traveling…”

One of the best things about taking a nice, long road trip every summer to Grants Pass, Oregon (by way of Santa Cruz, CA) is that being away from Los Angeles for any extended period of time always reminds me of just why I love L.A. so much in the first place. Yes, I admit it, I love L.A., probably more than anyplace I've ever lived.

In fact, having been down here for over twenty-two years now, Mrs. Yeti and I have officially lived in L.A./Burbank longer than we've ever lived anywhere else. And though we love to get away, something about this crazy, sprawling urban jungle just makes us feel excited and alive. Maybe it's because we were both born down here, who knows? But for us, L.A. is home, and as we drove over the Grapevine on Sunday night and caught our first glimpse of the shimmering lights of the San Fernando Valley in the distance, I'm not embarrassed to admit that we both got more than a little choked up.

I'm not sure if that was because we were relieved that some of the more dramatic episodes from our trip were behind us, or the simple fact that we were just happy to be home. But for whatever reason, we practically kissed the ground when we arrived!

And today, as Greta and I grabbed lunch at a totally 80's Taco Bell on Ventura Boulevard — which is one of my two favorite thoroughfares in L.A., BTW, Wilshire Boulevard being the other — I spotted a dude with the long grey hair and tight, studded jeans of a faded rock star enjoying a Meximelt while a crazy-eyed trannie demanded the key to the restroom at the register, and I just smiled from ear to ear. Oh, L.A., how I've missed you. It really is good to be home!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

L.A. Donut Tour: Day One – Randy’s Donuts (Inglewood)

A good friend of ours is staying with us this week and seeing as we are both between jobs, we decided to have some good cheap fun this visit. No movies at the Arclight, no expensive theme parks or museums, no shopping…just good, old-fashioned donut worship. And what better place to explore the magic of cheap fried dough than in the car-centric Southland? So, without further ado, I give you our first ever L.A. Donut Tour! Yay!

Despite talking about it for years, neither of us had ever been to the world-famous Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood, so, naturally, we started there. We tried a cake donut, a chocolate frosted and a sprinkled and despite the giant, iconic donut on the roof of the building and the appropriately seedy, LAX-adjacent vibe in the parking lot (like all the best donut joints in Los Angeles, Randy’s does not have a dining area) I gotta tell ya, I’ve had way better donuts at several major chains. Sorry, Randy…

However, Greta (who is our tie-breaking third judge on the tour), absolutely adored the bright pink frosting on her selection, so, I’m gonna be generous and give Randy’s two out of five stars.

Here’s hoping for better luck at our next stop tomorrow…