Bodacious Boomer

The root of all evil?

According to a USA Today article a 38 yr. old former Army doc who served in Iraq waged a one-man war on obesity by by posting sardonic warnings on an electronic sign outside his office. He had been hired by the county health department to educate the public about health issues. The Dunkin Donuts=Death was just one of his adages. Dr. Newsome was just fired from his position because pressure was brought to bear by local business owners who owned doughnut shops. That just goes to show you the power that deep fried sweetened junk wields in the south.

In the south, we like things sweet. If there’s a group meeting of any kind, donuts are always there. The sweet tea sits next to the unsweetened in all family restaurants and many fast food joints. I don’t know why Southerners prefer things sweeter, but it’s just a fact that they do. I ordered peach cobbler at at an upscale B&B in New Hampshire 25 years ago. They brought me a little square of tasteless white cake on a saucer with a dab of peach preserves on top. I looked at the waitress like the RCA dog. What the Hell was this? Cobbler should have fresh peaches in it with a lot of sugar and a little cinnamon topped with a lattice crust. It’s served in a bowl to hold all the juices. It can be plain, which is really good, or ala mode-almost orgasmic.

A hot Krispy Kreme doughnut is also a favorite indulgence. I don’t know why they’re the best doughnut out there, but I think they are. Krispy Kreme doughnuts, started in Winston-Salem, NC in 1938 are legendary, often referenced in pop culture. They’ve been mentioned in Sex and the City and on Will & Grace. According to the book Making Dough, the 12 secret ingredients to Krispy Kreme’s success, Krispy Kreme was the third most recognized brand in the US in 2002, just behind Target and Apple Computer. This was done with an advertising budget of less than $100K. They are just that good. Even in Seattle, one of the fittest cities in the world, the first week a Krispy Kreme was open they did $454,125.00. That’s a lot of doughnuts!

Sweet potato pie and red velvet cake recipes are closely guarded family secrets. If you go to New Orleans you can watch brown sugar, butter, cream and pecans bubbling in huge copper cauldrons just waiting to become pralines. In the South it’s considered bad manners to have someone over to eat unless you’ve got something scrumptious for dessert. Cheese and fruit? I don’t think so.

So come on down South and have something sweet. Your hips and your heart may not like it, but you’ll have a really happy set of taste buds. What’s your favorite sweet indulgence?