Happy National Doughnut Day

3rd June 2011

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Happy National Doughnut Day

All hail the doughnut

Friday, June 3 is National Doughnut Day. Every first Friday in June since 1938 has consecutively been feted as National Doughnut Day. The celebratory day was created by the Salvation Army to honor the women who, through the organization were dispatched abroad where they served, among other home cooked foods, doughnuts to soldiers during the First World War.

Beginning in 1917 at the height of World War I, female volunteers of the Salvation Army were sent to the battle zones of Europe to feed hungry troops. In 1917 a handful of female volunteers were dispatched to France to help feed and support the troops. Upon arriving, the ladies found a dearth of basic food supplies. The only items available to them were; flour, sugar, lard, baking powder, cinnamon, and canned milk.

Can’t really say no to that one A bit of a line on National Doughnut Day

And through this limited supply list came the idea of serving classic American doughnuts to the mud-drenched troops. The first doughnuts were rolled and formed by hand and fried over a small pot-bellied stove. According to lore the doughnuts were even occasionally cooked in oil inside soldiers’ metal helmets. The smell of frying doughnuts filled the bivouacs and, so the story goes, lifted the soldiers spirits.

And in honor of the women who creatively fried up doughnuts on the battle fields of France, we’re having a bite out of a perfectly round, holey treat. Well done!

For more information on National Doughnut Day: Click here

Julie complies with the doughnut’s wishes