The Slice We’ve Got The Dish When It Comes To Doughnuts

Now don’t let your eyes glaze over.

After asking who makes the best doughnuts around here, we received nominations for 21 Inland Northwest bakeries and one from a Pullman reader for a place outside Seattle.

A few readers, however, insisted that you can’t get good ones hereabouts. “I have yet to find a decent doughnut in this town,” wrote Reagan Oliver.

She misses the ones she enjoyed in Houston.

One caller rhapsodized about Krispy Kreme doughnuts, available in other parts of the country.

But most respondents didn’t seem to regard this area as doughnut deprived.

Leading vote-getters among the local places Slice readers endorsed were The Donut Parade, the Donut Shop in Medical Lake (open 1 a.m. until 1 p.m.), Davis Donuts in Coeur d’Alene (try the bear claws), Denny’s Donuts, Stein’s IGA in Rathdrum (try the maple bars), the Excell at Ninth and Perry, the Yoke’s in Deer Park, the Albertsons at 37th, the Safeway at 29th and Mel’s Bakery in the Spokane Valley.

Davenport’s Harry Schneider said his “girlfriend” (Marjorie, his wife of 55 years) makes the best doughnuts. “You should try them,” he wrote.

Love to. But we’ll call first.

Calling all entrepreneurs: A friend just back from a European vacation, told us about a restaurant in Paris featuring “Indiana Tex-Mex” cuisine.

That got us thinking. If authenticity isn’t an overriding concern, perhaps France is ripe for some smart Inland Northwesterners to start a few more American-fare restaurants. You know, a place featuring “Eastern Washington Cajun,” or maybe “Original North Idaho Cheesesteaks.”

How about “Palouse Deep Dish Pizza” or “Famous Recipe Spokane Baked Beans ‘n’ Chowder”?

Old growth: The South Hill’s Kate Shrack has a tree in her front yard that measures 142 inches around at 3 feet above the ground.

June Monroe has a pine with a circumference of 112 inches.

Recapping the softball season: A reader said she kept track and counted this one guy in a coed league throwing his glove down in disgust six times during one game.

Warm-up question for teachers: What percentage of your time and energy is devoted to maintaining classroom discipline?

Today’s Slice question: At your workplace, how important is it that you at least pretend to have good relationships with colleagues’ spouses/significant others?

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing of 2 doughnuts

MEMO: The Slice appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098. It’s too soon for football.