Winnie Hammond, owner of the General Store, is our business partner for one simple reason: the original chocolate cream doughnut recipe was hers.

We put Jeanine in charge of dealing with our suppliers because even though she’s only nine, she likes to yell at people. Plus, she’s a math genius, which keeps us from getting ripped off.

Zoe helps out too. She’s five, but she’s already a decent baker. I know: five seems pretty young for baking, but with my mom, baking ranks even higher than swimming as a life skill. At twelve, I still only doggie paddle, but I make a wicked baked Alaska.

Since Zoe likes to eat as much as she likes to bake, her help wasn’t so helpful at first. Then Josh came up with the idea of putting her in his old peewee hockey helmet during her shifts. No way a doughnut fits through the grill on that face guard. Problem solved.

Finally, The Doughnut Stop website popped up on the computer screen. Our site’s not fancy or anything, but it gets the job done. Calvin, who works at the Gas Mart, is taking a web design class at Crellin Community College, so he did it just for the experience.

First thing I did was check our emails. Just one from Riley at Stinky Cheese Farm, letting us know when to expect next week’s dairy delivery.

Then I clicked on the Comments tab to see what people were saying about us. It was usually the same thing. Stuff like, “These doughnuts are amazing!” I’m not trying to brag, but we’ve got a good product, and at four in the morning when it’s snowing or when the sink is filled with dirty pastry guns, those comments are what get me out of bed or washing up—or whatever it is I should be doing instead of watching cat versus cucumber YouTube videos.

TheChowingTrucker 20m ago

Somebody told me about this place because I deliver to Albany pretty regular and that takes me by Petersville so I stopped in today. What kind of store doesn’t open until 4:00 in the afternoon? Had to wait around in the parking lot like they were selling Bon Jovi tix. Almost left. So glad I didn’t. Got to shoot a doughnut full of butterscotch cream—myself! Holy mama! Best doughnut ever. Going back next chance I get.

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I felt my mouth stretch into a smile so big it split my chapped lower lip. Best doughnut ever. I knew exactly who this guy was. The Bon Jovi concert T-shirt was a dead giveaway.

TheLuckyLibrarian 6 hours ago

Can’t stop eating these doughnuts. You have to try them! Just incredible.

In the interest of full disclosure, my son is one of the owners—the business guy, not the baker. But I’m telling you, even if he weren’t, I’d love these doughnuts. And I LOVE getting to choose the cream and filling the doughnut myself. A food AND an activity. Great for kids and adults.