When a person is on a mission to satisfy a craving, there is no stopping him or her;   nothing stands in the path until the craving is satisfied. Case in point, my Mom had this mad passion for a hot-dog–you know, a nicely toasted bun slathered with mustard and Bick’s sweet relish AND the nicely pan-fried or grilled weiner that had been fried/grilled with sweet onions.  Simple, right?  So, we are in a family restaurant that caters to kids and when we searched the menu, not a hot-dog in sight! The next time we were out for lunch, we went to another family restaurant–same results–not a hot-dog or weiner on the menu. By this time, Mom’s craving was seriously focused on a hot-dog.  At our next lunch date, I told Mom I was taking her to a place that had terrific hot-dogs.  Where else?  I took my mother home with me and made her the best hot-dog ever.  And, for a tiny person who has a tiny appetite, Mom ate the entire humongous dog and enjoyed every bite.  Now, she’s good to go for another year before the craving hits her tummy again. . .

My craving was for mini-donuts. You know–those decadently greasy little morsels of fried dough with a hole in the middle and are nothing but empty calories dusted with sugar and cinnamon but taste oh-so-good still hot from the fryer? Well, that was my craving. I missed the big Oak Bay Tea Party with its carnival atmosphere at Willow’s Beach because it usually had the concession stand for mini-donuts. I also missed the Sidney Day festivities with its concession stand for mini-donuts.  By this time, all I could think about was the conveyor belt of miniature donuts, endlessly rolling along in the bubbling fat, eventually dropping  crisply golden donuts into the warming pan, where the human hand dusted the sugar cinnamon over them as they were scooped into paper bags. Well, thank goodness the Foodie God was smiling down at me–mini-donuts were being served along with Classic Cars and Elvis–lovingly restored and displayed up and down the Avenue–the classic cars that is, not Elvis, although he was a superb imitator. I think the mini-donuts provided the strength and stamina to admire each and everyone of the 300 entrants being exhibited. Not bad for a paper bag of 12 mini-donuts–and these were definitely mini–at least, it satisfied my craving until next year!