Travel Treats: Portland's Voodoo Doughnuts

It's Monday and I don't know about you, but I had quite a busy weekend. Shaun and I had no fewer than 1 wedding (congrats Joey and MariaAnne!), 2 Halloween parties, 1 engagement celebration (my bro-in-law and future sis-in law), multiple errands and 1 stop at IHOP for breakfast. Lots of fun was had, however, I'm a little disappointed that I have yet to pick up my one piece of Halloween candy for the season - a Reese's peanut butter pumpkin. Though I could go on and on about the merits of the pumpkin versus the standard Reese's cup, I'll move on to something less snooze-worthy. Something like doughnuts. And not just any doughnuts. Voodoo Doughnuts of Portland to be exact.

When my parents took a business trip out to Portland, Oregon last week, they of course ventured over to the famed Voodoo Doughnuts. A small bakery serving up, you guessed it, doughnuts, Voodoo Doughnuts isn't your average doughnut shop. Serving up doughnut concoctions including voodoo doll (filled with jam), bacon maple bar, Portland cream and Ol' Dirty Bastard (pb & Oreo...yum!), Voodoo is anything but ordinary. And to feed my food obsession so to speak, Mom and Dad made sure to not only snap some photos for thee blog (that's the voodoo doll - how awesome is that? - and the Ol' Dirty Bastard)...

...but they carted some Voodoo delights home from Portland for me to try.

And since I'm a sampler, you can be sure that I dove right into each one for a bite. Clockwise from top: Butterfingering, Diablos Rex, Portland Cream, McMinnville Cream, Sprinkle Doughnut.

First, I dug in to the Ol' Dirty Bastard - peanut butter and Oreos atop a light vanilla cake. Oh my, was this delicious, even after a plane ride back to NJ. Is it me or is there anything better than Oreo? Hmm?

Next up, I forked into the Butterfingering. The crispy, crunchity Butterfinger topping was scrumptious, while the doughnut was decadently cakey.

Though at this point I stopped snapping photos, I also dove right into the McMinnville Cream, a Bavarian cream-filled doughnut with maple frosting. Oooooh maple frosting, you are SO delicious. This was my favorite of the bunch, proving once again that Dad and I have the same taste in food (he proclaimed it the best of the bunch as well). In fact, the maple cake thing has inspired me to concoct a batch of maple cupcakes for an upcoming dinner party...stay tuned for that next week!

So there you have it. A little roundup of some tasty treats from the road. I love exploring new places and foods when traveling, even when it's vicariously through others! So for the question of the day: What's your favorite eatery or food you've ever discovered while traveling? And bonus question: How are you getting through this Monday morn?