We went to the last day of Cooper’s Bakery, a local donut shop, for one more visit.

Hello, again, Dear Readers:

James got me up at 5:30 this morning to go somewhere before I had any coffee. However, it was for a good cause, honest. A locally-owned and operated donut shop made today their last day in business, and the faithful showed up in droves. I figured it would make a great blog post–without AI–because I’m a bit delinquent.

Let me add the obligatory pumpkin spice picture here.

But as for the donut shop–the irony is that in the ten years I’ve been here, I’ve never noticed it as I passed by, and they were only open until noon. James has never mentioned this place until he found out yesterday evening that the owners were closing the doors for good.

Like every other adventure, we made our plans. He wanted to make sure I could get up at 5:30 and be ready to roll in 15 minutes. It took a little longer with the dog wrangling and cat feeding, but we did leave the house before 6:00 am.

Closure

In a September 5th post on the business’ Facebook page, the owner posted:

This is a difficult post to make, but after 43 years it’s time to make a change. Amite welcomed us way back in 1983, we quickly settled in and became part of the town. Throughout the decades we’ve had wonderful customers that have become great Friends. Kids that are now grandparents. Also have seen many changes in the town. Losing mom and dad was a tough blow and running the bakery just isn’t the same. I’ll be putting the bakery up for sale. I don’t own the building but do own all the equipment. It could be a turn key operation for the right person or family with plenty of potential for growth. 
Thanks Troy Cooper

This picture was also posted with the text.

The Donutman

I don’t know if this is original to Cooper’s Bakery, but one local favorite is called the Donutman:

I had no idea what they were talking about. Then I saw the sign:

I had to ask James to explain. He told me that he used to buy them for his daughter when she was little, sneaking them around so her mother wouldn’t find out. Other folks relayed their memories of the beloved Donutman while in line.

Someone made this for the bakery’s Facebook page:

You know that’s funny. And the LSU cap in the back? Nice touch.

I’m sure someone will pick up the torch on Donutman.

Sunrise Arrival

Even though we were up early, other fans arrived there long before we did. I wore a light jacket because–surprise!–it was about 65 degrees this morning, and will be the lows overnight for the next week or so.

James couldn’t stop talking about how many years he’d been a customer at the bakery. (“When was this?” I asked.) He also went to school with the owner, who took over the business from his parents. Still, he has never once mentioned Cooper’s Bakery to me.

As the sun rose, we were closer to the door. But not much. That’s OK, James believes it was worth the wait, as did everyone else. This wasn’t a bar–this was DONUTS! So there was no pushing, shoving, or other disturbances. People were patient and happy to have one last visit at this well loved small-town bakery shop.

Finally, we got close enough to get in.

It’s not a fancy decor, but hey, everyone loved the placed all the same. We just waited until it was our turn. They were workin’ it this morning, and everyone was waited on promptly.

The Bakery

Before we got inside I took a few pictures outside of the window, including this Aloe Vera plant that will need its own zip code soon:

This is the back side of the plant, from the inside:

Next to the plant is, I suppose, their original bakery phone, next to this antique cash register:

Don’t even wanna know how old that register is, but I’m sure it’s way before my time.

Our Turn

Once we got in the door, and it was our turn, I took a few more pictures:

Scones, which James had absolutely no interest in trying,

Admittedly, if I’d asked, he would have bought one for me.

And cake pops, which James also didn’t care about:

Even the chocolate ones, go figure:

This is not my idea of “iced coffee,” though:

Mocha flavor was tempting, however.

And filled croissants, too:

I can’t find the picture of it, but they were sold out of kolaches. Wait–kolaches, here? So, I asked James, “I thought you didn’t know what kolaches were.” His response: “I do, but I’ve never had one.” That was one of the first things I liked in Houston–sometimes people brought kolaches to work instead of donuts. But when we visited Houston, he wasn’t interested in any of them.

These were pretty, too:

I may have missed one or two other offerings.

Ultimately, James did what quite a few people did–bought two dozen donuts, and froze most of them. But not before tucking into three of them along with a bottle of chocolate milk, then declaring that he needed a nap. Sure enough, a few minutes later, he was sound asleep and snoring with Tab E. Cat.

As for me, I don’t do donuts anymore.

To Remember Them By

The shop was also selling beautiful T-Shirts:

What James decided upon was one of these ceramic coasters instead:

It’s on the bookshelf now, away from dogs.

The Felon Dog in Question

The T-shirts are, I think, $34, and the coaster was $12. I warned James to put the coaster where this highly destructive dog can’t get to it.

He would have really loved to try one of the donuts. But James knows not to turn his back on this dog. Because it happened again.

Sam continues to rack up new criminal charges on his “rap sheet,” including aggravated food theft when he got one of our pork chops the other night. James was doing some dog wrangling while cooking dinner, and turned his back on this dog “just for a minute.” 

That was long enough for Sam to not only grab James’ cooked boneless pork chop, but throw his hot au rotten potatoes all over the counter and the floor. (That’s what I call au gratin potatoes from a box.) When James got into the kitchen, the pork chop was hanging out of Sam’s mouth. The dog then turned around and growled at James, so he backed off and let the dog finish that pork chop.

When I arrived in the kitchen, the other Chocolate Lab, Buddy, was doing the job of the “cleanup crew,” enjoying the rest of the potatoes. Thankfully, Sam only got that one chop. There were three others of the pack of four that were safely away from him.

This is why I warned James to put that lovely coaster UP. Trust me, Sam would be under the jail by now if he were human.

Updates and Coming Soon

Well. . .I’m working on a post about stuff we’ve been cooking around here. No kidding, no AI, just a few things we’re making on repeat for a while. One recipe involves a can of salmon, and that’s all I’ll say for now. Because it really goes great with my favorite White Bean And Olive Salad recipe I blogged about a while back.

I recently told my friend in California about that salad, and also about Nigella Lawson’s Sweet Potato Supper. That led to the email discussion of the difference between a yam and a sweet potato. . .I just get whatever is in front of me, really. She and her husband really enjoyed that recipe, although next time, she’s going to cook the bacon in a pan a little before putting it into the oven.

But then she told me about an embarrassing error in my original 2014 blog post–EEEK! Once I found it, I edited and corrected the post, adding subheads and a table of contents. This improved the post’s SEO, too.

There was also an update, including a printable version of that recipe if you want one. We need to make that recipe again, it’s been a while.

Fall is here, so the holidays will be coming up soon. Hold onto your PSL–the weather will be turning cool, then cold, then the Holidays, and we’ll be thinking about spring again. Meantime. . . .

Enjoy!