Krispy Kreme is in another battle, and this time it isn't with Dunkin' Donuts.

The beloved donut chain is being sued by a company called Caribbean Creme. Seems that the company has a fruit drink also called Caribbean Creme and they aren't happy that Krispy Kreme has come out with a drink and doughnut called Caribbean Kreme. It's part of their "Chillers" line.

I have as much legal expertise as Barney Fife, so I have no idea if this has merit or not. But maybe Krispy Kreme should have spelled it "Karibbean Kreme."

The only thing keeping me from buying the Dough-Nu- Matic this very second is concern about storage space for another large kitchen appliance that would only get used a few times. Oh - and the $129.99 price tag.

The Dough-Nu- Matic is straight out of the Jetsons. According to the advertisement on Sky Mall, "The Dough-Nu-Matic automatically forms, fries and drains delectable mini-doughnuts in just 50 seconds!" It would be so fun to have piping hot doughnuts as toppers for my cupcakes. Why not put a doughnut on top of a cupcake? Everyone needs that extra fat!

What about hot mini-doughnuts as a quick and un-nutritious after-school snack?

Does anyone else want this product? Does anyone already own the Dough-Nu-Matic? I'd love to hear how well it works and what kinds of doughnuts you've made.

[via Mix Mingle Glow]

Stores will also be frying up their light, yeast-raised doughnuts in heart shapes, coating them with white icing and red, white, and pink sprinkles. They're not quite up to the same level of cuteness as the Halloween doughnuts that Krispy Kreme featured back in October, but it's hard to say no to a doughnut with sprinkles

And on February 14th, stores will be making their regular glazed doughnuts in heart shapes, as well.

Donuts are not health food. Fried pieces of dough covered in sugar or chocolate and, sometimes, filled with jam, donuts are written off by millions everyday as an indulgence. But because they rely so heavily on frying, and as a direct result, on partially hydrogenated oils, donut makers have grown increasingly worried about their futures over the past few years, as trans fats have fallen far from the eye of public favor.

A large number of donut makers have turned to "all natural" recipes and are already using trans-fat free oils for frying. After first seeing the anti trans-fat movement spring up, many shop owners and chefs started to eliminate any and all trans fats from their recipes. Some of the donut makers that use no trans fats include the Doughnut Plant in New York, Mighty-O Donuts and Top Pot Doughnuts in Seattle. Dunkin Donuts is close and has been testing new recipes for two years. More are in the process of converting, helped along by their desire to keep consumers coming in every morning and trying to make their particular brad of deep fried indulgence seem a little less bad for you.

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With only a week left until Halloween, there is still time to stop off at your local Krispy Kreme and pick up one of their pumpkin-shaped Halloween doughnuts. The seasonal treats are made from the same light yeast-raised dough as their classic glazed doughnuts, but unlike the classic, the doughnuts are stamped into shape and have no center holes. The finished doughnuts are coated in a thick orange icing and decorated with a jack o' lantern face. If you pre-order, you can get them filled with any of the shop's delicious filling flavors. A jam filling would look suitable creepy, oozing out of the smiling pumpkin face.

If the pumpkin-shaped doughnut isn't appealing, or if the icing seems to make it too sweet, Krispy Kreme is also offering a pumpkin-spice doughnut through the end of the month. And, as a final option, you could always try your hand at making your own.

Would you say that you love donuts? Even if your answer is "yes" and the employees at your local Dunkin' Donuts have your order ready and waiting for you every morning, you probably don't come close to the donut-love of Blognut. Not only does he blog about doughnuts, but actually took a trip across the country, from New York to Portland, OR, to get his wedding vows (with his wife, not a donut) renewed at Voodoo Doughnuts, one of the best donut shops in the country. And not only did he trek out to Voodoo, he blogged the whole experience - including what seems to be every donut on their menu. He and his wife visited Voodoo at least 5 times in one weekend, including stopping in three separate times on their last day in the Pacific Northwest. Multiple donuts were consumed each day.

The trip is blogged in five parts (part one, part two, part three, part four, part five) and is a must-read for any donut lover. Or if you just want to see some really great pics of some really unusual donuts (like the giant cat-donut above).

Earlier this week, I mentioned that I was doing some frying at breakfast, since I wanted something sweet that didn't involve using the oven. I ended up making beignets. Beignets are made from a yeasted dough that is deep fried and covered, usually, with powdered sugar (although savory versions exist). They are similar to doughnuts, but are almost always cut into small squares and lack the center hole that practically defines a doughnut. New Orleans is famous for its beignets and making them at home is almost as good as hopping on a plane and heading to Cafe du Monde to pick up some fresh ones, served with a cup of coffee with chicory on the side. You can try the recipe yourself, or stick to your summertime diet and just feast on food porn here.

It's the climax of summer; at least it sure feels like it here in southern California. Sure I'd love to go jump in the Pacific, or perhaps the pool out back, but really, I just did my hair!

So how to keep cool? Cool down from the inside with a refreshing smoothie. However, the smoothie and juice options out there are endless, whether you're deciding on the place, or what to get once you're there. AOL has a quick "report card" on two places that offer smoothies: Jamba Juice, and what we might consider Jamba's complete opposite, Dunkin Donuts. How did the two fare?

The three smoothies from Jamba Juice all got a grade of B or lower. The Mighty Cherry Charger got the B, but also packs a whopping 320 calories into its "slender" 16 oz. size. Both the Strawberry Whirl and Strawberry Nirvana are fewer calories, but get a lower overall grade for either tasting too sweet, or having an overwhelming artificial sweetener aftertaste.

But Jamba Juice certainly fared better than Dunkin Donuts, which received a D- for the Strawberry Banana Smoothie and a failing F for the Mnago Passion Fruit. Guess you may as well stick with the Donuts at Dunkin'. 

The donuts are sold under the name "Sunnymoon" and are unmistakably distinctive in their appearance. The inventor remains optimistic about sales because Canada is the most competitive donut market in the world, with the number one rate per capita of donut consumption. From all appearances, however, the Sunnymoons are off to a good start in terms of sales and, if they become family favorites, Atwell can be sure that his "beautiful doughnuts" will not be forgotten.