there's a "health craze"?

In another thread, we visited about the cachet that Coors beer once had. Now it's owned by Molson.

Krispy Kreme is a similar story. They over-expanded, and too quickly.

They sold a franschise for three stores in Denver. When the first opened, police assistance was required to direct traffic off the highway to their drive thru.

My enterprising son and his friends got in line and bought 12 dozen KK's, then walked back along the line of traffic selling them for two dollars a donut to the drivers waiting in line.

The third and last of those original Denver franchises lasted only a year or so before closing due to a lack of business. However, a LaMar's Donut shop (I don't think you have LaMar's back there...) just a couple of miles away continues to thrive to this day.

Krispy Kreme was a case of too little biusiness acumen, not too many calories.

Joyce W. asked "there's a "health craze?"

Yes, there's a bunch of crazed people out there insisting everybody eat healthy, according to their idea of healthy. And if you don't like one, there's always more to follow.

I think KK is failing because their donuts just aren't very good.

As regards KK other than the hot glazed donut everything else was beyond nasty...including the coffee

I thought Krispy Kreme's troubles started when folks started cutting their carb intake. Frankly, I never did like KK. If I need a donut, I'll go to Woodlea Bakery, God bless it. Long live family-owned neighborhood bakeries!

I never did understand KK getting the new IKEA reaction from folks. They really aren't that good. Way too sweet.

hey Lissa - R U back in the USA or still in Iceland? Did you have moose or raindeer or ...puffin - that's right I recall that Icelanders love to eat puffin!

Joyce, got back last night. I didn't eat reindeer (introduced a few hundred years ago, one of the 5 wild land mammals in Iceland) and I also missed puffin. Wrong season for puffin, I think.

I did have meat soup, whale, thylsur (hot dogs), skyr, hjangkjot (smoked lamb), fish and chips, rye flatbread (not crisp bread), lobster soup, salmon kebab, and some very odd and artistic yet tasty sandwiches. It is a good place to eat, if you can afford it. Heck, even the tap water spoils you.

Lissa, welcome home. Hope you enjoyed your taste of scandanavia. The lamb, smoked fish and lobster soup sounds great in and of themselves. I've heard that Icelandic lamb feeds on a diet makes it absolutely delectable. How far did the U.S. dollar take you with prices?

The lamb is amazing. They hang out somewhere in the highlands, eating whatever they please all summer. While the sheep are out in the wilds, the farmers cut grass and try to make hay to feed them over the winter.

Come the first week of Sept. or so, they round up the sheep and sort them. Many go to slaughter, the rest go to the inner fields then into barns for the winter (the only farm animals that don't go into barns for the winter are the horses, who are tough little bastards).

So, yes, the sheep eat all natural, no fertilizer or pesticides and a wide variety of what grows there. Delicious.

Being in the middle of the North Atlantic, just about everything is very expensive. A hot dog is close to US$3 or more. A hamburger (not that I had one there) is around $10. That fantastic fish and chips dinner I had was 1100 ISK, which is close to $12, and was a very cheap dinner. The lobster soup was 600 ISK, so a bit over US$6.

The usual cheap meal is meat soup (potatos, carrots, rutabagas, onion, few pieces of lamb). It is generally served family style, all you can eat, with bread and butter. It runs from 800-1500 ISK (the later in the tourist areas). Really hits the spot when you've been out in the rain and wind. I didn't have any bad meat soup, but some were definitely better than others.

I was staying at hostels, so I mostly got food at the grocery store and cooked myself. Even so, I was easily spending US$50 a day on food and lodging, more if I went out for a meal.

On the other hand, thermal swimming pools are all over the place and cheap. For under US$4, you can spend as long as you like soaking in hot pots (they label the temps, some are even sea water), swimming, hanging out in hot water, etc. All usually outside.

Fascinating country. I can't wait to go back. If you've got the money and a bit of a sense of adventure, it is stunningly gorgeous.