Party! It's national donut day and in my house that is a true holiday. Donuts hold a special place in our hearts (and who can blame us amiright?). In preparation for today, I was doing a bit of poking around on the interwebs and stumbled upon something that made me appreciate fried dough just a bit more.

Did you know know that National Doughnut Day was started as celebration of women!? Specifically women who served the US Army in WWI with hospitality and of course Donuts. The 'Doughnut Lassies', as they were fittingly called, created this well loved treat out of necessity! Due to their less than desirable cooking conditions in the War, baked goods were hard to produce, and thus they began frying the dough in a small frying pan. Donuts are a true symbol of the creativity and intuition of women.

Donuts were served to homesick men as a symbol of care and boosted their spirits during a tough time. These women were celebrated by the Chicago Salvation Army in 1938 by establishing National Donut Day!

This year's national donut day marks 100 years since the original Donut Lassies got creative with their rations and introduced the donut to soldiers, which popularized the treat after the war. I know these silly national holidays pop up all the time and it's hard to know where they came from and what we are celebrating. Its so cool to me that while we can celebrate those fried pieces of goodness we can also celebrate women who bravely sacrificed for their country too!

I am going to raise my donut proudly and say cheers to the Doughnut Lassies!

There are many places that you can snag a free donut today, including Salvation Army locations across the US! To read the full story on the history of the donut lassies and the salvation army, check out their article here.