Hey! It's National Doughnut Day!

Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme are celebrating by holding their annual smackdown.

Since 1938, every first Friday in June is National Doughnut Day. Created by the Salvation Army to honor the women who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I, the day is an opportunity to enjoy our favorite deep-fried delicious treats.

Employing the lightening fast speeds of Twitter and Facebook as their cyber lightsabers, Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme are battling for doughnut dominance by enticing us to come in and enjoy a free doughnut on June 3, 2011.

Aw gee, really? OK, if we must.

DD vs. KK smackdown

Dunkin Donuts is offering a free doughnut with a purchase of a beverage.

Krispy Kreme has upped that with a free doughnut no purchase necessary but only at participating stores.

Here in Boston one could easily think National Doughnut Day is celebrated daily with the proliferation of Dunkin Donuts (D&Ds as we call it) dotting nearly every street corner. When I lived in Atlanta, I remember the lines of cars every morning outside the Krispy Kreme drive-through full of sleepy commuters ready to receive hot doughnuts as they rolled off the conveyor belt inside. Krispy Kreme, which has been around one year longer than National Doughnut Day itself and rules in the South, tried to infiltrate the New England market a few years ago but they failed. Miserably. Not even the Southern transplants wandering around shivering up here could help them.

Free stuff is always fun, but don't forget you can also make your own doughnuts at home. People across the globe have always looked for any excuse to make and consume doughnuts. So this annual National Doughnut Day is just icing on the cake, er, doughnut.

If you remember from our Mardi Gras recipe collection, the French have their beignets, the Germans their fastnachts, the Guyanese their pancakes and the Polish have their paczkis.

But who can pass up a free doughnut?

Go get 'em.