My Favorite!!

Southern Candymakers, a little hole in the wall, but the candy they make fresh daily is the very best!

There she is, caught in the act on her daily trek! The building is even her favorite color!!

Maybe they aren't beautiful, but they are filled with delicious fresh pecans! My mouth waters just looking at them!!

This was a favorite pastime in N.O. I was the self-appointed judge who set out to find the very best praline in the French Quarter! I've always called them pray-leens, but in N.O. they are called praw-leens! I didn't care what they were called, as long as I could eat them at least once a day! I sampled all the different stores claiming to have the best, but came to the conclusion Southern Candymakers was the very best!! So good I went there daily and bought two, sometimes three pralines!! Joe doesn't like them so I didn't have to share with him!

These little bad boys were $9.00 for a HALF-pound! I had to bring back at least a weeks supply! I also brought some to a few of my favorite people! Needless to say, I was broke when we returned! But I was happy! ---- Fat and happy!!

Yes, they have mail order catalog and website: www.southerncandymakers.com

Beignets!

We were told to not miss the beignets while we were in New Orleans. We went to the famous Cafe du Monde and had our first beignets. We were not disappointed! Beignets are pronounced "ben-yays." Beignets are fried pastry similar to doughnuts, but are more crispy. We did not have the cafe au lait because I'm not a coffee drinker and Joe didn't think he would like the strong chicory coffee even though it is mixed with hot milk.

The famous Cafe du Monde was established in 1953 and is still very much the same now as then.

The Great Tradition of Beignets and Café au Lait. In 1782 Spanish colonists established the trading area on the banks of the Mississippi River that we now know as the New Orleans French Market. From the beginning this market housed coffee stands. Coffee vendors were the elite of the merchants but got along well with the ethnic and social mix of customers who drank coffee throughout the business day. By the early 1800's, the custom of taking coffee at the French Market had spread throughout New Orleans society. The French Market's corner coffee stand opened in the 1830's and continues to operate today in the same location. From its inception, this coffee stand served up the typical strong coffee of the day and its soon to be famous beignets.It is believed that the Ursuline Nuns of France, who came to Louisiana in 1727, brought this simple pastry to New Orleans. The recipe remains the same to this day. The beignets are hand rolled and deep fried then covered with heaping amounts of powdered sugar. By the mid 1800's beignets had become a welcome treat for all social classes at all hours of the day.As is still the tradition, beignets were most often enjoyed with café au lait. In New Orleans, café au lait is strong dark roast coffee and chicory, served with equal part hot milk. In the early history of Louisiana, chicory was added to coffee to stretch dwindling supplies. It was found that, in addition to stretching supplies, the chicory also created a smoother, richer brew. The addition of hot milk to strong coffee and chicory created one of the oldest and greatest coffee traditions in the world.

As this tradition approaches its 200th year, beignets and café au lait have become symbolic of the old world charm of New Orleans and the French Quarter.

French Quarter

The architecture with the wrought iron trim is so beautiful. This is in the French Quarter in NO. I will continue blogging about our trip to New Orleans when I return next week. I'm going to SC to spend a week with my daughter and grandson, Caden! I'll be back on the 30th.

New Orleans Symbol of Birth and Renewal

We are back from our trip to New Orleans. I hope to give some details soon of the trip and the condition of N.O. Something I didn't know and found interesting is the popularity and use of Fleur De Lis symbol in N.O. I hope you can read the words here, if you can't, please let me know. The Fleur de lis is seen everywhere in N.O., on lots of jewelry, clothing, especially t-shirts, made into candlesticks, ornaments, etc. There are several meanings of the Fleur de lis, but I like the most recent one. It has become the symbol of rebirth and renewal in Louisiana since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina on 8-29-05.