I've always cooked for myself. My mother and father were not the kind of people that touched a stove other than to heat some water or light a cigarette. My grandmother on the other hand was a masterful cook with a vault like mind of recipes that she refused to write down. She taught me to cook, bake, and fry. I don't often give myself compliments but in this case I will say that I am a very good cook. The very few people that come into my life and eat my meals are simply blown away. My grandmother took most of her secrets to the grave, but in our short time together I learned as much as she would teach me of the old southern tradition of Creole cooking. I was making Beignets yesterday in order to stuff myself stupid on them today (which will be going down shortly after this post). Arms deep in dough, standing in the kitchen in little more than our dear Beignet above I fell victim to a drive by licking from my little deaf girl who was totally not begging. Looking down I caught a flash of inspiration. I needed to share my secrets and share my love for Creole and Cajun foods. While I cannot cook for yall personally I can supply you the directions to try it for yourselves. Miss Beignet will teach you how to cook with Southern Grace and bring the heat of Creole cooking. First up, Beignets, a deep fried pastry. Do NOT compare it to a doughnut unless you want to be run out of whatever restaurant you are in. They are airy, light, covered in powdered sugar and more or less made of crack. Above and Below is the recipe for this little slice of hell, I say hell because something that tastes this good but is that bad isn't allowed to go to heaven. Sugary Sweet Beignets 1 envelope of active dry yeast 1 1/2 C warm warter 1/2 C white sugar 1 C Evaporated Milk 2 Large egs lightly beaten 1 tsp salt 1/4 C shortening 6-7 C Bread Flour 1 Bag of Powdered Sugar 1 Brown Paper Bag Peanut Oil for Deep Frying Directions Mix yeast, 1/2 cupwarm water and 1tsp of sugar. Let stand 5-10 minutes until the yeast is heady. In a large bowl combine Yeast Mix milk, eggs salt and the rest of the sugar. Mix. Add shortening to the rest of the water and warm up until shortening melts. In a stand mixer combine Yeast Mix, melted Shortening Mix. Beat at low speed and begin adding four cups of flour until smooth. Add remaining flour until dough is sticky. Transfer to a lightl greased bowl. Cover and let rise for two to four hours. Chill dough for 24 hours. Lightly flour a surface and roll out dough to 1/4” thickness. Cut into 2” squares. Once cut dough can be frozen. Pour 2 C of Powdered Sugar into a brown paper bag. Heat Oil to 350. Fry until golden turning every 30 seconds or so. Toss in paper bag and shake. Rejoice at the glory of beignets.