I MISS BEN-YEAH!!

So, when we were in Houston last week we were just checking out some 'things and stuff' and doing a little exploring on our way to the rehearsal dinner. Actually, we were just trying to find the rehearsal dinner... thank goodness for GPS. We were driving east (I think) from our hotel on Westheimer Road looking for River Oaks Drive on our way to the River Oaks Country Club. The shopping is amazing along that section of Westheimer with stores like Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, The Paper Source and a million (not really, but a lot) other great stores. The traffic was really bad at that time of day and our GPS was running just a little slow... like we just passed our turn slow. Turns out that there is not a road sign on River Oaks Drive. I guess if you are going there you should know where it is. Anyway... I made a quick left into a strip mall parking lot to turn around. I glanced up as we went through the lot and saw...

...THIS!!!

There used to be a Crescent City not far from us on Highland Drive in the Canyon Cove plaza and we used to love to go there for breakfast on Saturday morning. Eggs Nola and a fresh beignet! SO GOOD!

I knew where we were going for breakfast the next day... maybe lunch also. Just kidding... kind of!

There is nothing quite as great as sitting at a table on the sidewalk at the Cafe Du Monde on Decatur Street in New Orleans. Listening to some great Jazz music, enjoying the view of Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral and eating fresh beignets heaped with powdered sugar, but Crescent City is a close second!

What is a 'BEIGNET'? Pronounced 'ben-yey' it is basically a square, deep-fried pastry served hot and sprinkled with icing (powdered) sugar. Kind of like a scone or a sopapilla (like the ones at the Plaza Cafe in Santa Fe) only not as sweet. The Cafe Du Monde heaps on the powdered sugar so when you leave you usually have sugar all over you. If there is a breeze blowing you end up sharing your sugar with your neighbors also!!!

Suzie's favorite are the strips with cinnamon and sugar...

My favorite are the strips drizzled with chocolate and vanilla icing topped with a little powdered sugar.

So good! I guess it is good that the Crescent by us closed... I could eat these 'things' every day. Not very healthy and I would be as big as a house! But I must admit, I would enjoy every bite!

Is there any place in Salt Lake to get beignets? Let me know, I will try to stay away!