Dark Roast Ground Coffee with Chicory
French Market Coffee is the classic New Orleans blend of dark roast coffee & French chicory that comes in their signature can. A New Orleans Favorite, this is the glorious black liquid gold locals search for every time they return to New Orleans. Read more…
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Santa Cruz Boardwalk 2023
Concerts, Rides, Arcade, and Beach Movies!
The Santa Cruz Boardwalk 2023 is buzzing with activities that are great for both date nights and the whole family.
Free movies
At 9 PM on Fridays from June 16th through August 11th free movies will be shown on the main beach Read more…
New Orleans-Style Beignets
Back From The Big Easy
I am back from New Orleans, and it was everything I thought it would be. The weather was hot and humid. The music was loud and all around. The food was fantastic. And, the drinks were strong. I want to go back. It has only been a few days, but I am already longing to roll out of my French Quarter bed and find an early morning table for some beignets and a café au lait.
That is how we spent our first morning there. Miracle of miracles, we were able to just walk right in and sit down at a table. Mid-week is obviously the time to go to avoid the potentially long line. I knew that I would love the beignets. I mean, fried dough with copious amounts of powdered sugar? Sign me up. I was surprised though at how much I enjoyed my café au lait.
I have always liked my coffee with a lot of cream or milk. My husband has for years teased me about the coffee-flavored milk I drink each morning. He is one of those coffee purists who drinks it basically black so as not to inhibit the path of the caffeine to his bloodstream.
I will give him credit, though. He took one for the cream team that morning and sipped some rich coffee goodness while listening to the “dulcet tones” of the jazz band playing on the sidewalk. By dulcet tones, I mean loud. Really loud. Good, but any conversation was rendered impossible. But it screamed New Orleans and it was the perfect breakfast.
I made sure to buy some of the beignet mix at Café Du Monde to bring home even though I know I could get it at several places here. It just seemed wrong not to get it at the source. If you feel like you want to give them a try and make some as authentic as possible beignets from scratch, the recipe below is pretty darn close.
The reality is that they will just never taste as good as they do when you are sitting in the French Market at the Café Du Monde.
New Orleans-Style Beignets Recipe
Adapted from Baker by Nature
Yields 3 dozen beignets
The dough for these New Orleans-Style Beignets needs to be refrigerated for at least 2 hours before frying, and up to 24 hours in advance. Also, the eggs and butter need to be at room temperature to make the dough. Read more…
U-Pick Cherries in Brentwood
U-Pick Cherries are ready for picking!
And, they are tasty and sweet. Now is a great time to head to Brentwood in Eastern Contra Costa County for U-Pick. Harvest time in Brentwood is year-round, but this time of year is fantastic—so, get out there and pick your own! Read more…