Is there anything better than this?...

Cafe Du Monde.

This may be the most delicious place in all of New Orleans. It includes 2 of my favorite things. Donuts and Hot Chocolate. For those of you who know me, you know that coffee just isn't my thing. So the very first time when I sat down to have those little french donuts I didn't have coffee, I had hot chocolate and it's good. Really good! However, it's August and it's a bit hot out for hot chocolate. So today we replaced it with some ice cold chocolate milk. Let me help you visualize heaven...

It looks a little something like this. It's warm and crispy on the outside and soft and yummy on the inside. This is the epitome of donuts. The quintissential breakfast, lunch, dinner & snack food. Oh. My. Goodness. Have you tried to eat your screen yet? I heard once that a picture is worth a thousand words...enough said. Along with your beignets (that's french for little rectangular donut heaven) you get musical stylings for some gentlemen you might recognize had you watched anything on any channel about New Orleans. (They were actually on a travel channel special about New Orleans yesterday!)

As we round the corner on the 5th year since Katrina I want you to know that they aren't just here for your listening entertainment. They also sell CD's. At $20 a pop you'll be making a donation to their Southern Baptist Church where there are several inner city kids getting into some great programs. They spend a lot of time playing music for the locals but they real reason they're out here now is to make that money honey. So if you happen to be in the area and have an extra $20 laying around. Buy a CD. They're really good. They're really New Orleans. And they're doing a good thing.

A little calm today. On a good morning/noon/night this place is packed. Wall to wall full of tourists & locals alike. Did I mention that they are only closed on Christmas Day and open 24 hours a day?  From my personal expirience we make it down about once a week. I heard from my favorite neighbor that we're not the only ones. Cafe Du Monde has been a staple in this area for almost 150 years. They opened in the French Market in 1862. Originally Cafe Du Monde was a coffee stand. Today it's so much more. The last addition to the menu came in 1988 with the addition of Ice Coffee and soft drinks. I'm not sure if you have been to Lousiana in the dead of summer but I'm not sure what took them so long to get around to the iced part. Holy Hot around here. So I leave you with this delicious post. I hope you're having happy beignet thoughts tonight in your sleep.

Ha! I couldn't resist rubbing it in one more time! Hi mom! I miss you too!