before & after beignets; cafe du monde, new orleans, louisiana. january 2009.

my cousin wanted someone to drive west with, and i had just returned from two months in thailand with a little money left in the bank and no obligations, so why not? i was twenty, what did i need with a savings account anyhow? we drove from DC to alabama to a funny town with a department store that bought up unclaimed luggage from the airlines and sold it. the entire town was dressed to the nines with nowhere to go. when it was time to leave we decided since neither of us had ever been that far south before we might as well head for new orleans via mississippi before making our way back up north to colorado.

i ate beignets at least twice a day for the two or so days we spent there. i had yet to figure out that i was gluten intolerant and i didn’t care about the food coma that came along with the delicious doughy beignets doused in powdered sugar and accompanied by a cafe au lait. the food coma was a small price to pay.

the last morning in the city we found ourselves searching for a breakfast place before heading out of the january heat and into the colorado cold. “beignets or biscuits and gravy?” i said. “both,” my wise cousin replied.