This Month’s Film: Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
Cuisine: Indian:

One day last week, my son Will marched in from school and announced that the Cafe du Monde, my favorite restaurant in all the world, had reopened in the French Quarter, replete with a newly remodeled kitchen. He’d heard about it on NPR on his way to school that morning and couldn’t wait to deliver the good news. So thrilled was I at the tidings that I decided a celebratory tribute would be fitting, especially since I just happened to have a box of the Cafe du Monde’s very own proprietary beignet mix in my kitchen cupboard.

In honor of the occasion, I bought a luscious bunch of seedless black grapes and a pound of bacon for a Sunday brunch to enjoy with Will on this fine October morning. Wish I could say that it was the best batch of beignets I’ve ever made, but only about half of them puffed up as they’re s’posed to. The ones that did were delightful, and the ones that didn’t were tasty nonetheless. The grapes were sweet and juicy, if a little tannic, and I have to confess that Will and I consumed the entire pound of bacon in one sitting. But since I can count on two fingers the number of times we’ve had bacon in the past year, I figured what the hell, and allowed us both to indulge in a little guilty pleasure. What fun!

Vive le Cafe du Monde!

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