Fat Wednesday

Well Heather beat me to the Mardi Gras punch...but we def dove into some New Orleans culture with the food (with my own personal twist...don't get down on me purists)!  I made some FAN-tastic shrimp etoufee. This is one of the dishes that I first made when I got my own apartment for the very first time.  You can find the recipe here...just keep in mind that the written recipe makes 20 servings...so adjust accordingly!!  I didn't have any mushrooms, but I substituted some cannellini beans and it still turned out super delish!!

OOOOO it was so tasty.  The wee one didn't try it, no surprise, but he didn't scream and yell and push his plate away.  He at least touched the shrimp, with one little finger.  I take that as a step in the right direction.

And then, as the kiddos were watching The Princess and the Frog (which, like Heather said, is set in New Orleans) I made us some beignets!  This is the recipe I used here. SOOO decadently sinful and delish!  I even got to use my new jadeite shaker for the powderd sugar downpour dusting.



I used the bread hook on my kitchenaid mixer to do all the kneading...I'm kinda lazy like that



Letting the dough rise

 


  Even the hubs was happy to have a fun little theme night!  I love doing this kind of stuff...and next week is St. Patricks day fun!  Going to maybe try and figure out how to make green beer, corned beef and cabbage (or a variation of), and Irish potatoes (not really potatoes...). 

Do you guys have any fun theme nights/days that you do?