New Years Treat January 2018

Hello 2018! If you’re reading this, thank goodness, you’ve made it to a New Year. This January I’ve noticed people aren’t necessarily making specific New Year’s resolutions, but they are making choices to eat healthier, to be more active or to get a better hold of their finances.

It dawned upon me that these are great things to do, but some have restrictions and limitations. Considering what I was going limit myself to in 2018, a question popped in my mind. What are you going to treat yourself to, in 2018? What special thing, big or small are you going to indulge?

My treat? Beignets. Warm, fluffy, French doughnuts covered in mounds of powdered sugar where only the best of the best are found in New Orleans, Louisiana. Carbs be damned! I try to visit New Orleans often. As a matter of fact, I’ve gone to my home away from home several times to research things for my novel GYPSY KISSES AND VOODOO WISHES.

Taking a class from Chef Toya Boudy  when she was at the New Orleans School of Cooking to see how Grandmother Zenobia might prepare her gumbo was essential (and not to mention delicious). While enjoying a swamp tour, I discovered contrary to popular belief in the movies, the bayou does not stink. It is a thriving ecosystem and has a charm of its own. Visiting Marie Laveau’s resting places (yes, there is more than one) was creepy and beautiful. I’m drawn to New Orleans because I am madly in love with the food, music and culture the city offers. If you’ve been there, you know there’s nothing quite like it.

Ah, the beignets from Cafe Du Monde are literally the sugar on top of my happy place.

It seems to me that the past few years have been rough. As a country we’ve seen lots of political changes that separate us more than unite us, we’ve mourned a lot more deaths, and we’ve fought through several life altering natural disasters. Now that 2018 is upon us, I suggest you take a small moment to be nice to yourself. What one special thing are you going to treat yourself to?