A fun evening with the family

For weeks now I've been trying to pin down a night when we could watch "The Princess and The Frog" as a family and have a fun New Orleans dinner to go with it. We finally got to do that last night. We had jambalaya (thanks to Zatarains)and beignets (thanks to Mom T. and Paula Deen) for dessert. The beignets are tasty little pillows of fried dough, sprinkled in powdered sugar that you dip in chocolate sauce or raspberry jam. They were really good! And the recipe makes a ton.

I don't think I'll ever go to New Orleans, but I've always been interested in the place. Maybe it's the look of the buildings with the wrought-iron balconies, or the look of the trees draped with moss, or it could be simply the descriptions of the food. Then again, it could be that when I think of New Orleans, I also think of Disneyland? Let's just say that I like other people's idea of New Orleans.
Here's the recipe that I stole from my mother-in-law and I think Paula Deen:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup evaporated milk
7 cups bread flour
1/4 cup shortening
Nonstick spray
Oil, for deep-frying
3 cups confectioners' sugar
Directions
Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, salt and evaporated milk together. Mix egg mixture to the yeast mixture. In a separate bowl, measure out the bread flour. Add 3 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add the shortening and continue to stir while adding the remaining flour. Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray. Put dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oil in a deep-fryer (I used a pan since my deep-fryer is on the fritz) to 350 degrees F. They cook really quickly, so keep an eye on them.

Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into 1-inch squares. Deep-fry, flipping constantly, until they become a golden color. Drain on a paper towel, then sift powdered sugar on them and warm up your jam and chocolate sauce.