Some of the kids in cooking class want beignets.

That requires a yeast dough, usually, so is too much to do in the allotted time.

The following recipe doesn't make puffy beignets, like you usually see, but they do taste right and are easier.

Mix 1 cup milk, 4 eggs, 1 to 1 1/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you want it), and two tablespoons of vegetable oil.

In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and 1 tablespoon salt.

Add the flour to the egg/milk mixture, and then start adding more flour, about a cup at a time at first, less as you go on, until you have a nice, soft, easy to work dough.

Turn your dough out onto a floured board and knead just a bit, then roll out. Cut into squares and fry in hot oil, turning once.

Cover with powdered sugar and serve.


Oct. 19

Today is:

Armilustrium -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival of Mars)

Bettara-Ichi -- Japan (Pickle Market Fair, through tomorrow)

Constitution Day -- Niue

Evaluate Your Life Day

Feast of St. Paul of the Cross

Jesuit Martyrs' Day -- Canada

Mother Teresa Day -- Albania

National Seafood Bisque Day

St. Rene Goupil's Day (patron of anesthesiologists)


Birthdays Today:

Ty Pennington, 1965
Evander Holyfield, 1962
John Lithgow, 1945
Jeannie C. Riley, 1945
Peter Max, 1937
Robert Reed, 1932
John Le Carre, 1931
Jack Anderson, 1922


Today in History:

Battle of Zama, Scipio Africanus and his Roman legions defeat Hannibal Barca and the invading Carthagian army, BC202
King Gauseric and his Vandals take the city of Carthage, 439
The Thirteen Years' War ends with the Treaty of Thorn, 1466
Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology, 1512
The first general court is held in Boston, 1630
Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown at 2PM, end of the US Revolutionary War, 1781
Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow, 1812
Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to receive a medical degree, 1849
The first 4 blacks are elected to the US House of Representatives, 1870
The USPS first used an automobile to collect and deliver mail, 1914
Streptomycin, the first antibiotic which could treat tuberculosis, is isolated at Rutgers University, 1943
Black Monday - the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 22%, 508 points, 1987
Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II, 2003
Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity, 2005