I was born in CA and lived there until I was eight with one jaunt to Queens Borough, NY in between. I have many fond memories, and am thoroughly enjoying your skillful photos of beautiful CA produce. Apricot photos would be most welcome, if you run across any. I could conjure up the smell of those from the tree I used to pick through my screen. I fell for some again recently in the NC grocery store again because they had a few blush spots, but I'll probably be disappointed yet again.
Those folks are mighty proud of their fried dough! Those aren't even beignets! I have had them at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. Those in the photo look denser, and I've never seen any with granular rather than confectioner's powdered sugar. Hmmph. 
You were right to leave them behind.
I don't have a tried and true recipe for beignets, but here's one I have used for sopapillas, and they came out light and puffy like the photos in the link. I used powdered sugar instead of the honey recommended in the link. They are much like beignets that way, but can also be stuffed with beans and cheese, meat or veggies after cooking.
Edit: I halved her recipe because it was just the two of us and they don't keep well.
Here's an excerpt from my comment to the author on Jan. 12 of 2015:
"Thank you for this recipe. I bookmarked it a while back, and just got around to making it tonight. They looked just like your photos! They were delicious. After making more than one internet recipe that didn’t perform as advertised, I can tell you that this one will definitely not disappoint you if you try it.
Next time I think I’ll use White Lily biscuit flour for an even lighter texture, and there will be next times for sure. :-)"
