Homemade Cracker Jacks

Last night, Mike and I met for a date.  A date on which we would remain enemies until the very end of the night.  A date on which we exchanged glares instead of loving glances, snappy comments instead of loving words.

But that is to be expected between a couple comprised of a die-hard Yankees fan and die-hard Red Sox fan.

The problem of the evening, however, is that the game was in New York, not in my beloved, cozy Fenway Park.  As you might suspect, Yankees fans are not big on Red Sox fans crashing their stadium.

Not even tall, blonde females.

Whoopie Pie Macarons

A few weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night in a flash of brilliance.  A way to combine two of my favorite desserts.

Macarons and whoopie pies.  Two chocolate macarons sandwiching whoopie pie filling.

I decided to make them to bring my family.  A family of whoopie pie lovers.

Also a family of whoopie pie snobs.  Our old Maine recipe for whoopie pies is sacred.  No impostors will do.

So, you can imagine the importance of achieving the same flavor combination and balance in my take on the dessert.

They seemed to go over well.  If an empty container is any indication.

Macaron Day NYC

Happy Weekend!  Happy Spring!  Happy Macaron Day!

That's right - macarons now receive their very own day of celebration, thanks to Francois Payard.  This is the first Macaron Day in New York City, which coincides with the 5th annual 'Jour du Macaron' in France.

If you live in NYC, you can make this sunny, 70 degree day even sweeter with a free macaron!

And, if you live outside the NYC area, why not whip up a batch of your own to celebrate?

Or, if you are like me, you can make a batch of strawberry jam macarons and then pick up a free macaron anyway!  Hey, it's been a long winter.

Almond Turtle Bark with Fleur de Sel

For the birthdays of family members and close friends, I love gifting sweet treats created specifically with the tastes of that person in mind.

In my dessert-obsessed world, I think a personalized dessert is a pretty cool gift.  And it's edible.  Big plus.

When my grandmother's birthday came around this month, I already knew what I wanted to make for her big day.

I was inspired by one of her letters to me earlier in the year, where she described how much she loved walking the streets of Bar Harbor in the summertime and indulging in a chunk of turtle candy.

Easy enough.

Or so I thought.

I lost count after the eighth trial, but I had the hardest time achieving the consistancy I desired in the caramel.

After work, every night last week, there were multiple attempts to perfect the caramel.  And there were multiple failures.

Too hard.  Too soft.  Too runny.  Too burnt.

Saturday morning arrived with torrential downpours and hurricane-force winds.  I was fresh out of pecans and, lacking a canoe, there was no way I could safely run to the grocery store.

But I remained calm.  Just because I didn't have one of the three main ingredients of turtle candy was no reason to panic.  Some of my favorite recipes come to me when I am forced to work with only the ingredients I have on hand.

Shortly thereafter, a tray of gooey, chewey caramel encased in almonds and decident semisweet chocolate was sitting on my counter.  A sprinkle of fleur de sel and an extra drizzle of chocolate topped it off.

When the chocolate set completely, I cut the candy into diamond shaped pieces and packaged them in a little tin with a twine bow.  And was sure to apologize profusely for the late arrival of the candy.

But hopefully it was worth it.

Lesson: Basic Macarons

Remember a couple weeks ago when I couldn't stop blabbing about how much I love macarons?  After being assigned the task of making macarons at the restaurant, I fell deeply in love with creating, eating, researching and dreaming about macarons.

And it turns out, I'm not alone.

Since then, I have received several requests from people, trying to perfect the art of macaron-ing, to give step-by-step instructions for making macarons.

Let's begin with a few important notes.  Pour yourself a cup of coffee and join me.

First and absolutely most importantly - you need to muster up every ounce of patience possible as you practice creating these treats.  There is a lot of room for error and some things, like humidity in the air, are completely out of your control.

Did you just get home from a stressful day at work?  Do you feel fed up and at the end of your rope for the day?  Today is not the time to try making macarons for the first time.  Seriously.  Pour yourself a glass of wine, relax and try it some other time.

When you are feeling as though you have some patience to spare, make sure you also allot yourself enough time to read the instructions thoroughly, prepare everything and slowly and carefully go through all the steps.

Macarons are not the easiest of desserts, but once you become comfortable with the techniques, the creation process is actually quite enjoyable.

Feeling patient?  Have some free time?  Me too.  Tie on an apron and join me in the kitchen!

Valentine's Day Macarons

Valentine’s Day.

 

Somehow it kind of snuck up on me this year.

 

I had all these wonderful gift ideas and card-making ideas.  I even wrote them on colored Post-Its in my planner, just so I wouldn’t forget.

 

And then, last week after three sixteen hour work days, I realized it was Thursday. 

 

I fell behind on actually producing and mailing my wonderful ideas.

 

I fell behind just like updating my blog.

 

And my website.

 

And the housework.

 

And my running.

 

And when I spoke with my Mumsy on Valentine’s Day, I realized that my store-bought cards hadn’t even reached my loved ones in time.

 

“I feel bad, I had all these wonderful gift ideas,” I complained to my Mum.

 

“Don’t feel bad, you’re busy.”

 

“Maybe next year won’t be so busy,” I hoped.

 

“We always think that,” Mum responds, more than likely shaking her head at her twenty-something daughter who, evidently, still has a lot to learn.

  

Sigh.

 

For now, I will steal one of Mike’s Valentine’s Day macarons, complete with a healthy dose of Nutella between the chewy shells to lighten my mood.

Peanut Butter Macarons

A few weeks ago, I was given a new task at the restaurant - macarons.

 

Each technique - meringue, folding, airating, piping, hardening, baking - was demonstrated to me by the sous chef who, obviously, had much more experience with this than me.

 

When I'm not folding meringue into almond flour and confectioner's sugar or piping thousands of these delicate cookies, I am researching their history, cross-referencing recipes and tyring to absorb tips from other pastry chefs.

 

It's fair to say I've fallen pretty hard for these tempermental little beauties.  It might also be fair to say I'm a bit of a nerd.  But we knew that.

 

Saturday morning I set about creating macarons for a friend's 'Iron Chef'-inspired dinner party that evening.  Peanut butter was the chosen ingredient we had to use in all our dishes.

 

So, as an amuse bouche, I created peanut butter macarons: macarons with crushed, candied peanuts with creamy peanut butter filling.