March Macaron Madness

Hello there and Welcome back!

So for quite some time I have had on my baking bucket list the illusive macaron.  So far I have been successful in avoiding the project for real and imagined reasons, the bag of Almond Meal flour ahs remained untouched and in my freezer, I have woken up in a cold sweat dreaming about this little delicate morsel, I have read up on it, did my research, went to a bakery in Columbia called Lady Antoinette's with my sister and had the opportunity to taste and yes, enjoy the macaron and yet my heart still stops cold when I think of making these little gems.  Some of the posts that I read from experienced bakers go on and on about how very difficult it is to transform 4 or 5 basic ingredients into the most beloved cookie; although in my estimation this is much more than a cookie,  However, I have come to learn recently that the longer you put your dreams off the more impossible it will be to make them come true because the fear of failure will paralyze you from being a success!

This is the month that I finally will make the plunge, I finally have the determination, confidence and knowledge where I feel somewhat comfortable taking on this task.  It also seems that I have the perfect occasion for it as well.  I was asked to make a few things for a small wedding and me thinking small is 10 said yes, but when I learned small was more like 50 to 75 I just jumped at the opportunity to try to surprise the bride with a delectable morsel you can only get in bigger cities made by top notch professional chefs - no pressure here.  In doing my research I learned that March 20 is National Macaron Day and thought how fitting, how appropriate and yes how Kismet as the wedding is on April 4th!  

Being the OCD person that I am decided to read up on the beloved macaron once again and do as much advanced preparation as humanly possible.  On the counter of the kitchen in a corner away from wet areas are the DO NOT TOUCH, mise en place items for the baking expedition.  .  I separated the eggs.  I also took the liberty of drawing a transfer sheet, for lack of a better word, that will fit underneath the parchment paper so that all of my macarons are the same uniformed size - 1 inch in diameter.  There are 20 1-inch circles which means 10 cookies.  It does come to my attention that in order for 50 people or couples to have 2 cookies I will have to make 10 sheets of these, thankfully, they store well for a week in an airtight container.  I have a little under a month to get this right and that is good because I am the ultimate perfectionist, especially when it comes to my baking!  My ultimate goal for the bride and grooms big day is to get the mini Chinese takeout boxes in one of the fabulous colors of the wedding and put two macaron's in each small box.  However if I cannot find these boxes for some odd reason I think that I will just put them on a tray, however when they are on a tray there is no guarantee at that point in time that each person will get two because someone is going to eat yours!

Below you will find pictures of what some of the things I have done this morning in preparation for making the first macaron tomorrow!  In the next few days you will have the recipe that I chose, the difficulties I found,if any. and what I plan to do the next time to prevent whatever issues I had with the challenge before me.  Until then please stay tuned and wish me luck with my new found obsession - The Macaron

1" circular "mold" for macaron size conformity

Top side of Macaron Mold (trace circle from the inside)

Macron "Mold"

Three Egg Whites

Three Egg Yokes

UPDATE!

So it is pretty obvious that I have not been keeping up with this food blog; and while no apologies are forthcoming, I do think that maybe you would like to know what I have been up to; if so than read on Sometimes life is all consuming and sometimes far more important than writing it down for others to read is just living it and being in the moment of it.

When I last posted I had moved to Ocala Florida; well, that was a short-lived under a year trip and nowI am back! Florida was an experience but basically the same small town mentality and atmosphere as Holden Beach but without the beach and without my children who I missed dearly for the 10 months I was away.  So I figured that since the adventure did not work out like I had planned I would rather be back in my own small town with my own small town mentality with the people I knew and loved.  At the end of the day the "non-risk-taker" took a risk and it turned out to be exciting in the beginning, normal in the middle, a bit of a challenge towards the end but all in all by the time it was all said and done I was ready to come home, with absolutely no regrets.  My only regret would have been not taking the risk and always wondering about a missed opportunity.  I have been back home in North Carolina for about 4 months and keeping to myself for the most part, I have spoiled my two teens rotten with different food experiments, late night french toast, early morning taco omelets, and I have been dedicated in working out 3 to 4 times a week.  I have reconnected with old friends and met a few new ones.  All in all, nothing exciting, just life in general which is a great thing in and of itself.

I have learned a lot since I have been back; I have learned to love grapefruit. I hired a personally trainer briefly, thinking that maybe I could get a little bit more of an edge to my existing workout and eating habits (aka diet) only to discover that everything I was being told I was already doing or already knew.  The one thing I did take from it is to stop second guessing yourself and your knowledge, have a little more faith, try some new things and oh, I now LOVE grapefruit thanks to the trainers advice to eat 1/2 a grapefruit in the morning.  But it has to be red grapefruit!  I learned to drink green tea with honey and I am averaging about 2 cups a day, as someone has been smart enough to make a  Chai Green tea and there is nothing I love more than chai tea!  I still have not made macarons and I have the almond flour in the freezer, my fear of messing it up is overriding my desire to conquer the task, however, I felt that way about cream puffs and when I made the pate a choux and discovered how easy it was I could have kicked myself for not doing it sooner!  I have learned that you can literally make any thing you can think of in a crock pot and pinterest will have a recipe for it!  It really helped in those randomly cold winter days like today where my kids have off of school.  I made "award winning chilli" which I had to tweak because it was absolutely devoid of heat.   Thank God for Siracha and McCormicks Southwest No Salt Spice!!!  The best part was that my kids had no idea I made it with ground turkey and I am taking my secret to the grave!

I recently discovered a new fitness place in town, right across frommy development.  One thing about living in a small town is that they sometimes do not have the "new" ideas when it comes to fitness and I am not driving an hour to Wilmington OR Myrtle Beach.  I have always been curious about meditation and chakra balancing; their blog is quite informative.  They teach a yoga class called Buti Yoga which looks really intense when I watched the YouTube video from the creator. They also teach a Piloxing class which mixes one of my favorite sports, boxing, with Pilates, cardio, some dance moves and floor work and the class is an hour long which means I do not have to spend 30 minutes on the gerbil-mobile!  They have more than one type of yoga class, which I find amazing since I only thought there was one and now we are in the age where there is gentle yoga, power yoga, Buti Yoga, hot yoga.  I am really excited that something like this is right across the street from my development and cannot wait to go try it out.  Oh and the best part? They offer a class on Samurai Swords every other Saturday....WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT???? Yeah you heard me! Unbelievable! Now I need to get a sword, or in my case a plastic stick that I can't accidentally poke someone's eye out with! 

Alright, you have been updated and may now go on about your day doing random acts of kindness, eating good food and drinking something warm and cozy until this weather warms up!