Adventures in Baking..MACARONS! With the Great Ethan Allen

So this weekend Cheryl and I attempted to make some Macarons.   Not to be confused with macaroons,   (Even the BOOK spelled it wrong!) 

Macarons are a delicate French concoction that costs a fortune in the store,  provided you have a store in your STATE that sells them.  ( Iowa lacks these little gems, BTW)

So,  the recipe is quite simple, calling for crushed almonds and meringue with sugar.   Then add the flavor of your choice.   The first few did not turn out as well as we had liked.  The paper curled up and messed up the tops.  Also,  It took me two attempts to get the meringue to turn out correctly.   There is additionally this little trick to allow the domes to form by leaving them out for almost an hour before baking them.  

In the end,  they looked bad, but tasted great!   Our second attempt was much more successful, but we forgot to take pictures of those. 

Anyway,  we also made some BLT's with fish bread.   Similar to a pita bread,  the goldfish bread was quite yummy!  Even the cats thought so!

 

 I'm not sure what our plans are for this weekend,  as sales have begun to trickle in, but Cheryl wants to bring Macaron happiness to the people at ACT on the last day of the MCAT.  I'm sure we will be perfecting out baking skills on Sunday...and perhaps we will post better pics of them then.   We shall see.

Origami Phoenix, Pegasus, and Another Dragon.

What can I say,  I'm having fun with the paper.   I received a request from one of my benefactors for an origami Phoenix,  so I wanted to change things up a bit.   Since I could not make up my mind,  I made two.   It's unfortunate that I didn't have more time to take better photos,  but I was on my way out the door when I snapped the pics.  

Anyway,  this blog is pretty much for my own recall,  so I will remember it long after this computer dies with all the pictures on it.   Not to mention I will most likely fold a better one later on.   In other news,   I have found a new way of making paper, and a new art store that carries  some very interesting papers.

  I can't wait to try them out,  but for now, I'll  continue making my own.   Hope everyone is having a great week so far.   This day has been very nice to us.   it's one of those days where things just go "right".   Which is a pleasant change as of late,  and ultimately bound to happen eventually.   so...for now...We will sit back and enjoy it as it continues.  

New Paper, More Dragons.

As our time at ACT winds down,   I have been working on a few new designs with some different paper.   I'm pleased with the gold dragon,  but the red paper has issues that need to be solved yet.   Although I think the scorpion turned out ok,  it still managed to strain the paper to the tear point.   Even after dampening it,  it lost even more integrity.   Ah well,  the design was not that complicated,  but it will require a little more experimentation. 

we have several days off this weekend,  so I'm looking forward to making some more paper and folding something a little more complex...we shall see.....Cheryl and I have been back to sewing stockings once again, and we have made a few more sales so hopefully,  things will start picking up on the business end...Hope everyone is having a great week so far,   and now the weekend begins!