I have what one might call, an obsession, with macarons. Ever since I tried them last year, I've felt the need to taste-test them every time I see them somewhere. Originally, I was convinced they couldn't be that difficult. There were only about 4 ingredients to them. How could they be so delicious and so difficult? I was very, very wrong. It turns out the most difficult recipes are the ones that only have a few ingredients. Test recipes 1 and 2 were epic fails. Both had decent flavor but texture and look were just terrible to say the least.
So I've been leaving the darn things to the professionals for the last few months. My fragile ego couldn't take the pressure. But I had a dream about them last night, and woke up with a renewed desire to nail the little pieces of heaven. I've been hoarding real almond meal (as opposed to the stuff I made that caused the epic fails) for a few weeks so I had all the ingredients to give them a go. After a few minutes of stress, and angst over whether or not they'd turn out - I'm ready to admit, the third time's a charm. They were AWESOME - even if I do say so myself. They looked like macarons. They felt like macarons. And most importantly they tasted like macarons! I'm also willing to concede that even though the recipe for these coconut and chocolate macarons came from a cookbook that spelled the word "macaron" incorrectly on every single page (including the cover), it's a pretty perfect recipe that I will be treasuring for a very long time!
PS: On top of nailing the macarons, these are probably the best food pics I've ever taken. So you could say today was a banner day in the kitchen for Kristen. Though I'm sure this new found cockiness will come back to bite me in the butt sometime soon...
For as long as I can remember, I've been dreaming of visiting Paris. There's always been something romantic and magical about the City of Light that's often expressed in movies and books. And of course the food scene is nothing to shake a stick at. So going into the big day in Paris, you could say the expectations were set a bit high and I suppose that may have been the problem. Like London, we mostly stuck with the tourist traps, but for the most part I found these to be a bit underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, they're still beautiful and iconic but they're just not as "sparkly" as I expected them to be.
The people were pushy and bustling (as are most that live in a big working city.) The Metro system was confusing and completely packed with people; so much so that you could barely move within the car which increased my fear of being pick-pocketed 10 fold. And the dark dreary, cold and rainy weather (which I know has absolutely no bearing on how great a city is) didn't really help the situation. While I'm sure there thousands of things I missed in such an over-flowing city as Paris, what I did see didn't excite me the way London did.
What We Did: Cathedral de Notre Dame, Shakespeare & Company Bookstore (my personal favorite of the day), The Eiffel Tower, Champs de Elysees, Pont de Arts, the Louvre Pyramid (didn't have the time to go in and don't judge but I probably wouldn't have gone in even if I had...), Montmarte & Sacre Couer
What We Ate: Baguette Sandwich with Ham and Cheese (don't ask me why, but I was not expecting Swiss cheese which was an unhappy development), Onion Soup, Laduree Macarons (Woohoo!), Nutella doughnut (I was unaware of the fact that it was Nutella. I just thought it was a chocolate donut. I have to say, even though I usually hate the Hazelnut spread that everyone adores, it wasn't too bad this time around.) & Steak Frites. (Oh and of course, some Tea to wash it all down)
Surprises Along the Way: The Eiffel Tower is WAY the heck far away from the other tourist attractions.
~ Most everyone speaks English and therefore my mangled French was deemed useless.
~ The Eiffel Tower is under the watch of MANY armed guards with big guns. I'm sure it's due to the onslaught of bomb threats they've had in the last few months, but even so: Scary!
~ The whole pay for the toilet thing, while expected, was still confusing as all get out.
Verdict: While I would most likely go back to see the non-tourist areas, it's just not my thing. While I was comfortable in the crowds and chaos of London, Paris' crowds and chaos were too overwhelming. I know for a fact I could never live there, and for the first time, I'm wondering how all those authors I read could possibly choose to start a life there.
It seems fitting that on what would have been Julia Child's 101st birthday, I've had the chance to research her favorite city all day: Paris. There's a small chance, which I never thought possible, that we may be going to Paris for the day when we are in London. Holy Moly! I still can't really believe it. I was perfectly (well, let's say insanely) happy to be seeing my favorite city again, along with my newly imagined other favorite city (Edinburgh) and Shakespeare's home. Adding the possibility of Paris onto what will be a truly memorable trip is just icing on the cake!
Paris has always been one of those places that's slightly out of reach. I'm sure it's filled with fabulous people looking nothing like me, and sounding nothing like me (Thanks 5 years of Spanish for getting me nowhere!) But Julia taught me that there is another side of Paris. A side fully of boulangeries, patisseries, chocolatiers and dozens of other food-centric positions. Basically its a city full of people that like to eat, drink and be merry. Ok, without the drink (Iced tea's not really their specialty), that's my kind of town!
So if it should happen, and right now it's looking good, I'll be spending my 12 hours in the City of Light repeating my mantra: What would Julia do? Though, most likely I'll be saying: What would Julia eat!? How exactly do you say: Where are the macarons? in French?
Happy Birthday Julia!
After spending pretty much the entire day in the kitchen, I've had some hits and misses. I'm not sure where the drive to bake and cook my day away came from but it was quite fun. Had I had more misses than hits, I'm sure I'd feel differently but it turned out pretty well.
Dish #1: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins: Yum! My plan was to only make a few since it was just me but then I thought I'd make the whole recipe for breakfasts this week. So glad I did, because they were delicious!
Dish #3: Red Velvet Macarons from this book: The second time was most definitely not the charm for these gosh darn treats. I was worried about trying them the first time, and they worked out fairly well with just a few tweaks. However this time, they weren't nearly as good. They didn't look like macarons (as you can see, the "Red" velvet didn't go so well...), and they certainly didn't have the consistency of macarons. But the filling was yummy.
Dish #4: Ham and Dumplings: The highlight of the day thanks to my chef of a dad. Yum Yum Yum! The perfect meal for a cold and sometimes snowy day.
