I am currently trying to learn how to silk screen my art work. The snippet above is acting as my “test” print. Hopefully this weekend I will actually get a screen burned.
Go me! Woo! Yea! Woo! (I’m trying to pump myself up.)
Dear God please please please let me not screw it up. Please. Love, Erica.
Macarons from La Duree. Photo from WSJ
I am in a super-busy phase of late (Doing what? I dont’ know!) so here is just a quick little update. Jeffery get’s the Wall Street Journal and handed me yesterday’s edition as there is an article about macarons. It’s pretty interesting. I had a feeling macarons may be the new cupcakes. It also mentions the book. I don’t know when I am going to get around to making another batch - soon I hope!
Macarons with a not very smooth strawberry buttercream.
Or…How I Make Macarons - and I pretty much don’t know what I am doing. I think the most important thing I learned was to keep trying if they don’t turn out. Each time you attempt these and fail, you learn something. Try a different recipe. Don’t skip steps. Keep trying and you will get it.
This recipe for macarons is based on Fanny aka Foodbeam’s recipe for Macarons à la rose de Pierre Hermé and techniques used in the book I ♥ Macarons by Hisako Ogita. It uses an Italian meringue which, according to Hisako Ogita (and others) makes the macarons hold up better.
Ready? Here we go!
I am seriously tired. We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday installing our new beautiful wood floors and yesterday recovering from the whole ordeal. It’s amazing how everything else in the house look gross compared to the floors. It makes me want to tear into a new project and get all new furniture! First order of business is acquiring rugs. Poor Lu had to warm her belly on a scrap of old carpet - but I don’t think she minded too much. We also have to put in baseboard trim which is going to take forever. I just can’t get over how nice it is to look down the hall through the kitchen and see the same floor all the way. No linoleum, no orange carpet. It’s so awesome.
I am working on a macaron how-to, but the flooring put everything else on hold, so stay tuned!
Mission accomplished! Stay tuned for the definitive blow-by-blow. I did a lot of things differently this time and I am not sure exactly what I did to make them turn out, so I am just going to do the SAME thing every time from now on. Which I will tell you all about. Just not right now. Happy Monday!
It occurred to me (mainly talking to coworkers) that most people probably are not familiar with Macarons. Immediately they think of Macaroons - those coconut pyramid things.
From Wikipedia:
The confectionery is characterized by its smooth, domed top, ruffled circumference, and flat base. Connoisseurs prize a delicate, egg shell-like crust that yields to a moist and airy interior. The French macaroon differs from other macaroons in that it is filled with cream or butter like a sandwich cookie, and can be found in a wider variety of flavors that range from the traditional (raspberry, chocolate) to the exotic (foie gras, truffle). Making macarons requires a great deal of discipline and is a process that is highly dependent on exactitude, technique, and proper equipment. For this reason it is a notoriously difficult recipe to master and a frustrating endeavor for the amateur baker. Source.
One of my favortie bloggers posted some Macarons made in Portland at Ken’s Artisan Bakery. I will have to see if I can find this place next time I am down there:
Source: Childhood Flames
See the foot? It’s the textured ring around the bottom of the meringue. My favorite thing about them, however, might be the possibility of color. I am utterly drawn to them when I see them en masse. They are like little jewels that I must possess.
Source: Gigabiting
In addition to the book I mentioned in my previous post, here is a list of recipes and tutorials I have been studying:
These little buggers are tricky.
I used the recipe for italian meringue in I ♥ Macarons by Hisako Ogita. I would say that overall it was a successful first attempt, even though I burned one batch and neither batches have the coveted “pied” or foot on them. Oh…and most of them were cracked. The little cracking around the bottom looks like the beginning of a foot though, eh?
What I learned:
So. Even though they are not perfect, I can see the potential glory. Fiddly and addictive. If I get these right I am going to be so happy. I wanted to make some hearts like the one’s at Williams-Sonoma, they are so glossy and beautiful. I am also thinking of filling them with a blood orange curd (gotta use up those yolks!) or a white chocolate ganache, I can’t decide. I am already looking forward to trying this again!
Things are about to get a little insane around here I think. Right now I am in sort-and-organize mode (and beginning to realize how much crap I have) prepping to rip the carpet out of the entire downstairs. Stuff has to be off the floor, little tsotchkes have to be put away, and the books, oh Lordy, I have a ton of books - those have to be put somewhere so that the bookshelves can be moved.
This means all projects are on hold as well. I am about 35% done with the Kasia skirt and it’s going to be SO cute, but the sewing station has to be put away moved somewhere I have yet to determine.
I thought that I was going to be able to repaint the walls before the floor went in - Ha! Hahahaha…..ah….THAT’s not going to happen.
I am doing a lot of decorating in my head and should probably do one of those really cool mock-up/mood boards that Making it Lovely and This Young House are so good at. I find them harder to put together than they seem. In the mean time I am having a pretty intense long distance love affair with that clock over there at CB2. It will be mine.
Rugs. Rugs are also on the brain. We will need rugs. Lots and lots of rugs. I got the new Flor catalog in the mail yesterday and it may well be my savior. And ever since I saw Nicole talk about the Be my neighbor rug from Flor I have been obsessed with it.
So to recap: sorting through crap and fantasizing about clocks and rugs. Good times.
Well,…here it is. Our new floor. Chillin’ in the garage patiently waiting to be installed. SO MUCH work needs to be done before this stuff goes in. We’re talking ripping up carpet, moving furniture, clearing out closets (Oi.) and painting the walls. General purging.
Much thanks to both Michelle and Trixie for suggesting Devine Paints. I found a place locally that carries the brand and I am very excited to check them out this weekend.
I don’t think I ever posted the final product of the 35mm lampshade I made this summer. It’s a project that has far, far exceeded my expectations and I love how it turned out. It would look a heck of a lot better without popcorn ceilings, but hey - you can’t have it all. Not yet anyway.
We are starting off the year in serious home improvement mode. We have purchased materials for new floors which we are thinking will go down sometime in March. So to prepare for the glory I am going to repaint the entire downstairs. One thing I have learned is that a dark color and dark curtains in this house = cave. It’s way too dark. We are thinking of doing a light grey (I know, grey is so hot right now) with a hint of blue. I went to the paint store the other day after reading about Benjamin Moores Aura paint line and got a sample. It’s so amazing how light affects color:
Yes, it’s the same color on the right in both swatches. It’s perfect and I love it in the living room (left) but it’s too dark and too blue in the hallway (right). Oi, the dreaded hallway. It’s really important to me to have a paint that is low VOC and has amazing paint coverage over the darkness in the living/dining area, but I am starting to think that I am going to need a REALLY light color in the hall. I am not going to make the same mistake and settle for something I don’t like, so…back to the paint store!
P.S. Don’t you just looove the texture on my walls? WTF?