Tuesday, February 15, 2011

chocolate macarons :)

I forgot how much work macarons are but they are so much fun to make! This was my first time making them the French method. I listened to all the advice online and only mixed it 50 times before I piped them out. I waited anxiously for 10 mins before I peeked to check if I had little feet. Success!!

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Chocolate macarons with white chocolate raspberry ganache. I had to make 3 batches of the ganache. The first 2 failed so badly. I don't know what went wrong! Ironic how the easy step, the filling, was what messed me up!

caramel corn

I've been trying to clean out my pantry for the past month or so. In the big pantry clean out, I found a bag of popcorn. I was given a whirly pop for christmas years ago and it makes popping popcorn so much more fun than doing it in the microwave. Every once in a while, fruit just doesn't cut it as a dessert so I whip up a batch of caramel corn. It takes about 15 mins to make and if I put it in an airtight container, it lasts me about 4 days. Not exactly the healthiest of all snacks but I don't make it that often :)
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Saturday, February 5, 2011

addicted: nail polish

I don't know if there is anything more blingy than coppery pinky nails! I saw the Butter London Rosie Lee polish when I was in Portland last weekend and I had to have it. This is just 2 coats and I don't see any bit of nails peeking through. I don't even want to think about how long it will take to get it all off :)
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rainy days = soup

It's been wet and dreary here in Seattle lately (though we were lucky enough to have 3 sunny days in a row last week). The cherry tree at the end of the block has started to flower so I keep telling myself that spring is only just a couple weeks away. Soup in my opinion is one of the quickest meals to pull together and I can have it for lunch for at least 3 days. I took this recipe from Smitten Kitchen and added sausage. I can already tell that it will get better and better the more I reheat it. I was too lazy to poach and egg to serve it up a la Smitten Kitchen but I can only imagine how tasty it would be.


Here is my picture.
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I used spinach because that was what I had on hand and used more broth than needed (I only had a bit left in the carton and I hate leaving a small amount that is good for nothing).