Showing posts with label obsession. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obsession. Show all posts
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Showing posts with label obsession. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obsession. Show all posts
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Dedication + Motivation = Successful French Macarons
So.. ever since summer vacation started for me, I am proud to say that I have been relaxing for a bit and sleeping in never felt so good. However, lately I've been having some trouble sleeping. I wonder if it's insomnia or something. Anyway, I have this thing about French Macarons. Do you know what they are? It's different from macaroons. Here's a picture to tell the difference.
Below, you will see how motivated and dedicated I was to make french macarons. I felt bad for my kitchen coz it was messy!
Day 3. I decided to make pink ones since I like pastel colors on these cookies. Even Curtis helped me out. He knew I was getting the hang of it and since he felt bad that I was making all of them by myself.
Well, you guys might not know this but I am SUPER OBSESSED with these babes! They are super cute and super delish. I love how it's so crunchy on the outside and gooey in the inside. They all come in different flavors and different colors. French macarons are so cute to eat! However, these cute cookies are expensive. They are about $1.50 to $2.50 for just one. JUST ONE!!! Curt at first was fine with me spending money just to satisfy my taste buds but we both decided that since it's expensive and that it's gluten-free, maybe I can make it. So my mission during the break was to make them. I took the challenge and man, these cookies are very hard to make!
First, I went to Youtube for some tutorials. I think all in all, I watched 15 different kinds of videos. Here's the recipe that worked for me!
French Macarons:
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup almond flour
2 large egg whites, room temperature
The 1st time I tried making them was with my good friend Chelsey. I'd say it was pretty successful for our 1st try even though we had a dilemma with the meringue. It took us 6 eggs, a trip to the store to get cream of tartar, and dedication to get through the night. Here are some pictures...
These kitchen things will soon make a mess for 4 days straight!!
Chelsey pouring the batter on the cookie sheet
Super excited!
These were from Day 2. Literally the next day after making the 1st batch. I tried making blue ones and see how the turn out. This was my 1st time separating eggs. I was so proud of myself.
This was totally yummy! It had the texture of what a french macaron would taste but the appearance came out grainy. Other than that, I was proud that it tasted pretty good for the 2nd attempt.
Day 3. I decided to make pink ones since I like pastel colors on these cookies. Even Curtis helped me out. He knew I was getting the hang of it and since he felt bad that I was making all of them by myself.
Yahoo!!!
Doesn't he look so cute?
They look so pretty!
Sadly, I think I didn't pay attention to the time and temperature that I put the oven on. So the cookies turned out really burnt = crispy and hollow. It was a fail! I had to throw them away. :(
Day 4: I tried yellow macarons this time. They came out looking good in appearance but again, failed. They turned out hollow AGAIN!
I also tried making some during my vacation in California since my little sister was begging for some. Those pictures will be on my other post since this one is already being bombarded with pictures. LOL!
Finally today! Curt and I went to the Farmer's market and I bought some French Macarons. My plan was to buy them and compare it to the ones that I was going to make tonight. With determination, I made some after I was done studying hahaha!
And this is how they turned out!!! I was super happy. Not only were they crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside.. but they had feet like the yellow ones above. I was so so happy that I did my victory dance and Curt filmed me laughing in a very evil and sinister way. I decided to make vanilla buttercream filling. They were so delish and Curt kept eating them!
At last! I have conquered French Macarons. I told Curt though that for Christmas I would love a food processor and a macaron silicone mat. Haha! We'll see if I get it!
Just a little note to myself and to all you lovely folks out there... If you never give up and just keep going.. You'll totally get there!!! Never giving up = SUCCESS!!!
Thanks for reading my ridiculous long blog post! :)
If you are thinking of making them someday, here are some on the videos that I watched and learned from!
* Sweetcookiepie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_kn2x1Qj4E
* Honeysuckle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 3nsanqYnvis
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Do you consider yourself a Masterchef???
So ever since our move... during our down time, or at least my down time, I go on either my laptop or the PS3 and watch a new favorite and obsession. It's called MASTERCHEF! Have you seen it? I love it! It's a cooking competition that was originally created in Australia and it's all about taking ordinary home cooks and making them compete for the title of becoming Masterchef. It has all sorts of tests and just watching it will seriously make you hungry. It has Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliott and Joe Bastianich. They're all awesome! It might sound weird but I love cooking shows from Food Network to Iron Chef to Rachael Ray's and to anything that has Chef Gordon Ramsay on it. Even though he has the foulest Scottish mouth I've ever watched or known, I still think he's awesome. He's mean and vicious but at the same time, honest.. which is good. He can definitely make you cry if he talked to you but if you want to be the best, you have the face all aspects of being the best and I think Gordon Ramsay is the person to whip you up into shape. He's like the 'Simon Cowell' of cooking. I love it. It sounds awful but I like this show more now than American Idol. Haha! It makes me want to learn how to cook so bad and become really good at it too. So we'll see how it goes. Maybe that time will come someday once I become a mom and have all the time to experiment in my very own kitchen with my kiddos. :)
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