I'm having a problem. I have too many things to write about and whenever I feel like writing, I realize it would be weird to spam you all with six blog posts at once. I suppose it's not the worst problem to have though.
After a lot of thought, this is what I've decided to post about today: birthday treats! Or more specifically, macarons (yes, I am writing about macarons again!) Today was an old friend's 15th birthday, so to celebrate, I whipped up a batch of macarons, wrapped them up, and presented them to her this morning at school. Hopefully it made her Monday a little better.
I would like to pause at this point and explain HOW FREAKING PROUD I am of this batch of macarons. I stuck with a familiar flavor (lemon) and experimented with the macaronage and baking times, and fillings, and voila! My prettiest, tastiest batch of macarons came out of the oven. After six months of trying out different baking strategies, I have at last perfected my recipe. Someday, I'll even share with you my tips, but as I mentioned before, I have too many great things to write about, so I'll add that to the end of my long list.
Anyways, this batch came out with smooth skins (the outside of the cookies), puffy feet (the outside ridge), even shaped (all perfectly round!), and the filling was delicious if I do say so myself (which I do!). The slightly chewy lemon cookies were perfectly paired with a lemon milk filling which sounds totally bizarre, but I couldn't stop eating it out of the bowl!
After a lot of thought, this is what I've decided to post about today: birthday treats! Or more specifically, macarons (yes, I am writing about macarons again!) Today was an old friend's 15th birthday, so to celebrate, I whipped up a batch of macarons, wrapped them up, and presented them to her this morning at school. Hopefully it made her Monday a little better.
I would like to pause at this point and explain HOW FREAKING PROUD I am of this batch of macarons. I stuck with a familiar flavor (lemon) and experimented with the macaronage and baking times, and fillings, and voila! My prettiest, tastiest batch of macarons came out of the oven. After six months of trying out different baking strategies, I have at last perfected my recipe. Someday, I'll even share with you my tips, but as I mentioned before, I have too many great things to write about, so I'll add that to the end of my long list.
Anyways, this batch came out with smooth skins (the outside of the cookies), puffy feet (the outside ridge), even shaped (all perfectly round!), and the filling was delicious if I do say so myself (which I do!). The slightly chewy lemon cookies were perfectly paired with a lemon milk filling which sounds totally bizarre, but I couldn't stop eating it out of the bowl!
I was so excited that my best batch to date could be gifted to a dear friend. I wrapped up my prettiest nine in a brown paper baker's box, tied it with a ribbon, and attached a cute tag and a little white birthday candle.
I found the tag idea on Pinterest (where all great ideas are born) and from there was led to a cute blog called eighteen25 where they provided the birthday treat tag that reads, "happy birthday to one of the sweetest people I know". You can find the link to that post HERE if you want to access the free printable which is just the words and fonts, not the pattern.
As you can probably tell, I took the liberty of altering the words slightly, but isn't it adorable? It says "sweet" and has "sweets" in it. Get it? Yeah, I thought you might.
I found the tag idea on Pinterest (where all great ideas are born) and from there was led to a cute blog called eighteen25 where they provided the birthday treat tag that reads, "happy birthday to one of the sweetest people I know". You can find the link to that post HERE if you want to access the free printable which is just the words and fonts, not the pattern.
As you can probably tell, I took the liberty of altering the words slightly, but isn't it adorable? It says "sweet" and has "sweets" in it. Get it? Yeah, I thought you might.
And just for the record, I tried to put the macarons into a mason jar, but it was too hard to stack them in there without having them land sideways into the jar.
If I ever do this again, which I very well might, I would wrap the box in twine (which we were out of) and make a different, plainer tag. I'd also be sure to take the pictures while it was still light so you could tell just how cute it all was! That being said, I apologize for the gross, blurry pictures!
If I ever do this again, which I very well might, I would wrap the box in twine (which we were out of) and make a different, plainer tag. I'd also be sure to take the pictures while it was still light so you could tell just how cute it all was! That being said, I apologize for the gross, blurry pictures!
I'm far from crafty, but I'm still happy how it turned out. I hope my friend had the best of days today and that she was spoiled by all of her friends and family so she can tell just how loved she is!
What's the sweetest thing a friend has done for you?
-Allison
What's the sweetest thing a friend has done for you?
-Allison