In the last blog, I was so happy that my macarons were starting to resemble macarons and not just some weird-shaped almond cookies. Yay! And even though my oven is not behaving that cooperatively on most days (On some cold winter days, it could take up to an hour to get the pilot lit properly -- arghhh), I found ways around it (here)....
Two years ago, I embarked on a journey to try to bake French macarons but got so discouraged and humbled that I swore to never go on this hair-pulling, teeth-grinding, suicide-inducing baking experience ever again. Alas, I should have known better. You guessed it, never say never, right? So here I am again, being drawn into the labyrinth of recipes and techniques, and...
My most vivid memory of the things I learned during the 4 years of French literature has been these "petites madeleines" from Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time or À la recherche du temps perdu. The most quoted passage is this one. ..No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I...
"The thing you learn with Potage Parmentier is that 'simple' is not exactly the same as 'easy'." Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, Julie Powell. The fact that there is a distinction between “simple” and “easy” is all brand new to me – and apart from sparking contemplation about life in general, this statement made me want to try making the...
