Sweet success.

             
The air in our home is thick with tension.  A night that was "supposed" to be easy... fun... a smooth segue into the dreaded Monday- turned into a night of fighting children and unnecessary drama.  Finally sorted my way through the tears, gave my final "this has to stop" speech, and tucked them in bed... and what's this??  Bin Laden's dead?? 
   
The post can wait, I tell myself- while tuning into the news.

An hour later, sitting here in contemplation over a few of the week's highlights (or "lowlights")... a massive tornado strike, an ironically just-as-massive royal wedding, and now this.  Somehow, my "macaron recap" has lost it's oomph.  But I'm going to share anyways- at least a little- because after all, I don't have enough energy left in my brain to conjure another damn post these little gems have been known to "fill your soul with warm, fuzzy happiness" (said here).

So, from me to you:  a little 'warm & fuzzy'- in the midst of 'hot & heavy'...

... 

As I shared a few weeks ago, my sister-in-law & I went to a macaron workshop, and planned on putting our newly learned skills to practice over Easter weekend.  We did, and overall, our first attempt was a success.  It took us a couple of batches (we made vanilla bean, lemon, mint, & cardamom) to get the batter consistency right, but once we figured it out- it was really pretty simple. 
  

{batch #3- "gold" lemon,with buttercream- store was out of yellow, & the gold looked more orange than yellow, so we used very little}

 
We bought a few ingredients while we were at Surfas (where the workshop was held) that we couldn't buy at a typical grocery store... including almond flour, dried egg whites, and food coloring power).
  

{batch #4 (before going into the oven)- mint. Consistency was good, but we couldn't taste the flavor "infusions." Although we flavored the sugars a few weeks ago, they all tasted the same!}

  

Once out of the oven and cooled, we filled the lemon and cardamom with buttercream, and the mint and vanilla with chocolate ganache.

{the cardamom & vanilla not seen... too busy trying to figure out what we were doing wrong at that point, since the batter seemed too thick, and they weren't holding their shape while baking}

Pretty darn cute, yeah??  Still a few "issues" to resolve- the main ones being- 1. figuring out how to add flavors that are a little less subtle- that we can actually taste without ruining the consistency, & 2. weighing all of the ingredients first (less room for error).  Will definitely make again.  Soon.  With a little practice, and patience, they are absolutely doable- for those in search of a little culinary challenge.     

Speaking of cute- isn't this little macarons necklace (from my SIL) adorable??

                                        

  
 Now let the week begin................