Mac-A-Valentine

A macaron or French macaroon is a confectionery whose name is derived from an Italian word “maccarone” meaning paste. It is meringue-based: made from a mixture of egg whites, almond flour, and both granulated and confectionery sugar.

The confectionery is characterized by its smooth, domed top, ruffled circumference, and flat base. Connoisseurs prize a delicate, egg shell-like crust that yields to a moist and airy interior. The French macaroon differs from other macaroons in that it is filled with cream or butter like a sandwich cookie, and can be found in a wider variety of flavors that range from the traditional (raspberry, chocolate) to the exotic (foie gras, truffle). Making macarons requires a great deal of discipline and is a process that is highly dependent on exactitude, technique, and proper equipment. For this reason it is a notoriously difficult recipe to master and a frustrating endeavor for the amateur baker. (from Wikipedia)

I never actually had a real French Macaroon before until a few weeks ago. After stalking several local bakeries I found some beauties located at Les Medeleines . Before I had another failure in the kitchen I had determined that I would actually try one so that I would know for certain what I was trying to make. Well, to be honest I didn't need to go to any bakeries because the very best bakers turned out to be Barbara of BarbaraBakes and Tiff of FoodFinery who showed me exactly how to make these "notoriously difficult" cookies. Please visit their blogs for bounties of ideas on many things including French Macaroons!

This is what I learned:

• add flavoring and coloring before beating egg whites
• beat egg whites until peakes stand up and will NOT BEND OVER (much longer than I had done previously)
• stir in almond flour that is premeasured, and then test to see if the batter is correct thickness- it shouldn't be to thin or to thick (here is where the tricky part comes in)
• standing time didn't make too much difference in our altitude and climate
• bake at 280 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until shell is set

If you would like the recipe we used go to Deeba's wonderful blog,

Passionate About Baking.

I am in a wonderful group of the most creative and experienced French Macaroon bakers (Mac Tweets), take a moment to check out their blogs to see what great Valentine Mac's they have created to celebrate this lovely holiday. Many thanks to Jamie and Deeba for all their work!!

I am just wrapping up my first give away, a great pagkage of REAL SALT, this is the last chance you have to leave a message on a favorite local place you love! Next week I'll annouce a winner.

Quinoa Black Bean, Sweet Potato and Lime Salad & my First Give Away Redmond Real Salt!

Along with many of you, I've made a few goals for this new year. One of them involves looking for and supporting more local business. I'm lucky to live in a place where there is a plethora of wonderful farms, ranches, orchards and great business to support- some of which I just need to go on a walk to enjoy. Not only do I prefer eating local food because it keeps the money in my community, but it is fresher, often organic (whether certified or not) and hopefully by making this effort now-- my grandkids will have something safe to serve their kids fifty years from now. To see a list of some of the places and business I'm talking about click here.

There is one business here in Utah that is world famous, Redmond REAL SALT. Real Salt is an all-natural, kosher-certified sea salt extracted from deep within the Mother earth. It has flecks of color from the result of more than 50 trace minerals essential to our good health. Better than that- it tastes good- not processed, because it isn't! And I get to give some away- $35 worth of their wonderful product. All you have to do is comment on my blog about YOUR favorite local business or food. Where do you like to shop? Do you have a local business you support? I want to hear about it and why! The contest is open to all my blogging friends and I will do a random drawing. A winner will be announced the beginning of February one month from when I started blogging.

Now to the recipe: I used Real Salt of course in this wonderful salad that we ate as a main course. I found the recipe at Basil and Ginger and went on to make my own changes. The dressing is wonderful and compliments the other ingredients nicely. My son thought it went well with his tortilla chips . . .

On the edge of my chair to see who get's the REAL SALT

and what your favorite local's are!