Happy Halloween

Here are just a few of the goblins who came to our door tonight. I was so impressed by how polite and fun these kids were. Nice job, parents!











Dan asked the boy on the right, in the photo above, what he was. "A box!" he said.

Just In Time!

This morning it was pretty chilly when I left for work. I went to the coat closet, and realized that the only coat I had was a light-weight summer jacket. That would do for today, but, I thought, I'd better see about buying a warmer coat for this winter.

I stopped at Kohl's on my way home from work. I spent 30 or 40 minutes there, shopping not only for a coat . . . they had baby items on sale too. Need I remind you? We have less than a month left until our new grandbaby arrives. But I did find a nice wool pea coat on sale, and purchased it for myself, as well.

I paid the cashier for my merchandise, and then headed out the door. What a surprise! It was snowing like crazy - great big, fat snowflakes, leaving us with almost no visibility! I got my winter coat just in time.

I tried to take some pictures out the car window, with my cell phone, but they didn't turn out very good. Once I got home, I stood on our patio in the back yard and took this one with my Sony. The flakes were smaller by then, but, as you can see, it was starting to stick.


Most of the snow has melted away already (two hours later), so this wasn't a serious snowfall. But it is early in the year for us to see any snow at all, except up on the mountains.

Autumn vs Winter

In the annual contest between Autumn and Winter, Autumn is taking it on the chin, here in Albuquerque.

Just ten days ago, on a Sunday morning, I was oohing and aahing over the beautiful fall weather. I stepped outside to take a picture of this morning glory, that had crept through the cracks in our fence while, overhead, I watched some balloons drift by.


Yesterday it was feeling enough like winter that I had Dan turn on the pilot light in our gas fireplace. Today I'm really glad that I did, for here is what it looks like outside.


And here is what it looks like inside.

The Daring Bakers' October Challenge - French Macarons

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe. (Recipe HERE)

Growing up in the bakery, I watched my Dad make macaroons, those small mounds of shredded coconut held together with a sweet cookie dough. But this month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge was M-A-C-A-R-O-N-S, spelled without the double-“o” and pronounced with a French accent - not to be confused with the double-"o" macaroon. Here’s a silly little YouTube video (click here) that attempts to demonstrate the French pronunciation.

But saying “macaron” is only half of the challenge. The other half is the making. The ingredients are few: almond flour sifted together with powdered sugar and gently folded into a meringue, made from egg whites beaten with a little sugar. Of course flavorings and/or colors can be added, although I kept mine quite plain. It is customary to add food coloring to make the maracons bright colors - deep pinks, greens, blues, yellows.

The macarons are baked at a very low temperature (I kept my oven at 280 degrees), for about 15 minutes. Once they are cool they can be sandwiched together with your favorite ganache, butter cream or jam. I used milk chocolate ganache.

Macarons aren’t really macarons unless they form “feet,” the little ruffled part seen at the base of each of these.

I’m sure Dan thought I had stepped over the edge when he heard me whoop, from the kitchen, “YES! My macarons have FEET!” I found two things to be key in getting macarons to form feet. First, the meringue needs to be whipped to stiff peaks, but not so stiff that it becomes dry. And, secondly, the piped cookies should be left sitting on the cookie sheet for 30-45 minutes before popping them into the oven. This allows a thin shell to form on the cookies before they are baked, and I think that is what forces the feet to form at the bottom.


Macarons are characterized by a thin, smooth crisp shell, with a soft, airy inside. They are very sweet. Even the sweetest tooth is satisfied with a single macaron and a cup of tea, which is what Dan and I enjoyed after dinner. Ooo la la, délicieux!




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