Some days the baking stars all align and I know from the time that I see this exact meringue stiffness that my macarons will be perfect.
The lemon macs from the merengue in my feature photo turned out nicely.
As I’ve said in previous posts about these divas of cookies, my ocd-ish personality loves the attention to detail and perfection that’s required in every step.
As I was cutting my freshly-baked muffin for sampling (I sample everything I bake), I wondered if the way I cut and eat my muffin says anything about my personality.
I was greatly amused in my research because other bloggers and instagrammers have already broached this subject – no doubt tik-tokkers have too, but I don’t use that platform. There are also many muffin personality tests that come up with Google research on the subject.
Who knew that how you cut and eat your muffin, as well as your preferred kind of muffin says so much about who you are?
My all-time favourite is the wheat bran muffin, and this one isn’t even listed in the type of muffin/personality list. I wonder what that means? Wheat bran is unheard of where we winter in south Texas, so I take a winter’s supply of it along each fall.
Apparently (according to one blogger), the way I cut and eat my muffin indicates that I’m a realist and am getting things done. That post also says, that as a 50-50 person, I don’t care much about food except that it’s for fuel. Hmmm. And I thought I cut it that way because it’s more aesthetically pleasing on my plate.
What’s your favourite muffin and how do you cut/eat it?
Since returning home from Texas, I’ve been struggling with my French macarons.
A part of the problem was adjusting to my new oven.
Good/OK: The first batch I baked, using the Swiss Method, looked OK, but the shells were so fragile that you couldn’t touch them without leaving a dent. The shells weren’t shiny and they sported a bumpy surface. Plain shells with vanilla bean ganache. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my Callebaut Belgian chocolate, so the filling was just as “iffy” as the shells.
Better: Back to the drawing board for my next batch. This time, I adjusted the cook time, because I had a feeling that my new oven wasn’t holding stable temperatures.
I used Swiss method again. This batch wasn’t as fragile. The shells were espresso flavoured and the filling was an espresso French buttercream. I tried some new edible glitter to decorate, but didn’t care for the end result. The surface, even without the glitter dust was shinier, but still too bumpy for my liking.
Best: My feature photo was my third bake, with the troubleshooting adjustments I figured out along the way.
I purchased a finer strainer for sifting the dry ingredients.
I switched back to the French Method that I’d always had good success with.
I increased the bake time by two minutes.
My order for Callebaut Belgian chocolate finally arrived.
These were almond flavoured shells coloured with a hint of pink gel food colouring. I used sanding sugar to decorate. The filling is a white chocolate strawberry ganache flavoured with freeze dried strawberry powder.
These are the best this non-pastry chef can turn out and I’m happy with them.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve become intrigued by the simplicity of sheet pan meals.
These easy-to-prepare creations are limited only by what ingredients you have on hand, your imagination and the oven temperature.
My most recent attempt used farmer sausage, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, and onions. While the oven pre-heated to 425° F, I cleaned, chopped, and cut the veg and sliced the sausage. I then just tossed it all into a bag and coated everything with a mixture of olive oil, herbs, and spices. From there, the mixture got spread out on a parchment paper lined, rimmed, baking sheet and baked until veggies were fork tender. (Approximately 1 hour)
Because carrots are more dense than potatoes, they take a bit longer to bake. Next time, I may cut them into thinner slices to compensate for this.
All in all, the meal turned out tasty and hubs-approved.
Because the pan was large and I couldn’t think of appropriate props, the dish was challenging to photograph. I decided that fill the frame was the best option.
It’s so hard to grasp that 1966 was 60 years ago.
I was seven years old when Ray Conniff released the song that has lyrics true to this day.
Happiness truly is “different things to different people”, as the iconic and familiar lyrics state.
When we sold our condo and started renting a condo from a friend, I was dismayed that the oven in our rental was completely unpredictable in terms of temperature and sometimes was so far out, that I couldn’t risk using it. I was especially distressed because my fussy French macarons need predictable and accurate oven temps.
Despite how much I insisted, hubs was against letting our friend/landlord know. He didn’t want us to be “those” tenants.
Finally, last week, I decided to risk hubs’ ire for a day or two and called our landlord. I worded it that I thought he’d want to know because every year, things get more expensive to replace. He agreed 100% and said that from here on in, if anything at all stops working properly, he wants to know immediately.
My new stove (feature photo) arrived the day before yesterday and everything works perfectly.
After I made his fave oven-prepared dish for dinner, hubs was ok with the situation, and decided that maybe we need a new fridge too 🤦♀️.
Radically Retired 