French Macarons: The Remake

It was two years ago that I first attempted to make French macarons, and I learned a lot from that one time. Sometimes it takes a couple more years of experience with other things in the same art form before you learn your mistakes.

This time I used a hand-held mixer to help froth up the eggs and sugar to make my meringue, and I also used a recipe from a legit French cookbook called The Bistro Cookbook. It is filled with fascinating and delicious looking recipes, but it is the deserts and breads that really caught my eye -- I can't wait to make more!

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Make It Yourself: Raspberry Lemonade

This recipe is much like the recipe for strawberry lemonade that I made for my son's first birthday except that it has raspberries instead, and there's a little extra work involved once you puree the raspberries.

What you will need:

1 cup sugar
1 cup of water
1 container of raspberries (6oz/170g)
1 cup fresh lemon juice

4-6 cups cold water (this will vary depending on your taste)

In a pot on the stove and combine the sugar and the water over medium heat to make a syrup, stirring occaionally until the sugar is completely dissolved. Let it cool before using it.

While you are combining the sugar and water you can squeeze the juice out of your lemons. You will need between 8-10 lemons to get a cup of juice. Once you've got your lemon juice, you can puree your raspberries using a blender. I put a little bit of water in with the raspberries to help them puree a little better. Strain your raspberries through a mesh strainer to get rid of most of the seeds -- the lemonade is alright with the seeds in there, but there are a lot of them and it is much more pleasant without them.

Add the raspberry puree, lemon juice, syrup and 4-6 cups of cold water into a pitcher and stir it all up. I originally made this recipe for sparkling raspberry lemonade, but I decided to double the syrup as I found it a little bit tart. It tastes just a delicious with water, too.

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The Imperfections of Homemade Bread

It was my dream that when I purchased a stand mixer that I would make some homemade bread. The day that I got my mixer I set to work making this fantastic recipe for homemade bread. It is very yummy bread, and, having never made bread before, it was quite easy to make.

I love the imperfections of homemade bread: the not so slight variations in colour; the bumps along the surface; the dips and lumps from the rising and cooking process. They make it that much more delicious :)

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Bake It: The Perfect Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been in love with this white cake. It makes a perfect strawberry shortcake, but it also tastes incredibly delicious on its own.

 The Recipe

1/2 c. Butter

1 c. White Sugar

2 Eggs

1 c. Milk

1/2 tsp. Salt

4 tsp. Baking Powder

1 1/2 c. Flour

2 tsp. Almond Extract

Cream together the butter and sugar. Then add the 2 eggs and beat well.

Add the milk. Then the dry ingredients and the almond extract and beat 100 strokes. Spread into a greased 8" square pan and bake at 350F for 40 minutes. Delicious!

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Pinterest: Baked, Eaten, Delicious!

I made this delicious recipe for cinnamon pull-apart bread a couple of weeks ago, and it was a huge hit at our house and at my in-laws -- I brought it along with us for as snack as we were watching a football game. Next time I would sprinkle a little more of cinnamon and sugar mixture all over it because I found that there was not enough in a few places.

I also made this recipe for banana bread. I am not a big fan of banana bread, but my husband absolutely loved it. He said it was very moist and soft. It was probably the nicest banana bread that I have ever made. It rose very well and ended up being quite thick. My husband likes to warm it up in the microwave and slather on some margarine. Mmmm...

If you like these recipes, check out some others that I've got on my Pinterest board called "In The Kitchen". I've been having a lot of fun trying out several of the recipes on there lately, but these two were my favourite.

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