FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

The Unassuming Macaron

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Between living in Austin and being a part of the food blogging world, a day without seeing a macaron just doesn’t happen.  And even though I think they’re completely adorable, I’m always the first to admit that I don’t love them.  In fact, I don’t love them at all.

But I do love a good challenge and I’ve heard these delicate bites are among the more challenging ventures a baker could take on in their  own kitchen.  I looked up Jenna’s recipe from way back in the Project Food Blog day and decided to see how difficult a macaron could be.

Thankfully, I read the recipe in its entirety before starting so I knew to make the ganache first in order to allow plenty of time for cooling.  Naturally, I looked in my fridge hours later and realized I had totally forgotten to add the cream.  Other than these teeny tiny mishaps and my inability to gracefully use a pastry bag, everything turned out pretty well in the end.

As far as aesthetics go, I could use a ton of practice with a pastry bag.  Like a whole day’s worth.  Stuff was spilling and merging together and oozing into my hands.  It was a total mess.  Such a mess that I couldn’t even begin to worry about uniformity sized pastries.  Or the cracking…  Perhaps I needed to keep a closer eye on them around the 10 minute mark.  Next time?

I wouldn’t have thought there would be a next time, you know, cause I’m not the biggest fan of macarons.  However, I liked the texture of the macarons that came from Jenna’s recipe wayyy better than any restaurant version I’ve had.  And since some solid QT with a pastry bag is beyond necessary, it looks like there will be plenty of next times.

Back In The Swing With @VegaTeam

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Three weekends in a row of out of town visitors will do a number on a health kick.  So much eating, so much house cleaning, and not nearly enough gym have been the story of my life lately.  And although I wouldn’t have had it any other way (I miss all of my guests like crazy), having some me time is feeling pretty pleasant right now.

The kind folks over at Vega couldn’t have had better timing in sending me some smoothie samples.  Non-dairy days and green smoothie nights are exactly what I need to feel like a normal person again.  Oh and gym, lots and lots of lunch hour gym.

FoodFash Tropical Vega Smoothie

1 serving of Vega Tropical Tango

1 cup of almond milk

1 cup of frozen kale

1 cup of frozen fruit (I used a mix of bananas, mango, and strawberries)

Blend til smooth and enjoy!

Personal Pie

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I’m not completely evil with my pies, you know.  I recognize how dangerous dropping off a boat load of sweets to a two-person household could be.  So today, I split a traditional pie recipe into two cobbler-esque dishes and caused a semi-food-coma at two separate homes.  That’s what you call spreading the evil love.

The white peach rhubarb pie that I made for my last dinner party was such a hit that I figured it was the perfect personal pie to deliver to Clay for his 30th birthday.  Then I moseyed on down Lamar to drop the second personal pie off to Matt and Max, who were busy painting an Olympic yard sign.

FoodFash White Peach Rhubarb Pie (yields 1, 9″ pie or 2 small cobblers)

2 pastry shells

1 lb of rhubarb, chopped into 1/2″ slices

3 white peaches, skinned and sliced

1-1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix sugar, tapioca, salt and nutmeg in a small bowl.  Place sliced fruit in a large bowl and top with sugar mixture.  Stir until all of the fruit is coated with sugar.  Let stand for 30 minutes.  Line your pie plate(s) with one of the pastry shells, fill to the top with fruit mixture, and use the second pastry shell to prepare your lattice top.  Bake for 35-45 minutes or until lattice is golden brown.

Not only am I obsessed with this pie, but I think I now have half of Austin obsessed with it as well.  I’m also digging the adorable ceramic dishes that I swooped up from Homegoods today.  Is it just me, or does fabulous presentation make a pie taste that much sweeter?