February

So this whole goal of making new things came from my failed attempt at making apple pie (which is why it is on the list for a redemption) and one day we were out and talking and walked by a macaron stand, and I thought hey I could make that.  

Here we are attempt number one at French Macaron, recipe courtesy of Sally's Baking Addiction.  As she states, its not the only way to make them, its not the best most perfect way, but it is a good place to start, and I completely agree.  I just wish I had read through the entire intro that included a few more tips then the ones mentioned in the step by step recipe, as reading through it afterwards some things clicked, and they might have come out a little better.

The first few steps were easy, and honestly I thought I had everything until it mentioned sieving the almond flour/sugar mixture.  We have a couple different sieves at work, so I was a little confused had the instructions said a very fine strainer it would have clicked, and at least it was only a small brain fart.  

Instructions seemed simple enough, the stiff peaks is where I started to struggle.  Again had I read through the entire thing, or even scrolled through instead of pressing the jump to recipe button those stiff peaks would have been a little better to understand, as there was a picture of what they should look like.  I was close, but didn't quite have stiff peaks before proceeding.  

Then there was the process of adding the egg whites to the almond flour mixture.  Well that went the opposite way, as I am limited on mixing bowls, and maybe should have had the egg whites in a smaller bowl to begin with because my almond flour mixture was almost over flowing in a smaller bowl that would not have held everything.  This backwards mixing may have caused over mixing, or compensating that led to over mixing, which then led to batter that was too thin and unfortunately for me there was no how to fix if its too thin.  

First batch of shells were cracked, which may have been from the high heat, oven was preheated to 350, recipe says 325, and I put them in as it was cooling down, but reduced the time thinking it would help.  I've watched enough baking shows to lookout for the cracked shell, although I couldn't remember what it meant, just that it was probably bad.  

It may have also been the entire step I skipped over, which was pipe them out, get rid of air bubbles and let them dry for up to an hour before putting them in the oven.  Which may explain why the other two sets I made came out a little better.  They only sat for a minute or two, but clearly even that helped some.  

I am so used to getting them on the baking sheet and put them in the oven.  The concept of letting them sit out seems a little strange, although from what else I was doing nothing about these are typical of normal baking.  Even the letting them sit on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes after baking seemed a bit odd, although when I was taking them off it may have been the reason why they were sticking or why some of the bottoms were hollow.   The recipe mentioned hollow tops, nothing about hollow bottoms.  Guess that was a crucial step for a reason. 

So besides never making these macarons, I was also making buttercream frosting for the first time, yay! At least the buttercream recipe was easier, or so I thought.  Ask me how I failed at both the buttercream and the macaron, because honestly I am not sure.  

It did have a nice vanilla flavor, maybe a bit too sweet, but was too thin (apparently a common problem on this day), at least there was help for this add more sugar.  I didn't want to add to much more because it was very sweet, and still a bit grainy, and it stayed grainy, but adding more liquid (which I didn't have extra room temp milk) would not have solved the too thin issue, it would have made it worse.  I stirred it more hoping it would help, but I just ended up scooping the frosting onto the shells trying not to make a big mess. 

As time went on it seemed a little better, so hey maybe letting the "frosting" sit helped it mix or do what ever, although it was still a little grainy.  It was good.  Maybe I'll go buy some heavy cream next time I need to make frosting. 

Even more so, letting all of it sit until the next day made them better.

Guess there is something to letting it all sit.

After posting someone suggested I try Italian Macaron, they are a little easier and less difficult to mess up.  I have honestly already looked it up, and yes it might be easier then macaronage, which may have been a big cause of error here.  

Although after going though all of this rereading the recipe, clearly slow and steady for each step and everything.    My other thing, is the hand mixer vs. the stand mixer, I don't have a stand mixer, but after this surely want one because of those continuous mixing instructions, my arms hurt.  Looking at the prices of stand mixers, and realizing how much room I have in my kitchen for storage at the moment, that might be an end of the year purchase, or a wait to buy a house/move out of this apartment purchase.  

And now for the entre... Baked Ziti!  

Honestly it required a little more time and effort then I initially thought. The cook time she gives I thought meant bake time, not cook the pasta, cook the sausage, cook the sauce.  Well, again goes to show I should have read it all first.  It came out pretty good, maybe slightly extra chunky cheese in some areas, but just have to spread it out more next time.  

For sure something I will make again, maybe ask my mom how she makes it and what I can maybe add to it or change to make it even better.  I was thinking about adding some veggies to it, some zucchini or squash, or would that not make it ziti anymore? 

It was pretty simple, and makes a lot.  

I feel like once again I took the easy route with the food/cooking for this month, not that it wasn't new, but that I could have done better, I want to blame February on being the short month, but really maybe it was just a busy month.  I'm thinking maybe by the end of the year I make my own pasta, we will see.  I've started a list of baking ideas/suggestions, but as everyday passes I find more things to make/bake.  I also need to take a step back, we have wasted food before, and I threw out a few bad things this past week, so planning is key, or better planning is key.    

Maybe there will be a theme for next month.  Irish soda bread, corned beef and cabbage, Irish nachos, Shepherds pie, Irish pasties?  The list can go on and on.  Guess you'll just have to stick around and see.