Macarons, Part Two

Aren't French Macarons the cutest thing? I randomly decided to bake a batch late at night to see how they would come out.

I've read quite a few blogs where people have tried baking macarons for the first time and they came out perfect. No such luck for me! I suppose that depends on your definition of perfect... but for me it's been tricky. Once it was too humid and I didn't get the "pied." Another time I didn't fold the batter enough and it was too stiff, resulting in bumpy cookies. 

This time, to combat the humidity, I put on a small fan in their direction after I piped them onto the cookie sheet. I also ran the almond meal through the food processor to make it finer. It worked pretty well and I got the cute little feet on the cookie and the skin came out smooth! I also didn't over-brown them like I have in the past... but they seemed to be undercooked! They were a little too mushy inside. How on earth do you cook them through without browning too much?

But of course, I have never had a real macaron to compare it to... I guess I will have to take a trip to Paris!

My mom sent me this cookbook as a gift and it has a ton of great ideas for macaron flavors! It has everything from fancy Lavender and Rose Water recipes to Peanut Butter and Jelly flavor. I chose Vanilla just to keep it simple, although I cheated and used leftover cream cheese frosting for filling :-D 

I also used a neon purple food coloring for them which came out looking like a yummy bubblegum pink.

Big Eye Custom Portrait

The past few days I have spent painting a copy of a Margaret Keane painting, called "Little Ones." It all started because I found a print of a Margaret Keane in a thrift shop. It was $25 and I wasn't in love with the picture, so I passed it up. Of course, that was a stupid decision! It wasn't an original or anything, just a poster, but I still regret not getting it. I went back, crossing my fingers that it was still there, but of course it was gone.
Then it occurred to me that I didn't need to buy one when it would be a lot more fun just to paint one myself. That way I could have any picture I wanted! I also could customize it to have a special meaning.

If you don't know Margaret Keane, she is the artist who inspired Blythe dolls in the 60's and 70's, Tim Burton, and a large portion of the modern lowbrow art movement. It's now known as "Big Eye" art. Her story is interesting so check her out at the link above!

I picked out "Little Ones" to copy because I wanted to replace the Siamese kitty with Mrs. Peacock. I think she turned out extra cute!

If you want to practice painting or if you want to learn but don't know how to start, this might be a good way to do it. Copying isn't a bad thing unless you try to sell it or claim that you came up with the idea yourself (even Roy Lichtenstien copied comic books.) Art classes sometimes go to museums and sit students in front of paintings which they then copy, stroke for stroke. 

For me, I hate trying to figure out proportions and light. Light confuses me so much... I can't just "imagine" where light will fall on something. I need to see it. Also I get tired of drawing a redrawing just to keep saying to myself, "The eye looks sideways and the head is too small... or too big?" So to keep from wasting a whole day trying to sketch something I did the grid method:

I drew 2"x2" grid squares on my canvas lightly in pencil . On the computer I made the picture I wanted to copy the same size as my canvas and drew guides every two inches. Then using the grid as a guide I sketched my drawing onto my canvas.
I changed things up a bit by making the child look more like myself, with green eyes and brown wavy hair, and obviously I added my own kitty, Mrs. Peacock. At the end I put a flower crown on the girl because I thought her head looked like a big mass of hair and I wanted to break it up a little.

Remember that if you use the grid it doesn't make painting itself any easier. If you look closely at the details you can tell that I have no clue how to paint a daisy. I'm no expert, so parts of this painting were tough and a few times I thought I hated it, but I kept going at it and over-painting until I was happy (or at least until I said "f**k it, I'm done!")

If you really can't paint at all but still want to try painting something fancy for yourself, try copying Mark Rothko or Piet Mondrian. I promise you won't mess it up!

Local Spots - Kaladi Brothers Coffee

We got tired of always going to Starbucks for coffees and drove a little out of the way to check out Kaladi Brothers. It was a lot nicer inside than we anticipated. I had seen the coffee beans and signs at various shops for Kaladi Brother Coffee but I had never actually gone to the shop itself. It was so nice we sat down and had a little date. 

My latte was delicious! I miss going to awesome coffee shops like this... there aren't too many in Anchorage that are nearby. We will be back, I'm sure! They even have open mic nights, which I love to go to.

The Sweet List - Vintage Brooches

I'm not really a big jewelry person. I always forget to put anything on before I go out and I don't always know which jewelry I have goes with which outfit. I have been looking at these enamel brooches on Etsy and I bet I would wear these all the time if I had them. 

Imagine a crochet purse with these pinned on the front?

1. Orange Daisy - 2. Brown Flower Brooch - 3. Green Flower

4. Enamel Flower Brooch - 5. Turquoise Polka Dot Brooch

Weekend Nails #10

I did a tri-colored ombre nail design this time and I really like it. I started off with hot pink and then used a makeup sponge to dab on the lighter pink. I finished up the tips with the mint color. I've been doing my nails every couple of days but I wanted to space out my posts to maybe once a week. I get so excited about each post that it's hard to not publish them all at once!

Essie - Mint Candy Apple

Milani Neon - Pink Rocks

L.A. Girl - ?? (This color came with a set of two other colors and a dot tool and it doesn't have a name)

I've been thinking more seriously about getting a fancy camera. My iPhone has been treating me well and taking some pretty decent photos but I feel like I need something more serious. I went to Best Buy to check out the DSLR cameras and I'm so anxious to get one! I know I should wait a little longer and save up some more money. We will have to have a camera for our road trip to Louisiana in December because I think it will be a great opportunity to see more of the country. I don't want to miss out on the good photos!

Salmon with Balsamic Glaze

One of the best parts of living in Alaska is the free fish! Co-workers and neighbors always go fishing and bring back treats to give away because they have too much to eat themselves. Our neighbors asked us to water the plants while they went on a camping trip and they brought back these beautiful fillets for us (They brought us halibut last time, which was amazing!) 

Since we've had so many salmon fillets I have tried out different methods of cooking them. One of our favorites was salmon ravioli, which was my first try at making pasta from scratch. I'll have to make those again and post the recipe because it was fabulous... But the hands-down best way to eat a salmon fillet is with a balsamic glaze.

I know I got this recipe off of Yummly, but I searched for it and I can't find the source again. I had written it down in my little recipe notebook previously because I liked it so much. I don't want to claim that I came up with this myself, but I would like to share it.

Look at these gorgeous Sockeye fillets! I wanted to eat them raw! 

Balsamic Glaze for Salmon

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

4 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp mustard

Whisk all ingredients together in a skillet. Simmer until thickened and reduced to 1/3 of a cup. Spoon over prepared salmon.

You'll never want to eat a salmon fillet without it again!