Macarons and NASCAR

I was supposed to make Macarons last weekend, but I didn't.  We were supposed to go to NASCAR this weekend but we didn't.  Neither weekend went as planned, but it all worked out.  Welllll Rob is still laid out on the couch with back issues, and cant really walk... sooo I am not sure if that is working out yet, but I am sure it will!

I am not sure where I got the hankering to make these beautiful little cookies (where I think half the interest is in the presentation, their glossy exterior and their perfect packaging).   Then I was even more interested when I started reading all the blogs about how difficult and temperamental these little treats were.  When I was younger I loved Martha Stewart.  I know that whenever I pulled out a new MS recipe my mom would roll her eyes (not in front of me of course) because we would have to go to multiple specialty markets to get the right  pate or other unique ingredients.   Martha's recipes always seemed pretty straightforward... but in the end I would have a pile of ingredients and not much to show for it! 

I read and read and read.  Rob finally said "they are not going to make themselves."  So I mixed a bunch of the recipes together.  Decided to go with the harder french macaron technique instead of the supposedly easier italian or swiss.  

This is the recipe that I sort of used.  What really sealed the deal for me on this recipe is that in the blog she talks about using the 20% BBB coupon to buy the scale... and I so did that!  Thought it was ment to be.

So here I go...

I aged my eggs before I stumbled onto this recipe, so I aged my eggs on Friday night. 

I started off by making 1.5 inch rounds on parchment paper as my guide on 2 baking sheets.

I weighed out my almond flour (it was supposed to be 4oz, I think there is something wrong with the scale it kept going between 3.98 and 4.02) I figured it was fine. 

I weighted out my powdered sugar (mine had cornstarch)  there is big controversy online if this is ok or not?!

And I sifted these two ingredients together.  The almond flour once sifted had small almond particles.  I think i was supposed to run those through a food processer, but in the end I just tossed them in the dry mixture.  You can see the almond particles in the green dish below. 

Then I prepped my sugar and my eggs.

And I started my meringue process.  Normally I am very careful with my meringue.  But this recipe called to dump all the sugar in at one time... so thats what I did.  

Set it and forget it! 

Here is my cookbook! 

Here is my the end result!  I was afraid they were being beaten tooo much and were going to fall.  Because they were beat for about 10 minutes.  I added about 5 drops of gel food coloring as these were grasshopper cookies! 

Here are my dry items that I needed to fold in.  

I followed the directions and folded about 40 times.  I put half the mixture into my 12 inch piping bag and went to work... 

Hummm... this is not exactly how they were supposed to turn out.. (visions of MS swirling in my head!)

 After I saw on the sheet that these did not look exactly right, I returned the mixture left in the bag back to the bowl with the remaining batter and folded about 20 more times, it was getting runnier.  I put it back into the pastry bag and tried again...

OMG These are lookin good!!!   

I sat in front of the oven and watched these little guy bake.  I reduced the temp to 285 degrees and did them for 9 minutes, rotated the pan and did it for another 7 minutes. 

I started on the ganache filling.  The recipe called to warm the cream on the stove top.  I googled to see if I could microwave it!  Alton Brown had a recipe, and Rob loves Alton, so i thought he was good with the microwave, so was I.   So I made the ganache in the microwave.   

Here is my third batch... only 2 cracked! 

They even have little feet!  My feet got a little brown... maybe reduce the temp even more next time.

My 3rd batch is on the left, my 1st and 2nd are on the right.  The 3rd batch was mixed more, and was also left to rest for about 20 minutes before going into the oven!

Feet!!!!!

 Here is the finished product!  

They are now maturing in the fridge for 24 hours, we will see how they taste tomorrow! 

Alton Brown Ribs for dinner tonight! 

Best Way To See Cinque Terre

In September 2012 we did a two week tour in Europe including Italy and the UK.  This was not our first time to either place, but it was our first time to Cinque.  We had heard so much about it on our first time to Italy we had to experience it for ourselves.  I spent hours pouring over where to stay, I wanted the perfect place.  Centrally located, beautiful view, good food, the perfect Cinque experience.  Our first choice was some hotel that I dont even remember at this time, but that was full.  I kept looking and researching and came across this AMAZING little place.  La Marina Rooms in Vernazza.  It was perfect.  It was just a little room with little (to no) frills, it had a little bathroom.  It was clean.  (We had just stayed the night before in the Four Seasons in Florence, so it was a little different then that..but in a class all its own!)  The best part was that it had this amazing balcony that looked right out to the ocean and the setting sun.  We could open all the windows and hear the waves crashing all night long.  It was EXACTLY what we were looking for.

We drove from Florence to La Spezia.  We parked the car at the La Spezia train station and got on the train bound for Vernazza.

The caretaker for La Marina rooms (Cristian) met us at the train station, grabbed our bags and led us to our room.  Can not emphasize enough how important it is to have someone meet you at the train station.  These are little towns, but there are no street signs or main roads or any real way to find your rooms.  We saw numerous people with HUGE suitcases going up and down stair cases looking for their little rooms.  These are the steps to the room.

Tip #2 DONT bring big suitcases.  We both had a small carry on bag (for 2 weeks!) and this was heavy enough to lug around.  (well Rob had to lug his, Cristian carried mind :D )   We got settled into our room, Cristian showed us around and had some food recommendations.  Once we were settled we set out to explore Vernazza.  We learned there was not much to explore so we sat down and had a glass of wine, and just people watched!

As we sat at the outside dining area we realized the ebb and flow of the little town.  The tourists come in flows with tour groups and trains.  Then they leave the little town.  I highly recommend staying a few nights, it is much better then just rushing through the towns on a tour group.

We walked around a little more and then went back to our balcony and enjoyed the view. 

The next day we got up early and started the trek between the 5 towns.  Our goal was to see every town, to have gelato in every town, foccia in every town, and to get a snow globe in every town!

Our plan was as follows-
1. Hike from Vernazza to Monterosso
2. Boat from Monterosso to Riomaggiore
3. Hike from Riomaggiore to Manarola
4. Train from Manarola to Corniglia
5. Train from Corniglia to Vernazza

This was the perfect plan!  I highly recommend picking up the Rick Steves guide to the area.  Our room had a copy in it which we used.  It gave insights into each town and little walking tours.  We saw churches and vineyards that we would never have ventured to without Rick's book!

We bought our tickets and started...

The hike from Vernazza to Monterosso is supposedly the hardest part of the hike.  I think going from Monterosso to Vernazza might be hard but going from Vernazza to Monterosso was not bad at all.  This is because the "uphill" from Vernazza is gradual and switch-backs.  The "uphill" from Monterosso is steps.... LOTS of steps.  For us it is easier to gradually go up and then come down steps then the other way around.

The trail (this guardrail was on most of the trail)

hillside vineyards

view of Vernazza from the trail

View of Vernazza and the other towns if you look hard!

Coming into Monterosso

Monterosso

Once we got to Monterosso we explored the town by following Rick's book.  We had lunch at Milky's and started off with 5 different types of Anchovies!

And had Gelato in Monterosso

Then we continued on our trek by boat

We arrived at Riomaggiore, and walked the Via Dell'Amore.  This walk is very easy and paved.  Not as pretty as our first hike of the morning.  The walk takes you to Manarola.

We had gelato in both Riomaggiore and Manarola

 We then took the train from Manarola to Corniglia

The hardest trek of the day might have been the steps from the Corniglia train station to the town.  There was not much to do in this little town.  It was for sure the quietest and least touristy of the towns.  (not in a good way) kind of felt like the suburbs!

but we found some gelato!

We headed back down the steps and caught the train back to our little town.

We celebrated our trek with a bottle of DP surrounded by the 5 snow globes that we collected over the day! After visiting all the towns we confirmed that Vernazza was the BEST and we made the right decision to stay there.

Quick Trip to Mt. Madonna

March 2, 2013 - Mt Madonna - Watsonville, CA

We took the airstream in two weekends ago as we found a small slow leak under the kitchen counter and we had some other small issues we wanted to have looked at.  We picked up the streamer from the Toscanno center in Gilroy and headed over the hill to Mt. Madonna.  


We pulled up to the ranger station to sign in, but to no avail it must be the sequester as there was no one at the station to tell us where to go!  Internet did not work on our phone so we guessed at what site we had reserved, crossed our fingers and pulled in!  There was only about 10 RVs at the campground and the tent sites were closed entirely. Once we were set up, we did a little walking around the campground to check out better sites for next time!  We talked to a few neighbors, then it was time to leave again.  

We jetted back to San Jose for the evening to attend Somewhere Slow, that our friend Jessalyn is in!  She invited us to the showing even after witnessing Rob almost burn down the house in Palm Springs!  The movie was suspenseful and had us on the edge of our seats the entire time.  It was GREAT!  We had a drink afterwards and then headed back to the airstream.     

Rob's experiment this weekend was with coffee!  He has done a lot of research on how to make amazing lattes on the streamer.  He brought all of his tools this weekend... and it turned out perfectly. 

It was a great quick night on the little airstream!  

Next time - site 110 or 109