Not A Bad First Go

For the first weekend in a long time, I found myself with time on my hands. No costume to make, no footloaf to mold, no farmer’s market (sadly closed for the season) to visit, no con-ed brother and no shopping to do.

Admittedly, I am rather like a duck to water when it comes to sitting down to a nice pot of tea, or a Pimm’s or two depending on the season, and getting lost in a good book. Two hours can be spent in such a manner and I am perfectly content. Make it lying on the couch on a dull Sunday afternoon with a fur blanket tucked in around me and you can make it three hours. Add a fourth for a nap.

But give me a weekend without a task and I must admit I get a little anxious. My mind frequently wanders to my yet-to-be-realized summer house and all the wonderful things I could get up to. Alas, with what it costs to break a mortgage these days, that little dream will have to wait until next spring.

My postage stamp of a garden in order, urns put away, fountain drained and weather stripping checked I found my idle hands itching for something to do. Not wanting to do the devil’s work, as the saying goes, I turned my attention to the kitchen.

Never having made macaroons before, and knowing how fond IronMan is of them, I set to work assembling a makeshift piping bag (thanks to Kitkat for that little tip) and whipping my egg whites.

I watched several demonstrations on Youtube and think, for a first go, the results achieved were rather good. A little more profiterole looking that I would have liked, but they were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

The puff, rather than smooth top, seems to have occurred due to a lack of folding when the hazelnuts and sugar were folded into the egg mixture. I need to let it collapse a little more before the piping begin.

None-the-less, I am having jolly fun trying different fillings. There was a chocolate ganache from the recipe itself and I have also tried some leftover icing (I’m sure fresh would serve the same purpose), jam, nutella and peanut butter. I don’t recommend that last one though.

By next weekend, I hope to have eaten the 60 sandwiches I made today and come down off what is sure to be a wicked sugar high. I will attempt to perfect the shaping process and add a bit of colour, red and green are in order I think, to get ready for the holidays!