Macaron (Fail) Making

Hello, yesterday, me and my sister decided to make macrons ourselves because many ladies makes some for Valentines Day (not that it is for Valentines) but we thought it looked so easy, so we were like...cool lets make macrons. The main used recipe is:

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
• 2/3 cups almond flour
• 3 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Chocolate ganache, for filling
•  Butter for filling
• Vanilla Extract
• Milk
• Food Coloring (In my use)

Directions

Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together.
Using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites on low speed until frothy. Gradually add the sugar, and then whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. The egg whites should be glossy and thick.
Fold half of the almond mixture into the egg whites and then add the rest. Fold the mixture 15 to 20 times; the batter will be thick and fall slowly when dripped from the spatula.
Pipe 1-inch circles onto baking sheets lined with silicon mats or parchment paper. Let rest until a skin forms on top and is dry to the touch, 15 to 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. If you are baking two sheets at a time, the bottom and top sheets should be rotated to prevent over browning on the bottom. If only baking one sheet at a time, bake on the bottom rack first for 5 minutes with an empty sheet on top. After 5 minutes, rotate the sheet and move the bottom sheet to the top and the top sheet to the bottom.
You will know the macarons are done when you can touch them and the top of the macaron is set does not slide around under your finger. The macarons must be set before you take them out of the oven. If the macaron tops slide, put them back in the oven on the middle rack for another 2 minutes.
Let them cool for about 10 minutes on the baking sheet and then take them off. Fill as desired with your favorite chocolate ganache, jams, or whatever creative fillings you can think of!
This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

The source I used is the recipe by Food Network, and here is the link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/macarons-recipe.html

Okay, let me say that mixing all the ingredients, and making the filling was pretty easy, but the baking part was the hardest part. Our oven is like crazy, the temperature is so off, and me and my sister were waiting for the macrons to bake, and we were like, it smells like it is being over cooked, so we went to take a look, and boom...the macrons were cracking, and getting in a weird color. That's the downside. But let's talk about the fun things. Mixing the ingredients were like fun, and me and my sister added a pink coloring to our batter, although it turned out to be burnt. I guess it is pretty hard and it takes time to make a perfect macrons.

                                   The best macrons we made, on a tiny plate.

 

                                          The best macrons from the top view.

                                          We tried...this is the cracked and out of shape ones.

                                          Up close, you can see the texture.

                                               Afterwards, our mom just bought us cake,
                                  and it tasted perfect.

So want to know where I took the macrons yesterday? I took them at the kitchen, and I wanted a white background to show the macron more better, so I took this on top of the stove.

Of course, me and my sister wants to improve the macrons next time. Tell me about your macrons, or tell me what I can improve. Thank you so much for tuning in, Abery.

 

Benefit Lip Gloss

Hello, today I was at a food pot luck party eating all that fried chicken, noodles, drinks, and cakes, and an older friend of mine gave me and my sister two Benefit lip glosses. Of course, I was more than happy to use it, and keep it. I had to admit, this is the first Benefit product I ever owned on my own. This is Dallas Ultra Plush Lip Gloss and Coralista Ultra Plush Lip Gloss. The Dallas one is a bit darker, and the color is more visible than the Coralista. I also think these lip gloss are a great choice, because many beauty and makeup gurus has been using the Benefit. I also seen this makeup brand in YouTube videos, blogs, and social media. Personally I would use this product on a everyday makup routine. Today, I also spent most of my time surfing through www.benefitcosmetics.com to see more product of their's. Although it was quite shocking that the price of each lip gloss was $16.00, I still like it. You can find this at Sephora, or buy it online. I don't know where my friend bought it, but I'm pretty sure she bought it at Sephora, where all the makeup junkie lives. 

 

Going back to the food party subject, when I came home with my two lovely lip glosses, I knew I had to take pictures of it, so I can stare at it forever. I wanted this picture to look as beautiful as it can possibly be, so I went over to the kitchen with my Canon camera, and took this photo shoot. In case you wanted to know, I placed the lip gloss on the kitchen counter, because it was nice and clean. When it comes to using lip gloss, I usually don't really use it a whole lot because of the sticky ness, and the gooey feeling. But this time, I decided to let loose, and let myself accept how lip gloss feels like. And I actually started to feel like lip gloss was there for me the whole entire time. *pretends like nobody cares about my love story with my lip gloss*. Alright ladies, tell me if you like Benefit and give me all your feedback on these lip gloss. Thanks for having me, Abery.