My high school mascot was The Norman and I enjoyed enlightening helpless enthusiastic peers that the Normans were a group of fierce warriors from Normandy, France, who, led by William the Conqueror, were able to usurp the English throne in 1066 AD. Well, today I made French Macarons and it was kinda like that. I suppose I should have heeded the warnings of many-a-blogger who claimed things like “on my seventh try, I think I got it” or “after years of trying, I think I finally made the perfect macaron.” But, being a stubborn princess, I decided to try anyway. To tell you the truth, I think I did pretty well. The first batch came out swimmingly! The second, not so much.

The shells came out perfectly, save for a few lumps in my piping. The recipe I used was from Tasted by Two and I added 1/3 cup of coco powder to make them..well chocolate. The measurements are all in grams…so I had to convert them via iphone and weigh every single ingredient on a scale. They say baking is a science…well I’m no scientist and I’ll stick to the liberal arts, thanks. But…they did come out quite nicely, and I did discover a fun and pungent new ingredient…Rose water.

They really are quite beautiful, and the gold is so Louis XIV don’t you think?

I was so exhausted from the hours and hours of slaving away in the kitchen…that all I could think about was beer and a bath. Luckily, I had brilliantly stuck a Hitachino Ginger Brew in the fridge this morning.

Ah…..

Is it safe to drink beer in the bath tub?