Macarons! (Sanity Sunday)

Ok, so I wasn't originally going to post this, but I changed my mind after tasting them this morning.  Macarons have been very popular in the food blog world for awhile now, but I've never made them before.  Actually, to be honest, I had never actually eaten one.  I even went to Paris for my honeymoon 5 years ago, but back then I didn't really know how to cook, and I had never even heard of macarons. 

Anyway, I bought the book Mad About Macarons and it just came in the mail last week.  So I chose to make a basic macaron with a sort of chocolate-caramel ganache filling.  I was pretty nervous because they have a reputation as being tricky to make, and I also have a fear of overbeating egg whites (I'm scared of whipping cream too).  The macaron itself actually went really well.  They turned out perfectly, with the little feet and everything!  The ganache itself didn't go as well.  It was way too runny, even after refrigerating for several hours, and it just kind of wanted to spill off the sides of the macaron, even when I decreased the amount of filling.  Hence my plan not to post these.  But then I ate one this morning (the recipe says to refrigerate for 24 hours before eating, but I'm a rebel).  And they are really good.  Again, I've never actually had one before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it was just as described in the book, soft on the inside with a little bit of a crunch on the outside.  So here they are, ugly, but delicious. 

Try not to look at the ganache remains on the top of the macaron and on the plate.  Like I said, I wasn't planning on posting these, so they all went into the container without much care, and this one was the prettiest one I could find.  But I think it's good to show you guys that it's ok when things don't go perfectly, especially if they're still delicious.  I'm just proud of myself that the macaron part (the tricky part) came out right.  I'll definitely try this again, with a different filling of course.

Even the baby liked them.  Most of the books say to keep babies away from nuts until they turn two.  But my baby came over begging for the deliciousness I was eating and I gave him a bite without thinking about it.  Then my husband brought to my attention the fact that there are nuts in it, but he just turned two, so it's ok, right?   Which is funny because I used to be the one who was on top of all those things and my husband was the laid-back one.  But he didn't have an allergic reaction, so phew!