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Valentine Gift Guide

Valentine Gifts

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What are your thoughts on Valentine’s Day?  Do you exchange cards with your significant other and call it a day or are gifts exchanged?  Most years we just exchange cards but last year Rick bought me a miniature rose in the prettiest pot with a little cherub nestled in the leaves.

One year I sent out cards to all my favorite ladies and enclosed a vintage handkerchief.  That was fun to do.

I put together this gift guide in case you needed any ideas for gifts.  Either for yourself or for someone else.   And because I really wanted to do a pink themed collage. Ha!

None of this is sponsored, by the way, nor are any of the links affiliate links.  These are just ideas I found online.

Target has some really nice, inexpensive options like the pink quilted purse.  I have seen it in person and it looks much more expensive than it is.  I also have the pink pressed glass candle and it smells lovely.  You can never go wrong with sparkling wine, especially if it is pink and has a pretty label.

The pink leather journal is a little more of a splurge (for a notebook anyway) but it is the perfect shade of pink.

The Kate Spade earrings come in all kinds of color options but I really liked the pink and gold version the best.

Cluse watches are so nice and minimal and the pink band is so feminine.

I have had my eye on this Savage x Fenty (Rhianna’s lingerie line)  satin robe for ages.  The only reason I haven’t purchased it is because I can’t decide between the pink or the blue!

I have repurchased the Dior Lip Glow several times.  It’s the perfect sheer pink that just adds a nice rosy glow to your lips.

Of course nothing says Valentine’s day like chocolates or perfume.   I have the eau de toilette version of the Narciso Rodriguez perfume and it is lovely and a little bit sexy.

Happy Valentine’s day!

Friday Favorites

Day 78  ◊  Romantic Bliss Cuff  ◊  She Had a Complete Set  ◊  IMG_5537

Hello and Happy Friday!  I hope you had a lovely week.  Mine was rather uneventful except I did have a second interview with a company so that’s good.  This time I had to interview with four different people.  All.  At.  The.  Same.  Time.  That was nerve-wracking but I think I did well.  I do hope they liked me…  Feel free to send some job offer vibes/energy my way.  I would truly appreciate it.  I really like this company and it serves such a noble cause and I so want to be part of it.

We do not have much planned for the weekend.  Rick is having surgery on his shoulder today (minimally invasive so recovery should be swift) so we will just lay low for the weekend.   We are supposed to get rain all weekend long starting around 10:00am this morning so my rose pruning plans will have to be postponed.  Every year I seem to put it off longer and longer.

Have a lovely weekend!

Andrea Filed Under: Favorites

Valentine Macarons

I did it!  I made macarons that are actually edible!  This was my fourth attempt.  The first batch cracked and never developed “feet.”  The second batch were hard as rocks (but they looked pretty).  The third batch was a miserable fail because I was trying to make them keto friendly and let me tell you, as much as I like Swerve (a sugar alternative) it did not work in my macarons.  They never developed the feet and they tasted TERRIBLE!

But fourth time’s a charm.  These are vanilla macarons with vanilla butter cream filling.

The recipe I followed was Basic French Macarons from Sweet & Savory.  I did make two small modifications.  I eliminated the cream of tartar.  I know it’s supposed to help stabilize your egg whites but I found (in attempt number 2) that it gave the macarons a weird flavor.  It overpowered the delicate flavor of the macaron.  I also added a teaspoon of vanilla to my recipe.

For the filling I did an American vanilla buttercream (not the filling in the Sweet & Savory recipe) and the next time I make them I’m going to try a Swiss or French buttercream instead.  American buttercream is much sweeter than its Swiss and French counterparts.

A few tips I’ll share:

  • Watch all the YouTube videos you can so you can see how your whipped eggs and the batter consistency should look like
  • Weigh your ingredients rather than using measuring cups.  Electronic food scales are cheap and easy to come by
  • Buy or make yourself a template so you can pipe out perfect 1 1/2″ circles.  I made a template in MS Word and placed it under my parchment paper and then slid it out before baking
  • Keep trying.  You will be successful eventually

Here are the YouTube videos I found especially helpful:

I totally get why bakeries charge $4 a piece for macarons.  It’s to help pay for all the previous failed attempts!

Recipe adapted from Sweet & Savory:

Vanilla Macarons

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Servings: 15 Cookies
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 100 grams almond flour
  • 100 grams confectioner's sugar (aka powdered sugar)
  • 70 grams egg whites (approximately 2 eggs)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • sprinkles
Buttercream frosting
  • 75 grams softened butter
  • 170 grams confectioner's sugar (aka powdered sugar)
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

Method
 

  1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Unless you are a wiz at making perfectly uniform circles, place a template with 1 1/2" circles under the parchment.  I made one in MS Word with three rows of five circles and printed off two copies of it
  2. Process confectioner's sugar and almond flour in a food processor until finely ground. Sift the mixture through a sieve. If there are more than 2 tablespoons of large chunks left in the sieve, grind them and sift again. Set this mixture aside.
  3. Use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and beat egg whites at medium speed until frothy. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add vanilla. Increase the speed to high and beat until very stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.  Note:  If you don't have a stand mixer a handheld mixer will work.
  4. Gently add half the almond flour mixture to the egg whites. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the almond flour mixture into the egg whites until the ingredients are just combined. Add second half of the almond flour mixture and continue to fold the mixture until it has loosened and falls in a ribbon from the spatula.  Note:  I watched a bunch of YouTube videos to really understand the consistency you need.
  5. Fill a pastry bag with the batter. Cut the tip of the bag off (alternatively you can use a 1/2" round tip.  I didn't find it necessary).  Using the template as a guide, pipe circles onto the parchment paper.
  6. Tap the bottom of each sheet on the work surface to release trapped air bubbles (just drop it about 5 or 6 inches from your work surface).  Rotate the cookie sheet 1/4 turn and do it again.  Repeat this two more times.  Top with sprinkles. Let the cookies stand at room temperature for 30-60 minutes. This allows the cookies to develop their crusts which in turn helps the cookie develop their signature "feet" during baking.
  7. Preheat oven to 325F. Bake the macarons for 11 to 13 minutes, until set but not browned.
  8. Transfer the baking sheet to wire racks and let the macarons to cool completely on the pans. 
Buttercream frosting
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter until it is a pale color, approximately 3 minutes. 
  2. Sift in the powdered sugar, and mix on medium speed until well combined. 
  3. Mix the milk and vanilla together and slowly add to butter mixture untiI the frosting is light and fluffy, and a pipeable consistency. 
  4. Transfer to a pastry bag and cut the tip of the bag off (alternatively you can use a 1/2" round tip.
Assembly
  1. Place half of the cooled cookies upside down.  You may need to pair the cookies if your sizes aren't consistent.
  2. Pipe a teaspoon of filling onto each of the upside-down cookies. Top with the remaining cookies. Chill in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 24 hours before serving.

Valentine Vanilla Macarons

Andrea Filed Under: Food, Holidays

Valentine Sachet

I was fully intending to do a post on keto friendly macarons today, however, they were a complete and utter fail.  They would have been so cute if they actually worked so maybe I’ll try again but just make regular macarons.

Instead I bring you an easy little craft project that I whipped up on Friday.   I have a ton of vintage hankies that I’ve collected or have been given to me over the years.  A few of them are showing their age and either have holes or areas of discoloration.  So I upcycled one of them into a heart shaped sachet.

(See I told you I bought that pair of scissors as a prop….)

I used a scrape of linen I had from an old project.    And look what I found when I unfolded it:

Haha!  Does anyone remember that project?  I still think they would be cute along the top of a tote bag.

I actually made two sachets.  The first one the proportions weren’t right and once I sewed the pieces together and turned it right side out the heart was kind of distorted.  The second template I made was a little fatter and the top of the heart not quite as pronounced.  Here’s the template if anyone wants to recreate this.  The finished sachet is about 5 1/2″ x 5″.

I cut out two pieces of the linen and then cut my hankie into quarters.  It has the lace detail on each corner so I can make four sachets out of this one hankie.  Before sewing the pieces together I trimmed it to shape and fused the hankie to one of the linen hearts.  I then sewed on the buttons.  I found it much easier to do this before sewing the two sides together.   I put the linen hearts right side together with a small loop of rickrack sandwiched between and pinned it all together.

I sewed around the heart using a 1/4″ seam allowance leaving about two inches unsewn so I could stuff it once turned right side out.

I would have preferred to stuff it with dried lavender but since I didn’t have that I used polyfill and added a couple drops of lavender oil.   I hand stitched the opening and it was done!

I think they would make a nice Valentine gift.   Okay I’m off to see if I can redeem myself with another macaron attempt.

 

 

Friday Favorites

ballerina  ◊  lilacs on my vintage garden bench  ◊  “Guess I’ll hang my tears out to dry”  ◊  50/365 mini tea cup

Hello and Happy Friday and Happy first day of February!  I hope everyone is making it over here okay from the old blog.  I did enjoy my break and it really allowed me to focus on getting this new site up and running.  As mentioned in my inaugural post I will be fine tuning things behind the scenes but it shouldn’t impact my posting schedule.  Which will remain the same, by the way.  I still aim to post three times a week.

If you saw Wednesday’s post you will have seen that I added a quick video tutorial to accompany the blog post. I want to start doing more of that and to polish up my video filming and editing skills.   From just that first attempt I see lots of room for improvement.  I’ve already filmed a second one and I’m slowly getting the hang of it.  It’s a fun medium to play around with.  The next one has a voice over.  I doubt I’ll ever go before the camera (except my hands….) but at least you can hear my Mr. Haney voice.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Andrea Filed Under: Favorites