French macarons are so pretty. I hadn't ever had one until I went to Honey Toast with my mom for my birthday last year and our dessert came with a pretty macaron on it. There's just something about them. I don't know. So fancy, tiny, and pretty. And they come in so many colors!
Last week I was searching the internets for something pretty to paint for my watercolor class (did I mention I'm taking watercolor and yoga? It's fun to have self care classes), and I decided to look up watercolor desserts and a bunch of pretty macarons popped up. Suddenly the idea came that I REALLY wanted to learn how to make these myself.
My first thoughts as I began my endeavor on my Monday off, were something along the lines of, "WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU DOING??!?! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN...
...THE RAINBOW CAKE...
... THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!?!?! AND YOU THINK YOU CAN MAKE MACARONS!!!?!??!"
But I'm not a quitter! I make goals and keep them. So, with the entire internet at my disposal, I searched for an easy macaron recipe, and bought me some ingredients.
The only "special" ingredient for the whole thing was the almond meal. I kept looking for it in the baking section and turns out they keep it with the nuts. That's dumb. But, whatever.
While the over heated up, I drew some lovely circles for when it came time to pipe the cookies onto the sheet.
Sifted me some powdered sugar and almond meal. I really love doing that. I don't know why. It's just really fun.
It called for egg whites. Luckily, my grandma taught me how to separate egg whites way back in the day, so I felt pretty good about this step.
Only one casualty.
Then it came time to whip up the meringue for the cookie. I learned several things at this point:
Meringues take a long time to whip up
No, seriously. Like, over 10 minutes standing holding up the dang mixer. A standing mixer thing might be better. But I don't know where ours is. Oh well.
Meringue is MAGIC. All it is is egg whites and sugar and if you beat it long enough, it turns into light, fluffy magic. Super fancy stuff, right there.
Following a teaspoon of vanilla, powdered sugar and almond meal was added and "gently folded" into the meringue. Then I had to "punch" it, which isn't as violent as it sounds, but it turns your fluffy meringue into something more liquidy to be piped onto your pans.
They had to set for about 20 minutes until they were ready for the oven. I left them white since I didn't want to have to worry about food coloring on my first try.
While my cookies baked in the oven, I made my first butter cream!
Cook that egg-milk-sugar mixture!
I tasted it after folding in the butter and I was really dissapointed. It tasted, well, like butter. Then I realized I had forgotten the vanilla. That made it MUCH better. I also added coconut and food coloring (PINK!!!).
The cookies came out of the oven looking fabulous. They even had the little frilly things they were supposed to have!!
I put my pink coconut butter cream on them with a little bit of raspberry jam.
They look like little peanut butter jelly sandwiches!! XD
Pretty, pretty, pretty.
Some got a little smooshed, though. so they didn't get to sit on the plate with the pretty ones.
I was a little nervous trying them, but they turned out fabulous!! Even my mom said they were delicious. When I came down the next morning to put one in my lunch, I found she had finished off the rest that we hadn't eaten the night before!
I'm going to visit my grandparents in California this weekend, so I decided to make some to bring with me!
Since I felt more comfortable making the cookies, I decided to add some food coloring to the mix and make the cookies pink and purple!
I didn't care too much for the butter cream, so I made two different fillings this time: a raspberry cream cheese, and a lemon-lime curd. The lemon-lime curd was DEFINITELY the better of the two. I'll be taking that with me to fill the cookies I set aside to take to the grandparents. :)
Aren't they pretty! My piping needs a little bit of work, but I'm getting closer to a pretty little macaron!
And this takes care of number 24 on my 30 before 30 list: Bake GOOD cookies (all by myself!!)
For my next baking adventure, I plan on trying to actually make chocolate chip cookies that taste good. My friend sent me a recipe for chocolate chip cookies and I'm going to try THAT one out. Maybe it's not me; just the recipe!
Everyone else is still asleep (come on... it's after 8am, already!!) and I'm the nicest person alive seeing as I'm not going in and waking them all up.
We spent Christmas Eve at the Smith's house with the Jones and Riggs families for a fun dinner of munchies and cheese fondue (thank you, Annette! It was delicious).
After hanging out, eating, and chatting, we headed home for a family tradition Jesi and I started a number of years ago when we went to Hawaii for Christmas and didn't get to participate in the annual Nativity reenactment with the Smith family. We made popsicle stick puppets and reenacted the Nativity story (though we might have gotten some bits mixed up... somehow Colonel Sanders ended up bringing Froot Loops as a gift for the Christ child...). That was such a hit, that in 2011, Jesi and I made a sock puppet video for our parent's entertainment.
Since our sock puppet show went over so well, this year we decided to make another Christmas video for our parents. Knowing that it would be difficult to top the last one (and we didn't have as much time as we did in 2011; we only had about an afternoon to finish this one), we went a little simpler this year and made a music video to the Christmas classic, "Santa Bring Me a Dinosaur."
I have such a wonderful sister. She doesn't really like making these things, but she lets me boss her around anyways. She's pretty much my favorite. Merry Christmas, everyone!! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year! My kindness has run out and I'm going to go wake some people up, now.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. It was a bit lackluster in the Olson household. We are putting off having the full Thanksgiving spread until after Christmas when Jesi is home; it felt silly to make all that food for three people. But we got all of our sides ready and waiting in the freezer from Dream Dinners. Instead, we made flank steak, deviled eggs, and broiled brussel sprouts, onions, and bacon. It was super delicious... and we ate it on Saturday! Haha!
We spent our Thanksgiving doing nothing! Well, I say nothing, but what I really mean is that Dad worked putting molding in the craft house, Mom went through all the Black Friday ads, and I wrote a paper/researched curriculum for reducing test-taking anxiety. Then we enjoyed the traditional Jack in the Box Thanksgiving dinner. I enjoyed not stressing out in the kitchen.
It's been really great having a long weekend with no work or class to
really get some work done. I have only two weeks left in the term
(yikes!!) and I have yet to make any of my finals study guides. I also
have a big group project for my Foundations of School Counseling class.
We'll be presenting the project on the last day of class to a fake
school board that will consist of people from the community like
principals, real board members, etc. You know... people who will
hopefully want to hire us in the future. I'm really loving the project;
but it is also really stressful. I've pretty much given up on
maintaining healthy eating habits until the end of the holidays.
I've
also been able to spend some time this weekend making Christmas cards,
wrapping presents, and getting ready for the holidays. I hit a few of
the Black Friday sales and managed to get a sparkly silver tinsel tree
for my room as well as some white Christmas lights to hang around the
ceiling. I've always wanted to have a room with lights around the
ceiling and now I will!
And, since everyone has been doing it (and because I love making lists), I wanted to make a list of 20 things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving:
1. Family: I love my family (crazy as they are). They are my best friends and my biggest support.
2. Friends: Although my social life is crap (thanks, grad school and work!), I still have some wonderful friends out there that I really wish I could spend more time with.
3. Graduate school: I know, right? Why? What I mean to say is that I am grateful to have the opportunity to attend graduate school to go into a field I am passionate about with a cohort of fabulous people
4. Hulu: And all forms of online video streaming. Thank you for helping me watch Korean dramas, Xena: Warrior Princess, and other fabulous shows to help me keep my stress levels at yellow (sometimes even blue!).
5. My job: I am so happy to be employed and even happier to work with such fabulous coworkers and customers. Seriously; I have never had a retail job where I have so few complaints about customers.
6. My bosses: I know I was already thankful for my job, but I seriously have the best bosses: Dina (the store owner) and Annetta (the store manager). They are totally supportive and wonderful people. They are totally spoiling me for all future bosses.
7. Text book rentals: Now I don't have to store or sell all my textbooks at the end of the term! I just return them!! Except for the really good ones. Like the ASCA National Model... or Making DATA Work. Those ones are seriously fabulous.
8. Facebook: It has its problems (boy, does it have its problems!), but I love it anyway. I love being able to have quick peeks into all my old friends' lives and connect with people easily.
9. My Chromebook: I got a little Chromebook last year and it makes my life so much easier. It is super lightweight and I can take it to school, take notes, write papers, research in class, check email, etc. at school without having to find a computer lab. I love it so much.
10. My new room: I love it. Love love love. I can't wait to put up my curtains and lights. :)
11. Christmas music: You might recall my post about Christmas music from when I was in Korea. I am listening to it right now. It just makes me happy, okay? Even in July...
12. Cute things: Thank you, cute things, for making life a little more adorable and happy.
13. Trimet: I take the max train to school and while I sometimes dislike the max, I really am happy I don't have to drive to school.
14. Modern medicine: I love having easy access to Advil, Claritin, and all sorts of wonderful medicines that help keep me functioning. This includes local urgent care facilities that help sew my finger back up after I cut it instead of my avocados...
15. Portland: It's weird and I love it.
16. Portland State University: It really has some great people there and a nice campus.
17. Drawing: I miss you; I promise that I'll try to make more time for you.
18. My phone: I can easily get in touch with people, check the internet for things when I'm not at home, it's really awesome.
19. The Church: How fabulous is it that the Gospel is all around the world? I can go to the other side of the globe and have a support network right there.
20. My privileged existence: Seriously, people. I am ridiculously privileged in a million different ways. From loving parents (who feed me and let me live with them while I go to grad school) to teachers and friends who have supported me. Thank you, all!
You might remember that last year I made a list of 30 things to do before I'm 30. Well, I haven't gotten very far on my list; in fact, looking at this list a year later, I realize that I need get cracking on this! So, here's a bit of an update on the items that I have done so far.
6. Decorate a room the way that I really want to
Currently in progress. I'm going about it one little bit at a time. But I'm really loving my new room! Well, I say new, though I've been in here since the summer. I promise I'll devote a post to it once I've gotten a few more things done.
13. Make and send holiday cards
Another "in progress" one. I'm currently in the process of making my Christmas cards to send out. Looking pretty cute, if I do say so myself.
And don't assume I know your address. If you want a card, don't be shy. Message me on Facebook. :)
15. Take sister photos
Thanks to a JC Penney Groupon, Jesi and I got some adorable sister pictures this summer.
Us holding the picture of when we first met. I'm the one with bangs in both pictures. ;)
28. Go to New York
I totally went to New York this summer!! It was SUCH A BLAST!! I saw five shows in one week, visited a million things, and generally drank my weight in water every day to keep up with how much we were sweating, it was so freaking hot. Check it out!
I'm in Times Square! In glasses because city air does not agree with my contacts.
30. Learn a new song on the piano
Actually, just this week. The piece was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be, but it's really pretty so I'm totally counting this one as done. Here's a video of it synchronized with dancing Christmas light. Just to be clear, I'm not actually the one playing it in this.
P.S. Only 37 more days until Christmas. You ready?
And that's it so far. Five things *mostly* done. There are a few that are kind of time dependent (graduating PSU, getting a realy job (in my field... need to graduate, first), going to Korea... etc.), but there are others that I need to get started on if I'm going to finish them before I'm 30! Let's DO THIS!! *punches the air*
So, those of you who know me at all know that I have two holidays that I get ridiculously excited about: Halloween and Christmas. I like them both for different reasons so I have a really hard time deciding which one I like best. Luckily, they don't come at the same time so I get to celebrate both and enjoy each of their unique festivities.
With Halloween right around the corner (13 days!!), I've been getting into the mood by watching some of my favorite Halloween movies, playing around with makeup for my costume, and making antlers out of paper clay and tin foil. I might not have anywhere to go on Halloween, but I sure as heck am going to look cool for all the trick-or-treaters that come to our door!
One of my favorite things about holidays is the music. Granted, I listen to "Halloween songs" all year round, there are a few that really make me think of Halloween, all for different reasons.
So here is my top 13 Halloween Songs, in no specific order.
#1. Thriller by Michael Jackson (and Vincent Price)
So, I know I said that I wasn't putting them in any particular order, but this is definitely number one. Why? Two of my favorite people - Michael Jackson AND Vincent Price - in ONE SONG. WITH DANCING ZOMBIES. How can it be better?
I didn't post the full music video movie (which is SO COOL), but just the song so you aren't watching for 15 minutes... just 6.
#2. Silly Symphony: The Skeleton Dance by Disney
I love Disney and this is one of my favorite Silly Symphonies! I remember seeing this as a kid and thinking it was dreadfully spooky.
#3 Ghost Chickens in the Sky by Moosebutter
My little sister used to be absolutely obsessed with the song "Ghost Riders in the Sky" so when I saw this song, I immediately thought of her. My favorite version of this song is the one done by Moosebutter. This particular video is kind of really dumb, but it's the version of the song I like best.
#4. Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show
I remember in college, my roommate Gena and I would watch clips from Rocky Horror Picture Show and this was one of our favorites.
#5. This is Halloween from Nightmare Before Christmas
This is one of my all time favorite movies. I love that I can watch it at both Halloween AND Christmas time!
#6 Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.
What Halloween would be complete without the Ghostbusters theme song? Does anyone else remember the awesome cartoon?! Loved it.
#7. Monster Mash by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Cryptkickers
Do I really need to explain this one?
#8. Grim Grinning Ghosts Come Out to Socialize from Haunted Mansion
My absolute favorite ride (practically a tie with "It's a Small World") at Disneyland is the Haunted Mansion. I especially love it when they decorate it Nightmare Before Christmas.
#9. The Addam's Family Theme song
I learned to snap my fingers because of this song. I got tired of not being able to snap along so I practiced until I could. I was so proud of myself.
#10. Sally's Song by Amy Lee
Again, a song from Nightmare Before Christmas, I know. But I LOVE this version of the song! It is so creepy sounding and beautiful.
#11. Sweet Dreams by Emily Browning from Sucker Punch
The style of this song is very similar to the last song: slow, creepy, and gorgeous. I remember going to see this movie when I was in Korea. It wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be (and I go back and forth on my feelings about it from a Feminist standpoint), but one thing I knew was that I needed the soundtrack. This is absolutely one of my favorites.
#12. I am a Vampire by Antsy Pants from Juno
This one is just too silly. Plus I love Juno.
#13. I Put a Spell on You from Hocus Pocus
One of the best Halloween movies out there. I really wish that they did a full version of this song and I totally agree with this about making Hocus Pocus into a Broadway Musical. Please? Just... holy crap, PLEASE!!!
There are so many good ones!! What are some of your favorites?
Well, my post about my trip to New York is long over due. I've been home nearly a month now and things have been a little chaotic. I had a class that kept me insanely busy for two weeks, then I needed to write my blog posts for the New York class which are boring, academic, and not at all interesting so I'm not going to link you to that blog. Then I tried to cut my finger off, which made typing a might difficult (it still kind of aches and looks disgusting, but I'm dealing).
So here it is! The post you've been waiting for (I'm so sure *sarcasm*): my trip to New York!
Sunday
I got in Saturday evening and spent it sleeping mostly. Sunday I slept in and took my time getting ready so I could take the subway to Times Square to see my first show: "Pippin."
We stayed at the Leo House in Chelsea so it was a really short ride on the subway to Times Square. "Pippin" was the one show I paid full price tickets for in advance. I love (LOVE) musicals, and one of my favorite Broadway singers is Terrence Mann and I had looked up to see if he was in any shows while I was in New York. I saw he was in "Pippin" so I bought tickets. I didn't really know anything about the show before I went and saw it. And it was definitely the best show I saw that week.
I sat down and pretty soon the guy next to me started talking to me and I found out that he and his whole family had come special to see their son who was one of the lead dancers who also understudied for Terrence Mann. I was fan-girling so hard and trying not to show it. He kept leaning over to me during the show and pointing out cool things about the acrobats, the lead player, and some of the choreography (FOSSE!!), which was awesome. I love that kind of stuff.
Monday
Monday was the first day of the class itself. There were groups of school counselors (students and licensed) from schools from Oregon, Florida, Missouri, New York, and even a few students from Turkey. We started the day with just the students from PSU. We were originally going to go to Ellis Island but, alas, it was still closed from damages from Sandy. So, instead, we went to the Native American History Museum which is right next to Battery Park.
After walking around the museum a while, a few of us decided to run to the ferry dock to see if we could catch sight of the Statue of Liberty.
We then hiked up to Wall Street for a quick bite to eat before meeting up with the rest of the groups for orientation, which was a bit of a bust. Our "icebreaker" ended up being a lecture about Dominican faceless dolls which, while interesting, might have been more appropriate with the panel at El Museo de Barrio on Friday.
After the "icebreaker," we had a panel of students from the International High School of Brooklyn come and talk with us. They had some pretty amazing stories and it was neat hearing their perspective as well as hearing about the school itself, which is a pretty unique school.
The classes broke up for a few hours for a dinner break, but a few of us decided to hike out to Ground Zero to see the 9/11 Memorial. It was ridiculously hot. The ground was literally radiating heat we could feel through our shoes.
It was a little bit cooler by the Infinity Pool, but not much. I think the experience might have been a bit more emotionally stimulating if it hadn't been so ridiculously hot. Ugh!
After the memorial, and a quick detour to the waterfront after heading the wrong direction looking for the subway, we made a quick stop to change our sweaty clothes and shower super quick before heading out to see "Crossing the Boulevard," a multimedia presentation of stories of immigrants living in Queens. It was really fun and her book by the same name is full of fascinating stories. This video is about 10 minutes long, but it gives a really good feel of what the show is like.
I took a second shower, and headed to bed.
Tuesday
We spent Tuesday in Harlem. First we spoke to a panel of people who talked about working with African American students in schools. It was interesting, but had a particularly New York point of view.
We had soul food at Sylvias for lunch. It was SOOOO GOOD. I had fried chicken, candied yams, and collard greens. So very good.
After lunch, some of us hiked over to the Apollo Theater, which turned out to be closed. Sad! But, still, we saw it. On our way back, we saw a beautiful mural.
We got a little lost trying to find the Abyssinian Baptist Church, so we got there a little late, but it was very interesting hearing the history and seeing how involved that church is in the community, but we weren't allowed to take pictures. Sad day.
When we were done at the church, some of us headed over to the African Market which was a small market with handmade craft things. I didn't buy anything, but I was sorely tempted a few times.
Wednesday
This was probably the best and most exhausting day of the entire week. I loved (almost) every minute of it.
First thing, we took the subway all the way up to Riverdale then hiked (literally; all up hill with a set of steps that was, like, twice the length of the stairs of death up from the RB at BYU) up to a orthodox synagogue where we heard from Rabbi Steve who was absolutely amazing. He was very open to our questions and made it clear that no question was too odd and was very good at explaining things. He even took out the Torah and read for us the section where Moses comes down off the mountain and finds his people worshiping a golden calf. It was a very unique experience.
We were running a little late because we had so many questions for the rabbi, so we had to book it to the subway so we could get down to the Islam Cultural Center to hear from the imam there. We were able to inhale a piece of pizza before heading into the mosque.
All the women were asked to cover their heads while inside the mosque out of respect, and everyone was really good about not complaining about it, even though it was really hot. Some of us wore them more gracefully than others. I am obviously new to this.
We then heard from the imam, the religious leader, who was very interesting, if a little bit controversial. Some of the Muslims in our group later explained that he was very, very conservative and that many, if not most, Muslims don't think like him. It was an interesting experience, but sitting on the floor for an hour and a half was a bit uncomfortable.
After grabbing something to eat and a quick shower back at the hotel, I went with the rest of the group to go see "Kinky Boots," show number two of the week. It was really, really great.
And, even BETTER, we got to have a talk back after the show! It was awesome.
My boss, Dina, has a friend in the show. If you happen to watch some of the online videos, he's the guy who does a back flip while wearing six inch heels. And he went to BYU! How cool is that? He's the guy in the red shirt, fourth from the left.
I had meant to get him to sign a program for Dina (and, hey, me too), but I totally clammed up. Totally regretting that. But I did get a photo in front of the theater. :)
Thursday
Thursday was another hot, hot day. We started out at the Museum of the Chinese in America. We had a panel, and then we walked around the museum a bit before going on a shortened version of the neighborhood walk.
Our group broke off and ate lunch from Tasty Dumpling in the park.
Then we headed into Little Italy for some shopping and gelato. It was so hot that we had to eat our gelato super fast while it melted, making us all feel a little ill.
After a quick shower at the hotel, I headed out alone to try the lottery for tickets to Book of Mormon: the Musical. I tried twice and didn't get in either time. Nuts.
However, I did get tickets to "Peter and the Star Catcher" which was a really cute play. Very funny.
Friday
By Friday, all of us were a little wiped. It was super hot and super humid all week and we were all a little the worse for wear.
We started off at El Museo de Barrio in Spanish Harlem, which was totally up my ally. After a panel, we walked around the museum which had some really fun pieces.
We then took a short neighborhood walk of Spanish Harlem. We stopped at this beautiful mural which, coincidentally, was right next to lunch.
Myself and another girl tried for the Book of Mormon lottery again but didn't make it so, instead, we went back to Chelsea for a dinner of Tapas.
Saturday
I had all day Saturday to myself. I went out early and tried to get rush tickets to Matilda, but they sold out. So, instead, I got in line at TKTS and eventually the lady in front of me convinced me to see "Spiderman: Turn off the Dark." It was pretty ridiculous. The music was loud and fun (BONO!!) but the songs were cheesy even by my standards. But the acrobatics were really cool and having them fly out over the audience was really cool.
I was going to call it a day, but then I called Jesi so she could convince me to go see another show. I caught show number five of the week, "Once." It was pretty, but I hated the ending. Arthur Darvill from Doctor Who played the lead and he was awesome. Everyone played their own instruments on stage, accompanying themselves and sometimes dancing, playing, and singing at the same time! That was cool. Also cool, the set was a pub, and before the show and during intermission, people could go onstage to buy a drink. And then some of the actors came out and played like it was a real pub! How cool is that?
And then it was over. What a week! I obviously had a great (if sweaty) time. Did some great things, saw some fabulous shows, and all in great company. After my week there, I again reaffirmed my belief that I would never want to live in New York City, but being close wouldn't be too bad. If only for Broadway. ;)
It's been a while, eh? Parents had a great time on their cruise and spending time in Barcelona. They were home for a few days before heading out again, this time for Hawaii. I spent the next few weeks after that finishing up school and work, work, working. I finished painting my room (yay!) so it is now a lovely shade of light grey! I'm excited to get started moving all my stuff in and actually making it my room. However, that will have to wait until I get back from New York which I leave for tomorrow! SO EXCITED!!!
I met the family in Kona on Jesi's birthday (happy birthday, Chicky!!) and we spent almost two weeks doing, like, NOTHING. It was fabulous. We spent most of our time laying around the condo, sometimes going out to sit by the pool. We watched two seasons of Downton Abby and some pretty awesomely ridiculous action movies. Every few days, we'd venture out into town to go to Walmart or check out some local shops. Mostly we just relaxed, though. Which is just the way we like it!
We did one snorkel trip which was awesome. We didn't see very many colorful fish, but we swam with wild spinner dolphins!
It was really cool.
We also saw a tiger shark (from the boat, of course)! Dad took a video of it swimming around and it's posted on his Facebook.
Now, I'm just finishing getting ready for my trip to New York. I am all packed, I just need to make my lunch for the plane and set up my music on my iPod, maybe get another book for my kindle, then I'm all set! I am so ridiculously excited for this trip! We are going to go so many cool places, and I am already set to see two fabulous Broadway shows (my favorite part!). You can bet that there will be lots to talk about when I get back. Hopefully I'll remember to take lots of pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Well, I'm off! I have to leave for the airport at 3:30am tomorrow (Thank you, Sister Fisher, for the ride!).
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