Maybe I can celebrate next year? :)
In celebration of what I thought was the day of the French language, I went on an internet search to find the department store Justin and I shopped in while we were in Paris. I keep hoping that they will start selling real French macarons online. Everywhere we go, including our recent visit to Charleston, we try the macarons just to see if they taste anything like what we had in Paris. So far we haven't had any luck. Nothing tastes quite as decadent or perfect. On my search though, I discovered two places that might have what I am looking for … Maison Roberts of Atlanta, which I will be trying first, and Pierre Herme of … somewhere else (Paris, perhaps?). They were recommended by some random macaron loving blogger that I forgot to get the link for. She says Pierre Herme has some of the best macarons ever and that she has tried many. (There were links to about 1,000 macaron makers on her site, many she recommends but most she doesn't.)
At some point there was the realization that I most likely won't get to eat another truly Parisian macaron again until I return to Paris unless I (or my husband) make it ourselves. Given that my birthday is coming up rather quickly, I told Justin that I wanted him to make me macarons for it. (A vacation is simply not enough of a birthday treat!) … Will he do it? Probably not. Macarons take time… lots of time. Justin's time is running out.
That didn't stop me from watching this video about how to make them. The macarons look so easy to make! Clearly Justin can do it whenever he wants without difficulty. Of course, my fear is that the macaron recipe above is an Americanized version missing all of the Parisian-ness that I require in macarons. Luckily, we have a French cookbook bought in France with a macaron recipe we might try first. Unluckily, the book is in French, so it may be a tad difficult to comprehend. We shall see.
After all of my time spent worrying about macarons, Paris, and happiness, I decided to watch Emmy eat France. Emmy is cute and makes me happy, so you should watch her too.
So how have you celebrated the day that was not actually International French Language Day? Did you do anything decisively French?
