Last year after my birthday I wrote up a “30 before 30” list of things I wanted to accomplish and do — and the tastiest of goals on that list was to learn how to bake macarons. This weekend I tackled both by taking a macaron baking class at Sur La Table with sister and our friend! My greatest takeaway from the class was that now I understand why macarons are so expensive — it ain’t easy to make them! But our awesome teacher gave us lots of tips to perfect this tricky baking skill. We made some delicious flavors: mint with chocolate espresso ganache, strawberry with champagne butter cream, and then the wild card… bacon macarons with maple cream filling. I will totally try making them again (on a less humid weekend!) and am already hunting for my next cooking class to take because we had so much fun. And bonus: I now have 2 dozen macarons to snack on this week! 
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that Easter is this weekend, mainly because I’m still wearing my winter coat to work everyday and there’s snow that has yet to melt on the sidewalks. So, to get me in the spirit, I took to browsing some spring-inspired entertaining accessories that are perfect for hosting a festive celebration! Gingham napkins and striped straws in pastel-hues are a sure-fire way to make it at least look like spring.
Clockwise from top left: Candles, Bunny knives, Soap eggs, Gingham napkins, Paper straws, Ceramic egg crate
On the surface my apartment has lots of details that make me proud, but please don’t open my kitchen cabinets. You’ll find pint glasses that were most likely carried home from the neighborhood bar and a mismatched drawer of silverware I collected across several dorms and collegiate apartments. So, needless to say, I’m looking forward to upgrading a few of those items when wedding registry time rolls around. Recently flipping through the Sur La Table catalog to get some inspiration for these kitchen upgrades, my eye caught the gingham pattern on these paring knives — and at just $9, they’ll feel at home next to my mismatched silverware.
via Sur La Table
