Monday, November 28- MACARON MADNESS!

Conditions at 5:30 am: 5' and cloudy with showers, heading for more showers and a high of 11'

What a great weekend! Friday evening I worked at the store and it was extremely quiet. Not so great for passing the time but it turns out everyone was shopped out ( I assume) as they were all out early in the day doing the "Black Friday" thing that seems to have taken hold here. Finally a day to celebrate our mass commercialism (how sad). Apparently there were approximately  500 people outside the Walmart IN CHARLOTTETOWN on Friday morning waiting for them to open.
I guess food specials just don't hold the same appeal.

Saturday I worked at Toyota and had the afternoon off from the store. It felt like I was on holiday. After doing a bit of grocery shopping and picking up some items at Bulk Barn it was back home to get ready for our staff Christmas Party. I arrived in town about 5:45 expecting it to be difficult to find a place to park as the parade started at 5:00 and would be just reaching downtown. But I was really lucky because I easily found a spot near the bank, where we usually park and it's a short walk to the pub. When I got there a few people were hanging around outside so I waited and went in with them. The Claddagh Oyster House was closed for our party and it's quite lovely inside. It's not very big and it was quite cozy. I was invited to join two couples at their table that had one single place in between the U-shaped bench so I gratefully accepted. I sat with two people from work that I really like and it was a lot of fun. I'd never met their wives before and they were both very nice. We had a lovely meal and a great time was had by all - at least at our table. There was lots of conversation and laughter. I truly enjoyed my evening.

I had my cell phone with me because Saturday night was also the fund raising auction at the church so I told Brenda to send me a message when it was done to let me know if our gourmet dinner sold. Turns out it did. They started the bidding at $200 and of course no one bit on that one. Then a fellow bid $100 and that was it. No one bid against him and he won it. I've not met this man (I don't think) but Brenda tells me he is a great fellow and we should have a terrific time doing the dinner. His wife works in at the Bulk Barn so I'll have to find out who she is and introduce myself as I'm there fairly frequently.

This is what they should look like - stay tuned for ours

Sunday was French Macaron day. The instructors are only expected to provide rolls for the pot luck but being the cooking instructor  I don't feel I can get away with that. SO Brenda is bringing the rolls - but they will be her wonderful home made ones, not the ones bought from the store that probably everyone else will bring. I decided to make French Macarons. So Sunday I made a couple of batches and then Brenda came over in the afternoon and we made another. While I was at the Bulk Barn on Saturday picking up ground almonds for my cookies, I spied a mix for French Macaroons. All you have to do is add water. I thought, wow, if this works it would make the job much easier. Turns out my original thinking proved right once again - home made is much better than the mix. They looked good in the oven but as soon as they came out they sort of collapsed onto themselves and you lost the little 'foot' that is very important to a macaron. So after making two batches with the mix I went back to made from scratch. And they really aren't difficult, just a little time consuming. They turned out properly so now it's on to the next step. I will put the filling in them tonight and put them in a cool place so the flavours blend as they are supposed to and then I have a bit of a surprise presentation but more on that later. Don't want to give the secret away!

One little note that we found quite amusing: Patti called me on Saturday afternoon as she was on her way to the airport. She was headed for a layover in London (the one in England and I'm very jealous) and had a bit of shopping she was going to do while there. Then next weekend she is off to San Francisco, on a layover, to look for a couple of things the kids want for Christmas. I suggested that most of us just go to the mall - not to Europe!