• Autumn baking,  Baking Recipes,  Experiments & experiences,  Foodie Life,  J'adore macarons

    {Kitchen Diaries} Autumn Edition

    It’s November, which means I am officially starting my countdown to Christmas! Since we don’t actually celebrate Thanksgiving holiday here, we’re jumping right into festive, Christmas-y baking before the last week of November arrives. It’s my favourite time of the year and I’m super excited to make the recipes I have planned for Christmas already, but before that, I wanted to share some of the autumn recipes that did not make the cut. I’ve actually been pretty busy in the kitchen even though it’s not as apparent on the blog. Poor planning, crazy whims, and the desire to use ingredients screaming at me in the fridge have led me to…

  • Baking Recipes,  Cookies

    Homemade cookies are one of the best pick-me-ups

    I don’t know if any of you experience this as well, but I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a homemade cookie without feeling a little better afterwards. If I’m having a good day, I start smiling a bit more; and when I’m having a bad day, the dark cloud over my head lifts a little. It’s like baked endorphins, especially when in the form of chocolate chip cookies! Now these may not be chocolate chip cookies, but I can assure you they have the same effect. As you all may have read from my previous post, I am in dire need of all sorts of pick-me-ups. This cookie definitely fits…

  • Baking Recipes,  Cookies,  From the books,  J'adore macarons,  My favourite things

    Into the macaron bandwagon, and I don’t want to get out

    Macarons are probably one of the easiest things a person can fall in love with. The endless possibilities in shell and filling combinations is mind-blowing, and whatever combination in colour and flavour one chooses, the results will almost always be a guaranteed winner. I mean just look at how adorable these things are! Making macarons has evolved from being intimidating to something really fun to do. Now I know this is only my third time making macarons, but it has been an incredible learning process. I think this is one of the things I love most about making these babies: I learn something new every single time. The difference in…

  • Baking Recipes,  Cookies,  David Lebovitz,  J'adore macarons

    Two bits of good news

    You guys!!!!!!! I did it. I made macarons!!!!! With feet!!!!! On my first try!!!!! Now on a typical day, seeing this much exclamation points would make me cringe, but not today. Because apparently the only way I can describe my feelings about this success is: !!!!!!! In hindsight I kind of wish I had spent significantly less time worrying about whether I would fail or not and used that time to actually attempt macarons. Considering all my past ventures into things involving whipping egg whites into a sort of meringue turned out better than I always anticipated, I think I may have unconsciously held unto those when I finally decided…

  • Baking Recipes,  Colours of the rainbow,  Cookies

    Red Velvet Valentine Crinkles + Happy Hearts Day to all!

    Probably the only thing I really think about when someone says the word Valentine’s is that it’s an amazing opportunity to get creative with the things that come out of your oven. And it’s not because I’m some bitter heartbroken man-hating spinster or anything, it’s just that I think it’s not a particularly special event. It might be a cliché to say that we should make it a point to express how much we love our boyfriends/girlfriends, husbands/wives on a daily basis even in the smallest ways; but to me, it’s an even bigger cliché to pick a particular day to give extra special attention to your partner. Tell your…