MAC ATTACK REDUX....It's here!!

Macarons … those luscious, delicate, tender French delicacies that everyone falls in love with. And too often our personal nemesis, our downfall. Some hit the nail on the head first time around and the exultation, the thrill is an elixir, Cloud 9 and we’re floating. Some end up with flat, lifeless cookies and we hit the ground, angry, frustrated, swearing to shove our piping bag and tips to the back of the drawer and give up, never to look another egg white in the eye! The Mac gods must be against us! But most of us fall somewhere in between: no feet but cute and yummy enough to sandwich together with gooey, creamy, heavenly ganache and eat, or not so cute but still tasty, so those babies end up crumbled on top of ice cream or layered into a tiramisu.

But there is something so magical, so enthralling about French macarons and something so challenging about a pastry that requires such exactitude, such patience, such skill that we are loathe to give up. The siren call of beautiful images splashed across the web, the perfection of the perfect little macaron, the excitement floating around the blogosphere whenever someone else succeeds and we are drawn into the fray, almost against our will, the desire to create the ultimate, perfect “feeted” macaron is too strong for us to fight. But how? Where can you turn to when the urge, the need to master the macaron. Neither Deeba nor I had ever made a macaron before. It was just something too daunting that we kept putting it off, we turned our backs on it even as we were intrigued, as we longed to be able to make them. No, way too scary.

Until we got to discussing it on Twitter. We finally agreed to take the dive together. Make macs we would, but helping, supporting, encouraging each other, sharing advice and information. Soon the buzz began to spread and others joined in, one by one, then by twos and the first Mac Attack Challenge was created. Soon we were getting messages from other food bloggers, attracted by the noise and excitement, clamoring to be included but not having the time to make the first Mac Attack Challenge deadline.

So Deeba and I decided, with the agreement of the others, to make this a monthly event. Everyone who wanted to try for the first time or improve their skills or just try new flavor combinations was welcome to join in the fun! And finally we decided to create this Mactweets blog as our virtual Mac Kitchen, a place where all of us could gather, share advice and share laughs, find encouragement and solace, cheers or pats on the backs.

Here are the rules of the game:

We will post some basic recipes, maybe make a few flavor suggestions for fillings, all quite simple enough for you Mac Virgins out there, and we will fix a date for macs to be finished and results posted on your blogs. Then send us the link to the post – and make sure that you include a mention of and a link back to this blog! - and attach a photograph of your macs, and we will post the round up on another specified date. And we can all share successes, failures, and everything in between. This blog can be a place to ask questions, give advice and suggestions, share recipes and have fun baking together.Follow us and all the Mac Attack Buzz on Twitter @lifesafeast and @vindee