Friday, July 08, 2011

MAC ATTACK #21 ICE CREAM DREAMS

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM…

Ice cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn't illegal.
- Voltaire

Summertime, and the living is easy. The hot weather settles in heavy on top of us and all we want to do is find shade and cool respite. Baking? The last thing on our minds; the heat emanating from oven or stove is wearying and even the craving of chocolate, peaches, raspberries or melons isn’t enough to drag us into the sultry kitchen.

Yet…yet… ice cream and sorbet scream summer in a way that nothing else can! Chilly and refreshing, soothing the temper and cooling the body, ice cream and sorbet are the one happiness of summer. One lick of a cone, one icy spoonful and memories wash over us of beach holidays and camping trips and the stickiness of vanilla or chocolate dripping off chins and running down arms; the streets of Rome and the magic of our first Italian gelato; excitedly, impatiently waiting our turn to work the stiff hand crank on the old ice cream machine at camp long ago. Who doesn’t have at least one memory redolent with the sweet goodness of ice cream or the elegance of sorbet? Dreams of ice cream have the power to pull us into the kitchen even at the height of summer and incite us to cook.


Summer is upon us and what better accompaniment to a macaron than ice cream or sorbet? Your challenge this month is concoct a dessert - a simple ice cream sandwich or a more complicated confection – combining your own ice cream or sorbet with your home-baked macarons! Try to make your own ice cream or sorbet, if you can, and pair it with whatever flavor macaron you decide to create. Then use your imaginations to prepare something luscious for summer. And if you are in the deep, dark, cold recesses of winter on your side of the planet? Well, nothing is more delicious than macarons and ice cream for snack or dessert. Are we right?

A simple post, a simple challenge, and you are on your way. Create a favorite family treat or an elegant dessert, fruit, chocolate, vanilla, spiked, spiced or herbed, whatever your desire, whatever your whim, but make sure you make your own macarons and serve it up with ice cream or sorbet! And then we’ll all scream for….ice cream!


Now, just follow the rules:

1. Once you have posted your Mac Attack macarons on your blog, make sure that you mention the Mactweets Mac Attack challenge in your post and link back to the Mactweets blog. Please make sure that your Mac Attack #21 macarons are inspired by the theme!

2. Please link back to this challenge on your post.

3. Feel free to promote the Mactweets blog by proudly displaying the Mactweets badge in your Mac Attack post as well as in your sidebar! It isn't mandatory but is a nice way to get the word out!

4. Have your Fruity Macs posted on your own blog by July 31, 2011. And being just a little bit late never hurt anybody...

5. Once your post is up, simply leave the link to the post as a comment to this Mac Attack Challenge post!

The round up will be posted on or about August 5, 2011!



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Sunday, July 03, 2011

MacTweets #20 .... Round up of Fruit Macarons

"Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is."
Mark Twain

I love this part of the challenge, Round-Up Time. It's one that never ceases to amaze with our mac passionate creators. This time in the midst of summer {winter in the Southern hemisphere} a new cornucopia of beautiful, luscious fruit tumbled before us, begging our attention. Look at how our minds churned out ideas!

This round up is a celebration of colour, of fruit, of creativity and of our collective passion as mac-bakers! As Jamie is busy cycling up Canal Nantes-Brest with her better half and I'm back, somewhat rejuvenated from a wonderful vacation Down Under, I take absolute pleasure in presenting the 'fruit macarons' round up.

Enjoy!! Here's where the fruit is....
 
 

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