Tuesday, June 14, 2011

MAC ATTACK #20 - FRUIT!




There was now employment for the whole party ; for though they could not all talk, they could all eat ; and the beautiful pyramids of grapes, nectarines, and peaches soon collected them round the table.
- Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice


This will be ever so short and quite to the point: in June and approaching July we are thinking of fruit! A change of seasons, no matter the season in your homeland, means the fading away of all we have gotten used to, and we watch with mixed emotions as they slowly disappear from the market stalls. We have convinced ourselves that these are the fruits we love the best and the cakes and pies produced with their loving fragrance are what make our house a home. And then, for a very short time, we are caught between two seasons as in some culinary limbo: the last of this or that are withered and tasteless and the earliest of the next are floury and bland. But little by little, as the season advances and the heaps and piles of this one or that become higher, the color richer, deeper reds and purples, oranges and yellows, the aroma stronger, fruitier, sweeter, more enticing, we recall with excitement the flavors, the recipes, the joy of what was, just last year, our favorite fruit.


And now we are in full summer/winter and a new cornucopia of beautiful, luscious fruit tumbles before us and begs our attention. And our mind begins to churn and ideas begin to form and we remember that there is nothing that we love baking with better than fruit!


This will be ever so short and quite to the point: Fruit! This June, our Mac Attack challenge to you is to create something sensational, whether sweet or savory macarons, with fruit! Dried, powdered, fresh, any form, any flavor you choose, just incorporate a fruity flavor (or two! Or three!) into your shells or your fillings. Let your imagination flow! Blend in herbs or spices, chocolate or vanilla, plain or fancy, elegant or homey, but now is the best of the season’s fruit and we will bake accordingly!

Though careless enough in most matters of eating, he loved good fruit – or if he did not, his friends and children did.
- Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey



Please forgive the late date of this challenge – Deeba is traveling and Jamie is up to her neck in work! So if you can, please have your macs baked and your challenge posted by the end of the month…but if you are a little late, just send it along and we will make sure it is added to the roundup!

Now…get baking! 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 #20 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 June 30, 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 July 5, 2011!



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Tuesday, June 07, 2011

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME…. Mac Attack #19 Roundup

AND GIVE ME A SPECIAL TREAT TO EAT!

It's a great day for a ball game; let's play two!
- Ernie Banks

Wow! We have surely got some sports fans here at Mactweets. And some, well, not so much. But what it seems that we all have in common is our love of great, classic snacks even without the ballgame! And whether you love tennis or baseball, basketball or rugby, cricket or football or none of the above, who can’t find their pleasure in one of these amazing snacks?

Once again, our MacPassionate Bakers have let loose on the creativity and imagination and brought along some incredible Ballgame-themed Snack Macs! Salty and sweet, hinting of burgers and hot dogs, alcoholic beverages or junk food at its best, each and every entry this month is a stunner!

So sit back and relax, put your feet up and tune into the game and enjoy the banquet!

Your Mac Hostesses apologize for the lateness in getting the roundup up – between trips and excursions, holidays and work, we have both been out of the loop! But we are thrilled with all the entries and that the Mac Excitement continues to go strong!

Roller Scrapper @ My Pink Kitchen with Green Monster Mint Chocolate Macarons
and Strawberry Pink Lemonade Macarons


Lora @ Diary of a Mad Hausfrau with Devil Dog Damn Yankee Macarons

Aimee @ The Lilac Bakery with Big Mac-aron Cheese Burgers

KG @ The Kitchen Guardian with Snickers Macarons

Lisa @ Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives with Salted Pretzel Macarons

Jill @ Mad about Macarons with Coca Cola Macarons

Mardi @ Eat. Live. Travel. Write. with Peanut Macarons
and Mojito Macarons


Shaz @ Test with Skewer with Popcorn, Peanut Butter & Nutella Hot Dog Macarons

Mel @ Sharky Oven Gloves with Cucumber Sandwich Macarons

Mira @ Marmottes et Chocolate with Beer Reduction & Salted Caramel Macarons
with Toasted Peanuts


Sabine @ Berry Lovely with Burger-Style Macarons

Sarah @ Scrumptious Sally with Jawbreaker Toffee Popcorn Macarons


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Thursday, May 05, 2011

MAC ATTACK #19 – BALLPARK SNACKS!

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.

Jack Norworth, 1908

Spring arrives awash in sunshine and summer is tagging along closely behind and it is ball season! Kick off, coin toss, first service or opening day, we are all checking schedules, counting days down to this World Cup or that European League Event, this tournament or that match and our excitement mounts as the days get longer and the weather warmer. Take me out to the ball game, indeed, and as we settle in or settle down, pennant in hand, silly hat perched atop our noggin, jerseys on and team colors painted across our face, what else do we think of but…snacks!


Stand in line at the snack booth or dash back and forth to the kitchen, don’t we all crave something special, something that just screams summer ball game? Rugby or baseball, football, cricket or tennis, isn’t the whole experience better, more fun with just that perfect snack, one that reminds us of our childhood or our old college days? Popcorn, peanuts and crackerjacks or hot dogs, corn dogs and French fries, a brew, a soft drink or a good old fashioned lemonade, a ball game just isn’t a ball game without those traditional snacks! Am I right?

So whether your player is on center court, center field or on the pitch, whether you keep your eye on a small yellow ball or a large, oval pigskin, whether you root for your team from the sidelines, out under the sun, in a world class stadium or on your livingroom couch, go ahead a grab your favorite snack foods in the form of a, yup, macaron!

Put aside all of those elegant flavors, the sophistication and beauty of those little French treats and think junk food! Transform your macs into the perfect ballpark (or couch potato) snack food! Give it the old ballpark twist, salty or sweet, creamy, crispy or ice cold and here’s a Hip Hip Hooray for the old ball game….snack!

And like any good ballgame, we all have to follow the rules... or be sidelined!

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 #19 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 Ballpark Snack Macs posted on your own blog by May 25, 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 June 1, 2011! Just in time for the Opening Game!




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Thursday, April 28, 2011

MacAttack #18 ... Round Up - Everything is coming up Decadently Chocolate

SINFULLY CHOCOLATE

Who dares deny the seductive power of chocolate? Luxurious, decadent, sinful, addictive are only a few of the words that come to mind when this most wonderful of flavors is mentioned. Passion, temptation, bliss the emotions stirred up when offered a taste. Whether dark and bitter, milk and creamy light or white and smoothly subtle, the aroma whirls up and stops us in our path, we close our eyes and breath in, our imagination roiling with lust, our taste buds tingling with desire. Love is a wonderful thing, but when love brings you chocolate the world stops spinning and the gates of heaven, for so many, open.

And what doesn't taste better with chocolate? Covered, drenched, oozing, dripping, rolled in chocolate, spices, fruit, nuts, almost everything is enhanced by this most perfect marriage. Now follow the chocolate trail left behind by our MacPassionate Bakers just to tempt you. You get the idea....








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