the prospect of making macarons has not even been an option,

lest my baking ego get destroyed.

until today.

when, after watching a wonderful rehearsal of the chicago symphony

playing mahler 9 and enjoying a bit of tea at the russian tea time,

i had an entire half a day to fill with whatever i pleased,

i filled it with the time and patience it takes to {successfully} make

toasted sesame macarons

i used this recipe and i chose to add toasted sesames

because when i was five i had an imaginary friend named

gumpug {pronounced, "justit"} who went to a school called

sesame school.

i immediately regret typing that and i might delete it tomorrow.

but also i like that the sesames add a really great,

not-too-sweet nutty taste.

and not to boast {though really i'm about to},

but i'm really proud of myself for actually pulling through with

this recipe. normally when a recipe has a direction

that involves double boiling and stiff peaks and lots of sitting,

i lose my patience and say f that and buy whatever i'm trying to make.

but i did it!

and the skins formed,

and the icing hardened,

and i sifted. i sifted. sifting is really annoying,

but i did it and it was worth it because now there are

lots and lots of macarons in my fridge and they are like

ladurée, watch out.

yay!

-yeh!