How sweet it is.

Except it isn't, but I'll get to that. This past week was a bit of a downer, so I thought, why not post about something else that's sweet? You can't have enough sweet in your life, right (Plus, I still have a backlog of photos to upload)?

And there's nothing sweeter than macarons (Except for Daisy.). Not macarOOns, although those are quite good too. Coconut macaroons were my grandfather's favorite cookie. They're quite prevalent in this area.

Macarons, on the other hand, are not. That is because they are a decandent French cookie that's fairly challenging to make. I've been searching for them literally for years. They are also the most photogenic cookie on the face of the earth, and if you search Flickr, you'll return pages and pages of images filled with these lovely cookies. Anyway, the best ones to be had are found at specialty stores in Paris, but there are some bakeries in the U.S. that make them. Of course, being that Pittsburgh is several years behind the times (Sorry Pittsburgers, but we are!), none were to be found here. For my last birthday, Mark, bless his heart, even called the local French bakery to see if they sold them. He was told, "Jean Marc does not make those any longer." Hmmph.

Fast forward to a little over a month ago, when we went to Oakmont Bakery to order Lauren's birthday cake. Oakmont Bakery is the only bakery that I have visited that has several plasma TV's hanging above their display cases. As we were choosing Lauren's cake, my eyes were drawn to the screen right across from the door.

There they were - the elusive macarons. I started pointing and jumping up and down excitedly, so much that people started to stare.

We left with a half dozen of them. And they were as heavenly as everyone made them out to me. They resemble gobs, but they're nothing like them. With macarons, it's as much about the texture as it is about the taste. They are crisp on the outside, followed by chewy, then creamy in the center. They come in all sorts of flavors - fruits like lemon, strawberry and lime, as well as rich flavors like chocolate and almond. They also come in fancier flavors such as green tea and rose hips, but Pittsburgh isn't quite there yet. Baby steps.

When she picked up Lauren's birthday cake, Aunt Phyllis was nice enough to bring over an assorted dozen:



I would have taken better photos, but these were gobbled up pretty quickly.

***Begin American Idol blabbering***

Speaking of sweet, I always thought it would be sweet to have someone completely unexpected win American Idol. Someone who, through the sheer strength of their talent, would beat out the judges / producers favorite.

Wouldn't it figure that the year that it happens, the favorite is the one that I wanted to win?

The funny thing is, I had no idea how much I wanted Adam Lambert to win until Seacrest proclaimed Kris Allen as the American Idol. Adam pretty much owned Season 8, and to have him not take the crown just didn't seem right. So why did America "get it wrong"? Was it because people were tired of being told week after week that we were in the presence of greatness and that no one else really mattered? Was it because the entire state of Arkansas texted for Kris for four hours straight? Was it because Adam is Jewish and uh...you know.

I've come to the conclusion that in the end, people just preferred Kris. And that's okay. Kris is super talented in his own right, and AI doesn't have anyone like him in their stable of winners. I hope that they give him lots of support because I think he could be very successful.

As for Adam, I'd like to think that, despite all this, he's going to be a star. Actually, I think I've grown to like him even more now that the show is over. He's so effortless in his handling of everything that is thrown at him, you just can't help but like him. Hopefully all the attention he's been getting regarding his sexuality will be put to rest soon, as he's supposed to address the matter directly in next week's Rolling Stone. I love how the media has been trying to present it as if he's been hiding something. Adam was out well before the show even began. I myself knew he was gay even before I saw him for the first time on my television screen. So how can you possibly out someone who was never in? And as for him making a statement to confirm it, is there really a need, especially in the context of a singing competition? Over the course of my life, I've been close friends with several gays, and never once did any of them explicitly tell me that they were gay. It was simply understood. I certainly didn't require a confession in exchange for friendship. So why should we require Adam to do so in exchange for our appreciation of his talent?

At least he seems to having fun at the expense of the busy bodies. I for one am grateful to him for the tip on the proper handling of ambroisia salad.



Until next year...