365 : cinnamon & rosewater macarons

I have a mild obsession with vintage tins right now. This led me to get up early Sunday morning and bike (in January!) over to the St. Lawrence Antique Market. I met up with Dominic and we looked for treasure. True to my mission, I scooped up a bunch of tins.

Afterward, we stopped into Petite Thuet for a quick bite. I had a wonderful flaky pastry with sliced apples and couldn’t resist taking home a couple of their macarons. I especially loved the cinnamon flavour! I don’t actually like rosewater, but it was so pretty and pink that I had to get it too. I’m happy to say it was really delicious.

The macarons in this photo are actually sitting on top of one of the tins I got, but you’d never know it. I guess I owe you some vintage tin photos!

For the shop’s anniversary, the lovely ladies who work here gifted me with some incredible cookies that spelled out the sweetest message. If that wasn’t enough, I found out that the cookies were made by the deliciously talented Nikole. Too much!

It’s Friday, which seems like the perfect day to post a slew of my favourite links from the last month. What better way to ease through the work day and daydream over the weekend?

• where the wild things are clothing. i want the first one! (via my vintage secret)

• a little peek into manon gignoux’s paris studio….

• next time i’m in paris – ladurée macarons for sure.

• brilliant idea! pennant rubber stamp roller. i. am. doing. this!

• ok, joy the baker. i will try your easy no roll pie crust, but if i learn to bake pies, i might never eat anything else.

• the perfect autumn palette by tinctory

• alabama chanin is always so inspiring

• i could use these perfect boxes + drawer organizers in my eternal quest for organization

• i always love bold graphic eley kishimoto

• these steel lace etched tables are lovely

• so excited about denyse schmidt’s new quilt patterns – there’s a little sneak peek on her site

• just words. brilliant.

• lavender le creuset. swoon.

• so cool.

• paint by numbers-looking tapestry

• very pretty walnut pendant light

• cutest masks

• i like this! mud is the medium.

• this recipe for pear beignets sounds so yummy!

• mmmm… vanilla bean scones.

Have a super weekend. I’m working on a new section for the blog that I think you’re going to like. Check back on Monday!

I only ate 8 macarons while I was in Paris. (a few made it back to Toronto and I’ve just finally finished them off)

It’s kinda crazy after fantasizing about eating them by the dozen, comparing the flavours and seriously judging them from all the different famous places. Half way through the trip I got some mild food poisoning and didn’t want to eat anything for about 24 hours. During that time we passed by Ladurée and Pierre Hermé and I couldn’t even bring myself to go in and buy some for when I was feeling better. If you know me even slightly, you will know that this is alarming behaviour. I can eat baked goods and sweets all day long and often do.

That said… YUM! I’m glad I waited until Paris to try them, they are delightful. I did try them from 3 different places. One place was just a random shop to see what the difference is between a renowned macaron and a regular one. There is a definitely a difference. The fillings on the ‘regular’ macarons seems more like jam than a flavourful filling.

The first macaron I had was framboise (raspberry) from Jean-Paul Hévin who is a well known chocolatier. The other flavours I got there were various chocolate combinations and they were also delicious. The other place I tried was Arnaud Delmontel. His creations were more colourful and the flavours more varied. Unfortunately, I let these ones get a bit smushed up carrying them around and only got one good photo (the cracked pink and white macaron below). The standout flavour for me here was the salted caramel.

Hopefully next time I’m in Paris I’ll really get to enjoy the world of macarons. For now, I’m happy to finally know what all the fuss is about.

I just wanted to say ‘have a good week’! We’re leaving this afternoon for Paris and we’ll be back next Tuesday. Thank you to everyone who has given me so many wonderful suggestions. I’m writing them all down in my Paris City Guide Moleskine. (I got this idea from Jeska) My camera is all charged up and I somehow managed to finish my very secure (hopefully from pickpockets) tote bag. I will have a billion photos to show you when we get back.

You might catch a tweet or two from me while we’re gone, but mostly I’m trying my best to be ‘unplugged’ for the week and eat as many macarons as I possibly can. Would anyone like to wager on just how many I can consume in 7 days?

I kinda don’t want to tell you, in case it’s all gone before I get back, but we’re expecting a shipment of Heather Ross’ Far Far Away collection this week. It’s made of that lovely double gauze cotton that is so nice to make clothing with. Yes, you can make a dress out of unicorns!

This sweet handbound notebook was given to me by Melodie using Kokka’s Eiffel Tower fabric. It’s so adorable, I don’t know if I’ll be able to use it, but I promised I would.

I can’t believe I’m actually going on vacation!

We’re going to Paris! Our flights are booked and we rented a cute apartment in Le Marais for an entire week. I’m excited to try macarons for the first time, eat pain au chocolat everyday and simply wander the streets of Paris with Andrew.

I would be delighted to hear any insights you have on your favourite Paris secrets. Do tell!

Of course, a special trip to France deserves some custom-made items. Top priority are – a summery dress made from white eyelet fabric, a versatile bag with pockets and zippers that will be secure from pickpocketers (It happened to me once before!) and a new strap for my camera. I’ve added these to my crafty list.

The stack of reading/viewing on my bedside table has been kept fresh with special thanks to Isabelle (Buttons), Shana (Twilight!), Paris (Julie N), and Katrina (How to improve your quilting stitch). I’m working my way through this pile as quickly as my 16 hour days will let me.