This month’s Mactweets Challenge, Macs are in the Air, began with “Ah, who cannot but think of Valentine’s Day as soon as we turn the corner and come nose to nose with February?” Errr… me?
It’s true, I am not a fan of Saint Valentine’s Day and neither is Mr Neil. I’d much rather surprise him with a special meal or a gift for no reason than because Hallmark dictates the day. The challenge went on, however to say that we should “bake a batch of French macarons for […] the one whom you want to make smile.” Which was exactly my intention. I wanted to surprise Neil with a special Sunday breakfast last weekend. Eggs and bacon. With a twist.
Now you have to understand that Neil was never a breakfast eater before we met. Twelve cups of coffee perhaps, but no food, and sometimes no food until dinner. Very unhealthy. I have managed to change all that but he still does not eat breakfast very willingly, claiming he only eats his yoghurt so he can share the lid with Cleo in the morning. He is, however, a fan of a good English breakfast, but we don’t have time for that during the week. Once every 2 weeks or so, we will do bacon and eggs, sometimes pancakes, sometimes croissants. He’s all over that 🙂 He also loves macarons. Mostly. There have been a few batches he’s hated in the past year but generally speaking, if I put one of them on a saucer next to his coffee in the morning, he wouldn’t complain. So my idea was an egg macaron with our home-cured and smoked bacon from this month’s Charcutepalooza.
Unfortunately, humidity did not wish to cooperate and simply wouldn’t leave us alone this past weekend and I had not one but three failed batches of flat macarons. They were all over the place – all sorts of bad shapes and sizes and I couldn’t get the yellow consistent – forgot that in one batch I had already added white to the batter so they “yolks” just wouldn’t go as yellow as the previous failed batch no matter how much yellow I added. Sigh. I rescued a few of them since I hate to waste food (I only ever make small batches of macs, just in case this happens. As in, often).
I went ahead and fried up the bacon anyway, since there was just a tiny bit left. For whatever reason, this bacon cooked fast, with a tendency to burn a little around the edges – not very fatty so perhaps that’s why…
But it’s ok because Neil likes his bacon extra crispy…
So, not the breakfast I had planned for him, rather a mid-morning snack as he worked on a couple of dishes as I caught up on some readings for grad school. Later when I came downstairs, the plate was empty. And I swear there was a lingering smile… Mr Neil likes his bacon and macs 😉
Hi! this looks lovely 🙂 I m also a huge fan of english breakfast, such a pitty we can’t have it every day! Regards x
These are great fun! Quite convincing!!
Definitely brought a smile to my face. What a creative “breakfast” 🙂
The best kind!
Your egg macarons made me laugh. So cute!
No wine pairing with this. 🙂
(But a morning Moscato d’Asti would not have been amiss.) 😉
Adorable! 🙂
Adorable macarons you got there! I love the bacon to go with them, though I wouldn’t have thought to do this at all, it’s very creative 😀
Well it’s the classic combination of sweet and salty!
My boyfriend only ever has coffee for breakfast, I’ll have to ease him into eating real meals soon! These are super cute! Did you wind up filling the macs with anything? I see one sandwiched mac up there?
Yes they just had vanilla buttercream inside.
BTW…huge bonus points for Miss Mardi correctly acknowledging it is SAINT Valentine’s Day.
There is a saint present, as well as an apostrophe. Bugs me to no end how the majority of stuff you see omits these two elements.
(Not quite as bad are missing the apostrophe on the Oct.31 eve or the name of the 50th state of the USA, but I digress…)
Failed macs are not fun, but those egg macs are too freaking cute. Brilliant idea!
Despite the humidity I think they’re awesome, I love your creativity and they made me laugh! I too had a massive failure the other day because of humidity – silly me for trying to make some when it was raining!
Well and boo for it raining when you are trying to make macs!
YUM. Love how thick those slices are.
Gotta be thick sliced bacon!
Well, Mardi, you made ME smile! Ha I love this post and love the egg macs! And believe me, this year V Day was filled with blank looks and a bit of the grump. HE doesn’t do V Day either. These macs wouldv’e probably made him smile, though. Lucky Mr. Neil!
JP and Neil sound like they would get on very well!
This is so cute! Would make a lovely surprise for someone special.
Very creative! I really like this idea!
These made me smile and laugh with glee this AM, and that, M’dear, ain’t easy. You know, I think the humidity was fine, because it made the macs look more egg-like, and not cookie-cutter (no pun intended), like they came on a McMuffin. What a creative, cool “present.” And we agree about ST. Valentine’s around these parts: too much pressure, jacked up prices. Nah. Give me a genuine romantic gesture any day.
Oh we are *so* two peas in a pod 😉 Glad I was able to make you smile in the morning, that’s not easy around these parts either! And you are right – the odd macs work in this context!
Love the mac+bacon mashup! So smart.
What a wonderful idea! I can’t think of anyone who would refuse a macaron egg and homemade bacon breakfast! Don’t you hate it when the weather refuses to cooperate with your macaron making schedule? In any case, the oddly shaped ones actually look like perfect fried eggs!
Yes in this case, the odd shapes work! And I know, how DARE the weather not cooperate with my macaron making schedule? 😉
Your pics made me smile! Thanks for brightening up my day with your creative macs!
🙂 Thanks Andrea!
Totally cool! You had me fooled =o)
Wouldn’t it be cool if we could always control the humidity level lol!
Your eggs and bacon are just so much fun, Mardi!
Humidity is the bane of my baking existence!
Oh, these are so so so adorable! You could totally package them up and sell them.
Me and my husband are not big breakfast eaters either, but we would totally eat a whole batch of these – me the macarons and my husband the bacon!
It’s good to share, right? 😉
I really like what you’ve done, Mardi! It’s so original and I’m still smiling!
Ah, food coloring, something I couldn’t get right as well. Usually my macs are tinted with tea, coffee, or powdered freeze-dried fruits. I’ll finish my post sometime tonight and you’ll see.
Thank you for sharing this! Now I want BACON!
Mostly the colours are not a problem but I was so flustered because of all the failed ones. Adding a second colour blob is certainly challenging in terms of baking times etc…
Love these adorable egg macs!
Those are adorable.
So creative! This looks great. I’m with Neil – serve me extra crispy bacon…please!
Funny how people are divided – it’s either crispy bacon or not!
bacon and egg with a TWIST seems to be this month’s popular theme, I suspect you’ll see more on the blogs next week 🙂
egg macarons are too cute!
LL
I look forward to seeing more twists on bacon and eggs!
lol I love these!!
Hah! What a creative idea. I still have been meaning to make macarons in GENERAL. Have yet to try!
Well, those certainly made me smile. Very cute, not to mention super creative.
Aw Kimmy, glad you liked them!
Aww~! how cute are those odd shaped macarons. 🙂
Yes and in this context, the odd shapes work!
Too clever! (And very cute!!)
I feel I’m so lagging behind with both my Mactweet & DB posts. What a super creative rendition… they totally put a smile on my face. =) Sending you many hugs, great job Mardi!
Thanks – they are not as beautiful as yours but they do make many people smile!!
Cute…., very cute 🙂
The egg macarons are so cute, it is a great idea AND you don’t have to worry about the egg yolk bursting when transferring the egg from pan to plate. 😉 You made your own bacon too, that is incredibly awesome. One day I will be brave enough to try curing my own meat.
Oh I like your way of thinking!
This is too cute! Love that you’ve found your own angle to Valentine’s Day too. I have never attempted macarons and am sure I’d have aborted mission after two failed batches. Hat’s off to you to be so perseverant and arrive with the eggs!
Well the fact that they were not perfect made for good egg shapes!
Very cute! 🙂
oh, mardi, you have outdone yourself with these – love them!
I love the whimsy of this Mardi!! Thank you for making me smile!!
Thanks, they are kind of cartoon-like, right?
I’m beginning to believe that there is nothing you can’t create with a macaron. This breakfast is awesome and if Mr. Neil doesn’t want seconds, keep them for me!
P.S. I love crispy bacon too.
Mr Neil will always have seconds of bacon and macs!
How cute!! Sunny side up googie macs would make anyone smile!
Yes you can’t help but smile, right?
I actually think the imperfections make these even better! They look more like real fried eggs! LOVE LOVE LOVE!
For once, they actually work!
What a great interpretation of the valentines challenge, it got a smile from me as well.
🙂 I am glad.
How inspired and romantic you are Mardi girl! Brilliantly done, and I’m sure you made a lot of us smile with these gems! Great great take on our V Day challenge. Thank you for bringing these over to MacTweets, and giving us a sunshine day!
{PS Thank you for the postcard too. LOVED it!!}
🙂 But of course! Love playing with Mactweets every month, even if we don’t always get feet!
What a fun idea for your second MacTweets post this month! Eggs and bacon macs are such a cute combination!
Very interesting twist indeed. Next to each other they look like huge cartoon eyes!
Jason
Yes they do look like big old googly eyes!