Besides being hot in my kitchen this month, there are a few things I would like to share with you.

In honor of our kick off event for White Dinners in Charlotte, we did a White Dinner Dessert gathering.

So a friend of mine, Joanie, and I decided to make French Macarons and I think they turned out pretty good.

We made:

Vanilla Bean with Mango Curd Filling,

Blueberry with Lemon Curd Filling and

Lime green one with Chocolate Hazelnut Filling (We were playing with color)

We discovered the almond meal we used, which was made with almond skins on the nuts, made all the colors duller than we wanted.

They tasted great and our macarons had feet.

Pierre Hermes says to make and fill them, set in the refrigerator for 24 hours before serving. We did and Man-o-man.(Yup I said ‘man-o-man’)

Did they taste great; the mouth feel was so hard to describe! Love, love, love these tasty morsels.

I had heard each macaron had roughly 100 calories in it so you can guess they didn’t stay around here too long. I threw away what was still around this morning , easier than wearing them on your hips.

It was so much fun making them, I look forward to making more. The best part is giving them away before they get stale.

Also, In my Kitchen this month

some Fresh Figs; shared bounty strikes again. I traded some pickles.

The first dish created with the figs was a chicken dish with rosemary, garlic and figs. The pan was de-glazed with red wine and finished with a splash of balsamic vinegar. It was delicious but no pictures, sigh.

The intention is to make an almond fig tart with the remaining figs but, as you can see from the bowl, they are disappearing fast.

I adore fresh figs.

Lastly, in my kitchen this month is a glimpse into my spice cabinet.

I try to use things up quickly so I can either make more or buy more. I keep dried, sliced and minced garlic on hand for emergency back up units when fresh garlic isn’t around.

Any lemons we use get zested with a fine microplane. The zest is dried to be used in shortbread, fish, pasta or soup dishes. Why just use the inside when the zest has so much flavor?

A standard unit of Montreal Steak Seasoning holds a permanent spot in the cabinet.

Those square jars are so wonderful, I use them over and over again. The brushed stainless steel tops make them perfect for storing spices and seasoning concoctions I create and often share.

So much food moves through my kitchen it is hard to believe we are only two. But I feed everyone who comes by. Even the UPS man gets cookies.

Hey, it makes me happy.

So that is what is in my kitchen this month. I can’t believe a month has gone by already.

A BIG thanks goes out to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for hosting this marvelous idea!

August? Really?

Guess that’s why this post is late!

Related articles

• French Macarons: Part 1, the Preliminaries (nickmalgieri.typepad.com)
• French Macarons: Part 2, Baking the Shells (nickmalgieri.typepad.com)