Sifting Stories

In Paris and London, we enjoyed macarons, not to be confused with macaroons, the American cookie with coconut. Since returning home, I have read dozens of macaron recipes, each with slightly different techniques and recommendations. Tonight I gathered my ingredients and tools and set to work. The first step involved sifting the powdered sugar and almond meal. As I turned the handle, I thought of the baking stories my grandmother, the sifter's original owner, would tell of her experiences with it. For whom did she bake bread? Which cookies were enjoyed most by which of her children? I love feeling her spirit with me as I bake. The macarons are not yet ready to eat, but they look like what we saw at the boulangerie!