Mactweets #7 Tell Me A Story...

The little girl you see here is me, all dressed up and ready to play on the banks of Plum Creek or in Walnut Grove. I was obsessed with the Ingalls family and the stories of The Little House On The Prairie, as a little girl. I read each book cover-to-cover, several times each. I adored this series. I am sure, and can admit, that the television series assisted me in my desire to dress in long, flowered/checked dresses for a year straight. I thought I must have looked just like Laura or Mary... and I was very proud. I would beg my mother to buy me these dresses and we had to do a "spin test" in the store (to make sure the dress spun out in a full circle around my ankles). I used to read these books and imagine myself walking down a dirt path, lunch pail in hand, to the schoolhouse and then running home and jumping into Pa's arms before I had a warm slice of Caroline's homemade bread. I could feel the cold winters in The Big Woods and felt the closeness of their family at Christmastime. These books completely swept me away, to another time and place and I get sentimental just thinking about them. I tried to get my oldest daughter to read them, when she was a bit younger but they didn't quite catch in the same way. They hold a very special place in my heart.

I decided on oat macarons with a maple cream filling. The flavors seemed appropriate. I used a 2 egg white shell recipe and sprinkled oats on the resting shells and filled them with:

Maple Cream Filling

1/2 Cup butter, softened
3 Cups powdered sugar
1/2 Cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whip the butter until very light and fluffy. Add sugar one cup at a time until completely incorporated and add the syrup and vanilla. Whip until very light and fluffy once more and pipe onto the shells.