My Tongue Is Delighted

The first time I had a macaron from Ken's Artisan Bakery, it was a favor from a baby shower. I picked up my chocolate spice macaron on the way out the door. It looked so enticing that before we were out of the driveway, the little cellophane bag was open and the fluffy sweetness was in my mouth.

As I was licking my fingers, some of the other guests walked past us on their way out, seeing my tongue fleet in and out, not allowing one iota of sugar to escape. But I didn't really care. The taste of the cookie was too creamy, chewy and chocolate-y to be squashed by embarrassment. From that moment on, I wanted more.

Saturday, my new roommate and I decided to head to Ken's to check out the morning fare of baked goods. My tongue was practically jumping out of my mouth as I saw that they had Apricot Macarons, in addition to the Chocolate Spice ones. I ordered one of each and a cannele. Oh and a fresh cherry tart. Ansley ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and a macaron of her own.

As we sat, not so discreetly eavesdropping on the people beside us plan their business floorplan, and eating our sweets, the wind blew through the open retractable wall and I savored the sweet summer morning. The cherries were tart atop a sweet cream, and the cannele, a sweet spongy mini bundt cake-like pastry was just perfect. The macarons - I took them home, only to savor them after my lunch later on in the afternoon. Even though I had tasted them before, they properly stunned my tastebuds with their subtle spiciness and their overtly first-place-in-the-world-of-macarons chewy sweetness.

The grilled cheese, which I was so grateful to have a bite of, was gloriously gooey and cheesy - a french cheese, similar to brie, generously slabbed and melted atop walnut bread and toasted with a panini press. This was heaven. Finger-licking heaven.

Thanks, Ken. Please don't ever leave Portland. Please.