Macarons in future?

After rather loudly lamenting that I had never seen the fabled French macaron* in person, much less tasted one, a Ravelry friend arranged with her boyfriend, who was making a trip here to the states (!) to mail me some.

Unfortunately, the USPS did their level best to reduce them to powder in the mail, but I still got a taste of them.

But now, I see you can MAKE macarons at home. They don't even seem to take anything all that unusual, though maybe the specialty flavorings might be a challenge to find. (Then again, plain macarons are probably good - you could make a flavorful frosting for the middles, or use a good jam)

I'm thinking, maybe this is something to try over Christmas break, when I have copious free time, free run of a larger, better-appointed kitchen, and the humidity is less.

(Another bonus: lots of egg whites and ground almonds, no flour, and not an enormous amount of sugar, perhaps my dad - who watches carbohydrates closely - could eat these)

*(And yes, macaron, not macaroon. Some people apparently confuse them. Macaroons are easily obtainable here, at least the coconut form of them are - they are egg whites and sugar and coconut or almonds. more on the difference. I like macaroons. My one foray into trying macarons, they seemed a little too sweet to me, but maybe the homemade kind aren't so sweet, or maybe it depends on the flavoring - I bet a good plain bittersweet cocoa, with dark chocolate filling, would be good)