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Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Peppermint Meringues

ha! i finally did it! posting on a wednesday AND i finally forced myself to bake something!

....which took almost no effort at all. other than the effort of making an effort. i was severely demotivated yesterday after work and almost didn't do anything. but....i got up and made stuff. go me!


yes, i realize they aren't the fanciest of meringues, i am not sure if it was because i didn't whip them enough (they held stiff peaks), or my piping device (i did not have a pastry bag, but one of those pampered chef piping tubes? im not sure, but it's all plastic, so i'm guessing it was that). i also did not have any chocolate to melt, so i sprinkled a little hot cocoa powder on top of them, for a little hint of chocolate.

i always  forget how much i like meringues.  also, the fact that they take practically nothing to make. i just wish i either had some mini chocolate chips or some chocolate to melt to put on these.

here's what you need:

peppermint meringues

2 egg whites, room temperature*
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp peppermint extract
pinch cream of tartar
1 drop green food coloring
mini chocolate chips, or melting chocolate

*if you don't want to wait for your eggs to warm up, you can put them in a bowl of warm/hot water for 10-15 minutes! room temperature- like magic!

set your oven to about 200 F. line your baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

separate eggs, make sure there is no yolk in them at all, otherwise your whites will not whip up all nice and fluffy. use a clean, preferably metal or glass bowl. (plastic can sometimes absorb grease and fats, and that will also prevent your whites from being fluffy.)

whip the egg whites on medium high speed until foamy, then add your cream of tartar, extract, and food coloring. add sugar gradually, a tablespoon or so at a time. continue to whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.

pipe or spoon onto parchment. if you are using chocolate chips, sprinkle them on top of each meringue now. bake in oven for 80-90 minutes. turn off your oven and leave trays inside several hours to overnight. this will continue to dry the meringue and make a nice, crispy treat! some people leave their oven doors open a crack while cooling, i didn't. it's totally up to you. you can probably add more or less peppermint. i am also using my own peppermint extract (vodka with candy canes) so it may not be as strong as normal peppermint extract. oh! if you have melting chocolate, heat it gradually and dip one side of your meringue, then allow to harden.

i've been thinking of chocolate all day. i was thinking of making something, but i don't have any cocoa powder, chocolate chips, or anything, other than the hot cocoa mix, in my apartment. i probably don't need it anyway. trying to be healthy here. well, better, anyway. the snow and ice is finally starting to melt away, and once it stays somewhat warm, i want to start walking, and maybe even jogging. holy balls.

there are a lot of things i want to do. some are a little easier said than done. i am still on the look out for 2015 to be good to me. it's just been "meh" so far. i can't really explain it. a couple things are pretty good, while most others are....there. like, there is a presence, and i don't really know what to do sometimes. it seems like a good idea to run away, but i know i will have to figure it out, make up my mind, and start doing things eventually. i hope i can get there someday. maybe enough people will support me that i can get things under control and go for whatever it is i'm looking for.

for now, i can only see where things will lead me.

in other news, kris finally got her car fixed. it only took a couple trips around, but i think we finally got it this time. i think she is pretty happy to be able to go places again, without trying to figure out how to get there.



to celebrate, she took us out to dave and busters. none of us had ever been there before, so it was kind of cool. food was pretty good, i had the ultimate mac and cheese (aka, mac and cheese with chicken and bacon) and it was pretty awesome. we went around the arcade for a bit, where kris won like a million tickets, i played skee ball, ron played the arcade grid, and ryan watched. i tried racing ron, and was completely terrible at any driving game ever, except for rad racer on the nes, and burnout 3  on the ps2, because you actually get points for crashing into things. oh, and mario kart. kris and i played a round of mario kart together. ron and i also played some guitar hero, and decided we need to bring our games in from the garage. i totally played fruit ninja, too. i wonder if it is free on anything....there is totally a free version on my phone (i just checked).

while i was waiting on my meringues in the oven, i juiced a whole bunch of oranges (and other things) for ron. in the middle of running the juicer, something suddenly attached itsself to my head and scared the crap out of me.

lo and behold, firmly grasping my hair, was this asshole. he climbed onto my shoulder and was eyeballing everything. any time there was loud noise or i let him taste the juice or pieces of orange, his eyes went crazy. birds eyes kind of "dilate" when they get excited, it is called eye pinning. they actually have voluntary control over their eyes and can flash or dilate them at will. interesting crazy bird lady fact! #themoreyouknow

so after sampling half of the goods, i brought him back out to his house, cleaned, and then turned off the oven for my cookies. how exciting, right? i am still waiting for a day that i can make my irish cream macarons. i bought the almonds to make almond meal, i just need some more irish cream. i'll probably pick up something for st pattys day this weekend, too. ron really wants his irish dinner of corned beef and cabbage, so i'll probably hit up wegmans, and then make something else for dessert. that being said, maybe i'll have something else to post soon!



in the mean time, here is the fountain at the duck pond in town. this is only about a third of the ice wall that was surrounding it. the sun and temps in the 40's are doing their job. hurry up, spring! i wanna go outside!

thanks for reading! ☺

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