Stiff Peaks

We might've just had the strangest weather for a Texas winter. This morning was on the warmer side, potentially shorts and t-shirt weather for some, and now, merely 6:50pm, it is 30 degrees and dropping. After going out and running errands during the early afternoon hours, we came home and prepared to bunker down for the cold winter night it was going to be. Tomorrow's temperature around 7am is projected to be about 20 degrees with winds estimated at 17 mph. That means after the windchill, the "feels like" temperature will be drastically low. Now, that's my kind of weather. If you've known me at least 4 years, you will know that I walked on ice for six months of the year living in a city nicknamed the "Ice City."

After coming home, I decided to make meringue cookies. I've always liked meringue cookies but not in the same way as I like fried chicken, strawberries or dark chocolate. There's something mysteriously appealing about a meringue that comes more from its texture and less from the flavor. A well made meringue cookie is flaky on the outside, light and airy on the inside, and slowly dissolves in your mouth. I can't really describe the flavor to you besides its sweetness because it's simply egg whites and sugar. Egg whites really don't taste like much and sugar is just sugar.

As I followed the recipe and carefully watched my egg whites turn fluffy through the electric beater, I retold stories of China to Jonathan and how my teammates made meringue cookies for my birthday WITHOUT an electric beater. Unfortunately, I was not there to witness their delirious jokes or the tired arm muscles because they planned everything without my knowing, but I remember their dedication, love, and thoughtfulness in putting together my 22nd birthday.

I am very grateful that we have an electric beater as a gift from our wedding registry to bake meringue cookies. The recipe I followed was from Emeril Lagasse and can be found here. I liked this recipe because it added chocolate chips, which enhances the overall flavor of the cookie, because like I mentioned before, egg whites and sugar really don't taste like much. The difficulty is listed at intermediate, and considering my meringue turned out well (because there were two empty spaces before I managed to remember to take a picture), I think it's safe to say I qualify as an intermediate chef ;).

(I also made the mistake of dropping my meringues larger than the recipe had asked for, so I kind of made up some more baking rules using prior knowledge to get them to bake right, hence why there are 23 and not 40.)

Clearly I am not an engineer or mathematician or physicist. Somehow I managed to put
a prime number of cookies on this baking sheet in the most ambiguously random way possible.

Meringue also don't have to be in the prettiest of formations. The stiff
peaks give it more character than a perfectly piped shape.

With successful meringue cookies in the books, I will now bundle up, crawl into bed, and hide myself in a book for a while. :)