Meringue!
I know I’ve just disappeared for a while, but I promise i will work harder on keeping this blog up to date!
Today’s topic: MERINGUE COOKIES!
As of a month ago, I had never had one, or even really heard of them. I thought meringue was just some fluffy thing you put on pies to make them look pretty. My husband urged me to try to make them since they were one of his childhood favorites, and I have made them 3 times since! We LOVE them! and they go well with our diet, since they are mostly air and very low in calories. So if you have never had them, or tried to make them, maybe today is your day!
I will try to do a step-by-step recipe, and try to answer any questions you may have about them in the comments. Of the different flavors I’ve made (I don’t like plain anything!) I like my mint chocolate type the best! But you can use whatever flavors you like (more on that later).
There are a few things you should know, to start off. The sugar- I’ve read the “rule of thumb” is 1/4 c. per 1 egg white. That is a little too sweet for me, so I personally use less, but you can use UP TO 1/4c. per egg white. Second- Cream of Tartar. I know not everyone has this in their kitchen, I know I never have. But I’ve learned that if you don’t have any cream of tartar for meringue, you can use plain white vinegar, in twice the amount. Like if it calls for 1/4 tsp CoT, use 1/2 tsp. vinegar. It does not change the taste of the cookies (that we could tell, anyway) and all they are for is stabilizing the egg whites so they don’t collapse.
Mint Chocolate Meringue Cookies
3 egg whites
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1 Tbs. cocoa powder
1/2 Tbs. Creme de Menthe
Pre-heat your oven to 200 ° F. You need a mixer (hand mixer or stand with whisk attachment), and a cookie sheet that’s been lined with parchment paper, or sprayed with baking spray.
Put egg whites in your mixing bowl with salt, and beat on medium speed until foamy.
At this point you can add the sugar. VERY SLOWLYYY! When I say that, I mean it! A spoonful at a time, and just sprinkle it in there, it has to all properly dissolve and it can’t all at once. After that’s all incorporated, keep beating until it starts getting fluffier and firmer, about soft or medium peaks.
Turn your mixer to low and very slowly add your flavorings. Stop to scrape the bowl if you need to (cocoa powder likes to stick to the sides!) After everything is mixed in, turn back up to medium/medium high, and beat until stiff peaks. (it will look kind of like soft serve ice cream)
Now, you can spoon it into a piping bag, or just drop it by spoonful on your baking sheet. You can put them as close together as you want because they don’t expand.
Put them in the oven and leave them there for 2 hours. YES! 2 hours! Basically all you’re doing is slowly drying them out. After the 2 hours is up, turn the oven off and leave them in there for a little while longer, anywhere from 15-30 minutes. My husband likes me to take them straight out because he likes them chewy, but the traditional ones are more dry and crispy, so just however long until they are how you like them.
Take them out, and they are ready! They won’t be hot, so you can eat them right off the sheet! But be careful, they’re like sugary crack.
You can make any type of flavor you like! Different types of liquor all work well (we also like with 1tsp. vanilla extract and 1Tbs. spiced rum). Usually the rule is no more than 2 Tbs. of extra ingredients, or it will weigh down the meringue and it won’t whip up to stiff peaks (and if that happens, it’s actually not ruined if it can only get to medium peaks, just bake them like normal and they will just flatten out a bit and be a little more dense. All hope is not lost if you make a mistake!).
I hope some of you go out and try this at home, now! Do your own little experiments, and make something unique for yourself, your kitchen is your laboratory playground!
Hopefully I will be back soon with more recipes and food fun. Don’t hesitate to ask questions or let me know how yours is when you try it!
XO,
Crys
My Body Scrub
I am also delving into the adventure of making body scrub. 100% natural, with no ingredients that you can’t pronounce, I promise!
I have several options for ingredients, all of which you can mix and match in whatever way you would like!
SOLIDS:
OILS:
EXTRAS:
- Honey – Natural antioxidant and antimicrobial.
Whipped cocoa butter – adds softness and creaminess, also wonderful for stretch marks and scars. (Add an additional $1.50)
Essential oils – For aromatherapy. just ask me what you would like and I will let you know if I can get it.
There are two options as far as size and price go.
8 oz. jar – $8
20 oz. jar – $15
(plus shipping, if need be.)
I don’t have an official order form system, yet. But just leave a comment with your email or other way of contact, and I will get back to you!
Feel free to ask me any questions!
XO,
Crys
BetterButterBetterButter
Say it 3 times fast! haha. Sorry It’s taken so long for me to post anything, I’m pretty ADD. Today I’m going to talk about my oh so exciting adventure in making butter!
It is surprisingly easy, and the taste REALLY IS better, I promise. It’s worth a try, if only just once. It’s a fun little project.
All you need is:
Heavy cream. (at least a cup, but more depending on how much you want to make)
Blender, food processor, or mixer.
salt, pepper, or herbs. (just purely preference)
Ice water
Step 1:
Bring your cream to room temperature, or close. It goes faster if it’s not cold, so just think opposite of whipped cream.
Step 2:
Put your cream in whatever you’re using to mix it. (I used a stand mixer) And start mixing it on medium. Any higher than that and it will splatter and fly all over your kitchen! Just keep it going for a few minutes, the time spent mixing will depend on what you’re mixing in. In mine it took around 5 minutes. Mix until it starts turning into stiff peaked whipped cream.
this is the whipped cream beat into stiff peaks.
Keep mixing, and it will start to slowly separate, turn your mixer down to medium low.
Starting to get really super thick, past the point of whipped cream.
Step 3:
Here the amazing part starts. It starts separating! Turns into little chunks. But you’re not done! Now is the time (if you’re using a stand mixer with whisk attachment) to switch to the paddle mixing attachment. It will soon get too thick and stuck in the whisk. Keep mixing on low-medium low. When it starts getting into bigger chunks, and the buttermilk starts separating at the bottom, you can drain some of it out so it doesn’t splash as much.
The fresh buttermilk that you strain out. It is delicious, and not cultured and sour like what you would get in the store. Fat free, and you can use it for anything, including baking, and even just drinking!
THIS is what you will be left with! Isn’t it beautiful? But don’t be tempted, because you are not done! this is the most important part!
Step 4:
RINSE! It sounds silly, but this is a MUST if you want to keep this butter for more than a day or two. Scrape your butter off the paddle (or blades, depending on what you’re using). Take a splash of your ice water (minus the ice) and put it in the mixer with the butter. Mix on low for about a minute. Now dump that liquid out in the sink, and repeat at least 3 times. What you’re doing is washing off any excess buttermilk, which goes bad much quicker when it’s not cultured, so make sure to use your leftover buttermilk in the next 36 hours!
After the water you’re dumping out of the mixer looks clear or close, scrape down all the butter, and squish it in your hands to form a ball. Now run it under your faucet (on cold!) for a minute, squeezing it a little as you do to help get out any extra. This is when you should put in your salt, pepper, herbs, or any other seasonings you like. and you can either put it back in the mixer, or just knead it together, since it should be pretty soft at this point. Very lightly pat it off with a paper towel, and put it in the container of your choice.
This is the delicious product of all your hard work! Sorry I slacked on taking a timely picture, I just had to taste it first!
I used 2 cups of cream, and it made about 1 cup of butter, and 1 cup of buttermilk.
It tastes so creamy, and fresh, and just SO delicious, you’ll never want to buy it again!
That’s all I have for today, hope you enjoy, and let me know how yours turns out!
XO,
Crys
Just a lil intro.
Hi, I’m Crystal! And I love food. No, I REALLY LOVE food. Everything about it! I love trying new things (even though I can be a little wary sometimes), and I love trying new recipes and making up my own. This will be a blog to post my recipes, pictures, and personal reviews on how they turned out. I am a carnivore to the max, but I LOVE cooking with vegetables. I love finding new ways to integrate them into different foods and be sneaky to get my daughter to eat them. And I love taking normal foods and using them in different ways, and figuring out how to do it FAST!
My husband and I are also going to try to plant a little mini-garden in pots on our back deck, we’re not sure how that will go but we’re hoping it will work, so I sill be posting updates on that too as things start growing!
That’s about all I can think of to say right now, will have some recipe’s soon!
xo,
Crys
