Cuban Meringues

 

I have had meringues before... but I didn't like them. 

(I must be more of a picky eater than I thought!)

 

Then my father-in-law sent us THESE Cuban meringues:

 (there used to be meringues in the packaging....)

OH....MY....WORD- they were yummy! 

And therefore didn't last long...

So I tried to find a recipe to make these, and I had no luck. :(

I kept finding recipes with lemon in them, but the packaging of the ones I liked didn't have lemon- just corn syrup, sugar, water, egg whites, & vanilla.  

I couldn't find ANY recipes with corn syrup, THEN I realized found out that you can make your own corn syrup from just sugar and water! 

(I probably should have learned that in like... 4th grade- right?)

THEREFORE: I made my own concoction (basically combining two recipes). 

You will need the following: 

4 egg whites

1/2 cup of hot water

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

parchment paper (although I used waxed paper)

Seperate your egg whites from the yolks,

(you will not use the yolks for the recipe).

 Beat your egg whites until they form peaks.

My egg whites looked like this. 

Set this aside for a moment while you make the corn syrup.

(apparently you don't want to over beat your egg whites.)

In a saucepan, combine your hot water and sugar.
After your mixture has started boiling, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Continue boiling, stirring constantly until they reach "soft ball stage". 

(238 degrees Fahrenheit)

 Your corn syrup should look something like this. 

Now, your going to combine the two. :D 

 You will need to set your mixer at a slow/medium speed.

Gently and gradually pour your hot syrup into the mixing egg whites.

Keep beating them for about 6- 8 minutes or until your mixture is cool and shiny. 

Spoon your mixture into a pastry bag with a fancy tip, 

and pipe them onto your waxed paper.

(If you don't have a pastry bag, just spoon your mixture onto the waxed paper.)

Note: Most of the directions I found on line directed me to spray a small coat of oil onto the parchment paper. I forgot to do this on my first tray, but remembered on the second tray. However, the bottom of the meringues that were on the greased tray had a yellow tinge to them. The meringues on the UN-greased tray didn't have a tinge to them at all. 

Bake your meringues into the oven at 200 degrees F. for approximately 2 hours. 

(I tested mine after 2 hours, and they weren't quite crispy- 

so I gave them another 15 minutes and they were perfect!) 

The meringues shouldn't be in the oven long enough to get any color. 

They should remain white.

If your looking for a simple recipe, (they really are very easy!) TRY this! 

I hope your family enjoys them as much as mine have!

Avocado Mouse

My son (thankfully) is a super healthy eater. 

He even LOVES avocados.

Its common for us to have an avocado with our deli sandwiches, 

so I just spruced them up a bit. :D
Any food is better if its Fun Food!

Here's how you do it: 

Obviously, you will need avocados... One avocado makes two mice.

Cut your avocado in half (hence... the two mice)

You will need to turn your avocado over so the  "fleshy" side is up.
On the wider end, (the narrower end of the avocado makes for a better mouse "face"), cut a "V" shape about 1/2 deep.
This is where the tail will go when you turn it back over.

I slice my avocado up to the skin (but not through the skin) for easier eating (my husband doesn't like his sliced though- so it's really a matter of preference. 

We also sprinkle the avocado with Kosher salt.

Now, your ready to turn your avocado back over (salted flesh side down). 

A gummy worm fits nicely in the "V" you just made. 

Now, the fun part- decorating your mouse! You will need to have candy on hand. I didn't know what I could use to make the ears, so I used a bite-sized Snickers bar, cut in half.

"Curl" the edges a little so they will fit the rounded shape of your mouse. 

Use just a little bit of frosting to hold the candy to the outside of the avocado. 

I found it worked better when I frosted the candy directly, then placed the 

candy on the mouse.

The eyes on my first mouse didn't turn out quite right. (as you can see!) I had tried cutting a large pretzel M&M in half.. it didn't work.  

 

 I used regular sized M&M for the eyes of my second mouse- 

they worked a LOT better. :D 

You can also add a nice touch to the plate by cutting your sandwich  into a cute shape. (unless you are JUST eating your avocado for lunch?)

I didn't know how to make half a sandwich (my son wouldn't eat a WHOLE sandwich AND an avocado!) cute... so he just got the cute mouse.

It wasn't hard, and adding candy to the outside of the mouse didn't take up much time at all. My son was thrilled to have gummy worms with his lunch (we don't eat a lot of candy), so obviously he ate the candy first... oh well. 

I will definately be making mice as a side dish to more yummy sandwiches (although probably not the peanut butter and jelly ones!)

Gooey Gift Sauces

For Christmas this past year, I canned some yummy "sauces" 

and gave them as gifts. 

I found the recipes in a Treasury of Christmas
cookbook my mom gave me years ago. 
I didn't try making ALL of these sauces, so I can't vouch for all of them.

I made the Honey Caramel Sauce, The Honey Chocolate Sauce,
and the Gooey Hot Fudge Sauce.

I LOVED the Gooey Hot Fudge Sauce, and the Honey Caramel Sauce was good, but I honestly wasn't a huge fan of the Honey Chocolate Sauce
(I'm still including the recipe though- maybe you'll like it!)

Honey Caramel Sauce
1 cup honey
1 cup evaporated skim milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine
Combine honey, milk and butter in medium saucepan; mix well. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Cook over medium heat 8-10 minutes longer or until mixture thickens and becomes caramel colored. Pour into sterilized gift jars. Keep refrigerated. (Makes 2 cups)

Honey Chocolate Sauce
1 1/2 cups honey
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Combine all ingredients; mix well. Cover with waxed paper and microwave at HIGH (100% power) 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute. Pour into sterilized gift jars. Keep refrigerate. (Makes 2 1/2 cups)

Honey Turtle Sauce
2 cups Honey Caramel Sauce (previous recipe)
1 cup Hney Chocolate Sauce (previous recipe)
1/2 to 1 cup broken pecans.
Combine Honey Caramel Sauce, Honey Chocolate Sauce and pecans; mix well. Pur into sterilized gift jars. Keep refrigerated (Makes 3 cups)

Hot Fudge Sauce
1 (6-ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips or 4 (1-ounce) squares semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 (14- ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
2 tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In heavy saucepan, over medum heat, melt chips and margarine with sweetened condensed milk and water. Cook and stir constantly until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla. Serve warm over ice cream or as a fruit dipping sauce. Refrigerate leftovers. (Makes about 2 cups)

Variations
Mocha: Add 1teaspoon instant coffee with wither, Proceed as directed
Toasted Almond: Omit vanilla extract. Add 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. When sauce is thickened, stir in 1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds.
Choco-Mint: Omit vanilla extract. Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon peppermint extract


Gooey Hot Fudge Sauce
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup half and half
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt chocolate and butter with half and half, corn syrup and salt in heavy 2-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minute, Stir in vanilla. Serve warm or pour into clean glass jars and seal tightly. Sore up to 6 months in refrigerator. Reheat sauce in double-boiler over hot (not boiling) water before serving, if desired.  (Makes about 1 1/2 cups)

I had never canned anything by myself before, so I attempted to can these. (I figured even if the cans didn't seal well, they are supposed to be refrigerated anyway- so they would still be safe to eat?) 

Most of them canned well except for the Gooey Hot Fudge sauce (I think mostly because the instructions had me cool them down for 10 minutes before I poured them in the can). If you omitted the cooling process, I think they would can just fine. :D 

Sorry I don't have pictures of my whole process... 

(I was focusing on the canning part- remember- I'm a newbie!)

These make great gifts either as one can, or a set of the difference sauces like I have pictured. I figured they would be best used as an Ice Cream topper. 

 (my cookbook didn't specify- weird?... I know!)

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

I don't know where my parents went wrong, but I don't like cake.

(*gasp*, there, I said it!)

This however, is a REALLLLLY yummy cupcake! 

I don't know if I liked it because it was smothered in cream cheese frosting, 

or peppermint bits, but it was GOOD!

I originally got the idea from my sister, she made peppermint brownies & sent me a picture... yes, naturally that craving for chocolate came, and I gave in. 

I however did not have any brownie mix at my house, 

but I did have chocolate cake (and cream cheese frosting!)

(after all, whe we need chocolate, just about any chocolate will work- right?)

I made my chocolate cupcakes according to the package directions, 

smothered them with a huge mound of cream cheese frosting,

(remember- I don't usually like cake.),  

and topped them off with crushed peppermint candies. 

(I crushed the peppermint candies in my food processor- 

FYI, you can't leave them  in there for too long or they will turn to powder.)

To answer your question- yes, this the spot... 

and I may have to make these again- they really were THAT good! 

I ended up taking them to church that night for my youth group (my husband doesnt' like cake either, and there's no way I was going to let my 2 year old and myself eat all of these.)

They were a hit- the teens DEVOURED them. :D

Pilgrim Hat Cookies

My Pastor's wife found these, and thought of ME *yay!*

What a cute Thanksgiving Cookie Idea! 

(I'm so glad people think of me when they find crafts!)

I basically followed the original directions she gave, but altered a few things for the sake of convenience. To start with, you will need the following:

1. Mini Reeses cups 
2. shortbread cookies (the kind with the chocolate on the bottoms) 
3. yellow frosting
4. M&Ms. (You could use something besides an m&m, but I couldn't find anything in my local grocery store that would work better.) 

It's super simple. I found the easiest thing to do was to use my piping bag an pipe a ring of the yellow frosting around the top of the reeses piece.

Then, simply turn it upside down onto the cookie.

 If you used a lot of frosting, there may be enough to hold the m&m onto the cookie, other wise, you can just dab a side of the m&M with the frosting so it has something to hold it on to the cookie. Place it on....

And... TADA! You have a pilgrim hat cookie! They were super easy to make, (even in large amounts).  I made them for my youth group... and yes, of course, they were a huge hit right before Thanksgiving!