Now that these gifts have all reached their appropriate recipients, I can post some pictures! Ali recently celebrated her birthday and her graduation. As a gift, Noah and I got her an r4 chip for her Nintendo DS. If you have a DS and no r4 chip, you are missing out! I am sincerely grateful to Andrew for introducing me to mine 
As a bonus, I decided to follow Ali’s instruction and make the meringue cookies that she demanded…I mean requested. I covered some old tins in felt and gave them to her. Some people have asked for the recipe, so I’ll include that here, too.
Tasty Meringue Cookies
- Mix 2/3 C sugar and 2 T cocoa powder in a bowl and set aside. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper so these are ready to go. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Beat 2 egg whites, 1/8 t cream of tartar and 1/2 t vanilla (or other extract, not peppermint) in a non-plastic bowl (plastic will keep peaks from forming, thanks to Alton Brown for this tidbit!) The bowl must be completely dry. Beat egg mixture until soft peaks form.
- Add sugar mixture 1 T at a time. Beat until all sugar is incorporated and stiff glossy peaks appear. Be careful not to over beat.
- Put meringue in a pastry bag (or plastic bag with corner cut out) and squeeze onto parchment paper. I have the best luck with blobs that are smaller than 2 inches in diameter. Leave at least 2 inches between cookies.
- Bake for 20 at 300 degrees. Cool on wire rack. Store in air tight container.
Noah’s Grandmother, Ione, also celebrated her birthday recently. Unfortunately she was/is still recovering from a broken hip, so I made her a little lapghan that will hopefully keep her warm, but not too warm, without the bulk of a full blanket to take up extra space in her chair and get tangled up in feet and such. I hope that she is back to herself soon and that the silly broken hip didn’t dampen her birthday spirits too much.
Finally, I made some penguins out of olives to take to a neighborhood bbq and I simply had to put up a picture of them :o)
I did add a couple of reviews to the bookshelf a week or so back and I’ll be adding another one here soon, so be sure to check it out. Hope everyone has a great week!
