French Meringues & Fresh Flowers

Today I decided to pick some fresh flowers from a local farm, Tangerini’s farm in Millis.  I have joined the CSA here at Tangerini’s and every week when I come to pick up my share of produce, I can’t help but take a peek at the beautiful flowers growing  before my eyes. 

Today, it was my girlfriend, Joan’s 40^th birthday so I really wanted to present her with some of the gorgeous flowers I had been eyeing the past couple of weeks.  So I set out to pick the flowers and in the distance I could see the dark clouds rolling in.  But, when I set my mind to something, I get it done.  So sheers in hand, I cut flowers like a crazy lady trying to miss the rain….but I didn’t.  I got soaked.  But, in the end, it was all worth it because I got some crazy beautiful flowers for my friend….and that made me very happy.

When I first arrived at the farm, the sky was somewhat blue.  So I took a few pictures of the beauty surrounding me.  Like this big orange blossom…

And this old big sunflower…

And fields of gorgeousness…

I love fresh flowers. (Fortunately my husband got the memo on that one and is SO good about bringing me home flowers…of course only when I am on my best behavior! Ha!)

I created a quick tag for her bouquet and brought it to her home!  Happy Birthday Joan!

Of course, I also played in the kitchen today too.  I decided to make some French Meringues.  My husband Russ gave me a serious KitchenAid mixer for my birthday and I have not had a chance to use it yet.  I feel like a professional chef using this big machine!  Meringues are easy to whip up and I love them.

So with my new gadget, I whipped up the eggwhites…

Added the sugar and of course,  good quality vanilla extract…

And bake the meringues!

  YUM.  Easy to make, low calorie, fat free…what more could you want?

French Meringues 

3 egg whites, at room temperature

¼ tsp. cream of tartar

¾ cup superfine sugar

½ tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup mini chocolate chips  (optional)

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
• In medium bowl, blend egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer on medium high speed for about 2 minutes or until soft peaks form. (The mixture will be able to curl when you pull up the beater.)
• Slowly add sugar to egg white mixture about ¼ cup at a time until blended.
• Fold in chocolate chips-if using-and drop meringues by tablespoon on to greased cookie sheet or one lined with parchment paper,  about 2 inches apart.
• Place in oven for 3 hours until crisp.  Enjoy when cooled, ideally the first day of baking but may be stored in airtight container for a week or so , if they last that long.