Best Ever Meringues

These are by far the best tasting meringues I have ever eaten... and with using Jello the flavors are endless!!!

Ingredients:

• 4 egg whites, room temperature
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp corn starch
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp JELL-O gelatin powder (I used blue raspberry flavor)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200°F. Line two baking sheets (or one large with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, whisk egg whites with electric mixer until foamy (about 30 seconds).
3. Add in vinegar and corn starch and continue to beat for about a minute, as soft peaks begin to form.
4. Slowly add in sugar a little at a time, while mixer is on high, and continue beating while adding in gelatin powder. Beat until stiff peaks form (about 1-2 minutes).
5. Fill pastry bags with meringue and pipe onto the parchment paper in swirls (using your favorite tip). Place in oven and bake for 90 minutes. Turn oven off and leave in oven for several hours or overnight.Mine were ready in about and hour 
6. Store in an airtight container (if they last that long)

Crunchy Broccoli Salad

found this at tasteofhome.com

10 ServingsPrep/Total Time: 20 min.

Ingredients

8 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup sunflower kernels
3 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
Directions
•In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, onions and cranberries. In a
small bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar and sugar; drizzle over broccoli
and toss to coat. Chill until serving. Sprinkle with sunflower
kernels and bacon. Yield: 10 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (3/4 cup) equals 121 calories, 7 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 2 mg cholesterol, 233 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1 fat, 1/2 starch.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

found this recipe here http://portland.todaysmama.com/2011/04/474/

Makes 2-3 dozen

½ C butter, softened
1 C sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking powder
⅛ tsp baking soda
1-½ C flour
½ C powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy 3-5 minutes. Add in the vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Pour powdered sugar onto a bowl. Form dough in a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

1 C sugar
1 C Water
1 small box strawberry gelatin mix
1 Pint Fresh Strawberries
3 Heaping Tablespoons Cornstarch
1 pie crust, cooked and cooled

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and dry gelatin mix by stirring well. Add water and cook until thick and clear over medium high heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Set aside and let cool. Wash and hull strawberries, cut in half and arrange over pie crust. When filling is cool, pour over strawberries and chill pie until ready to serve. Serve with whipped cream.
*** DO NOT DOUBLE****

TIP FOR CORING STRAWBERRIES:

take a plastic straw
insert it thru the pointed end of strawberry
push all the way thru center of strawberry
OUT COMES THE CORE

7-Up Cake

7-Up Cake

3 sticks oleo (margarine - I used Land O' Lakes because it had the most fat)
3 c. sugar
5 eggs
3 c. all-purpose flour, sifted two times after measuring
2 Tbsp. lemon extract
3/4 c. 7-Up

Combine oleo and sugar in large bowl of mixer. Cream until lemon in color. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each addition. Add flour. Continue to beat well. Add lemon extract. Fold in 7-Up. Pour into oiled and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool well before serving (very important to keep it moist, I think). Best served sliced in thin slices. Freezes well.

Lemon Meringue Cookies and lemon curd

Oh I soooo want to make these!!

Lemon Meringue Cookies
Recipe found on www.joythebaker.com

Makes: about 55 cookies







For the Meringues:

2 large egg whites

pinch of salt

2/3 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place two racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Foil will also work in a pinch. Set the baking pans aside.

Place the egg whites (save the yolks for the curd) in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat egg whites, on medium speed, until foamy. Add the pinch of salt and increase speed to medium-high. Slowly begin to sprinkle in the sugar. Continue to beat eggs until they become thick, glossy and hold stiff peeks. The egg whites will be the consistency of melted marshmallow.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Spoon into a piping bag, fitted with a large star tip. Pipe about a teaspoons worth of meringue onto the baking sheet. Stars can be close together, as they won't spread or puff during baking. Pipe stars onto the two baking sheets until no meringue remains in the bag. Using the back of a spoon, flatten out half of the meringue stars, making them as flat as possible, but not necessarily a larger circle than the original piped star. The flattened star will become the bottom of the sandwich cookie.

Bake meringues for 2 hours, until no longer sticky , but firm and hardened.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet before filling and sandwiching.

For the Lemon Curd:

from: David Lebovitz

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

pinch of salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl and set aside.

In a medium pot, whisk together lemon juice, granulated sugar, eggs, yolks, and pinch of salt. Place the pot over a medium-low flame and add butter. Stir mixture with a whisk, and spatula. The spatula will help you get into the corners of the pan, ensuring that none of the curd over-cooks too much. Cook the curd until the butter is melted, and the mixture is the thickness of warm hot fudge. The whisk will begin to leave a trail of whisk marks and the mixture will have the distinct smell of lemon curd. You don't really need to boil lemon curd... it's probably done it if gets to the boiling stage.

Remove from the flame and immediately pour into the fine mesh strainer over the medium bowl. Press through the strainer, leaving any cooked egg bits in the strainer, and not in your beautiful curd.

Place curd in a jar, with a piece of plastic wrap placed directly over the curd. Place in the fridge until completely cold.

To fill the cookies, spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of curd onto a flattened bottom cookie. Top with a star shaped cookie. Place cookies in a single layer on a tray and place in the freezer for 20 minutes to an hour. I love these cookies right out of the freezer. You can also fill them and serve them immediately. These cookies do not last well if willed and left to sit.

Curd should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Curd lasts for about a week. Meringues should be kept in an airtight container, in a dry area, at room temperature. Meringues last for about 5 days... though humidity makes them sticky balls.

Strawberry TrifleI

This is a Taste of Home recipe found here http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Strawberry-Trifle/Print

10 Servings
Prep: 20 min. + chilling

Ingredients
1 cup cold milk
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped
8 cups cubed angel food cake
4 cups sliced fresh strawberries
Directions
•In a large bowl, beat the milk, sour cream, pudding mix and orange
peel on low speed until thickened. Fold in whipped cream.

•Place half of the cake cubes in a 3-qt. glass bowl. Arrange a third
of the strawberries around sides of bowl and over cake; top with
half of the pudding mixture. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining
berries. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Yield: 8-10
servings.

Pea 'n' Peanut Salad

found this at the taste of home website http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Pea--n--Peanut-Salad/Print

ServingsPrep/Total Time: 15 min.


Ingredients
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas, thawed
1 cup dry roasted peanuts
1 cup chopped celery
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup prepared zesty Italian salad dressing
Directions
•In a large bowl, combine the peas, peanuts, celery, bacon and onion.
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise and Italian dressing. Pour
over salad and toss to coat. Chill until serving. Yield: 5 servings.

Layered Strawberry Cheesecake Bowl

Layered Strawberry Cheesecake Bowl

makes 14 servings, 2/3 cup (175 mL) each
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 pkg. (250 g each) Philadelphia Light Brick Cream Cheese Spread, softened
1-1/2 cups cold milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) Jell-O Vanilla Fat Free Instant Pudding
2 cups thawed Cool Whip Light Whipped Topping, divided
2 cups frozen pound cake cubes (1 inch)
1 square Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate


1 COMBINE berries and sugar. Refrigerate until ready to use. Beat cream cheese spread in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in milk. Add dry pudding mix; mix well. Blend in 1-1/2 cups Cool Whip; spoon half into a trifle bowl.

2 TOP with cake, berries and remaining cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate 4 hours.

3 MELT chocolate; drizzle over trifle. Top with remaining Cool Whip.

* you can cube some angelfood cake and layer in this!

Easter Egg Treats

12 package of butterscotch chips
½ cup peanut butter
1 cup Spanish peanuts
5 oz. Chinese noodles

Melt the chips and blend well with the peanut butter. Add peanuts and noodles;mix well. Make "nests" on waxed paper on a cookie sheet. Cool in refrigerator. Fill nests with jelly beans, M&M's or candy of your choice.