Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello everyone! I am sorry that it has been awhile since my last post. As I have mentioned before, I am in London for the semester so I have been busy sight-seeing and traveling and pretending to study, etc. The truth is that although I have been cooking a bit since my last post, there haven't really been any new recipes coming from my kitchen and nothing really worth posting. But, alas, it is Valentine's Day tomorrow and I thought that called for a new post: a sweet post. Because what is Valentine's Day with a whole lot of sugar, right?

Last year I made these scones in a heart shape for me and my roommates for breakfast. The scones were followed by a heart shaped pizza and sparkling cider (because I was only 20 and I'm an angel) and probably loads of chocolate but I can't remember.

This year, two friends and I bought some sparkling strawberry wine and plan to pick up cupcakes from a local bakery to celebrate the occasion (as we are all in a new city and don't have dates) but I decided something homemade would be a nice addition. Why not meringues? They have the most beautiful giant meringues at pretty much every London market and seeing them all the time has made me want to try and make some of my own.

I have a confession though- they kind of failed. First, i didn't have parchment paper so i decided oiling the pan would be fine. Second, I think I overcooked them because I was working on a paper and not keeping track of time. When trying to get them off of the pan, I kind of massacred the whole thing. This goes to show that parchment paper or one of the non-stick sheets really is necessary. I ended up trying a couple that I actually could get off the pan and they actually did taste good. They didn't have the chewy texture on the inside like I wanted (due to over-baking them) but the flavor was right. So, all in all I don't think the recipe is the problem, I think it was my carelessness. So I am going to give you the recipe anyway and hopefully you will have better luck with it. It just wouldn't be Valentine's Day without a celebratory blog post.

Valentine's Day Classic Meringues

Ingredients

4 whole egg whites

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Before you begin, preheat the oven to 215 degrees F and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Start by separating all of your eggs and placing the egg whites into a mixing bowl (either metal or glass but not plastic). With a hand mixer, beat on medium until stiff peaks form.

Once stiff peaks form, start to add the granulated sugar in, a little bit at a time. It should take you about 5 or 6 additions to add all of the sugar in. Each time you add more sugar, beat the mixture for about 4 seconds before adding more.

Once all of the granulated sugar is incorporated, turn off the mixer. Now add 1/3 of the powdered sugar and fold it into the egg whites. Keep doing this, 1/3 at a time, until you have added all of the powdered sugar.

Next place spoonfuls of the mixture onto the parchment lined baking sheet, leaving a little room for the meringues to expand. Try, if you so desire, to swirl the drops so that the meringues turn out pretty. Now all that is left is to bake for about 75 minutes. The meringues should sound crisp when tapped on. The texture should be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Let them cool either on the baking sheet or on a cooling rack before eating!

Yep, that's it. That's the basic recipe. To spice things up you could add an extract like vanilla, or almond, or maybe even peppermint for the holidays? Or maybe to make it pretty you could add some food coloring before baking when you are folding in the powdered sugar. I scattered multi-colored sprinkles on top before baking and they turned out really cute!

My Meringues- not beautiful but cute in their own quirky way. (Forgive my lack of a decent backdrop for pictures)

Meringues at Borough Market. This is what I aspire to be able to make!

They say (or someone says) the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so if any ladies have forgotten a Valentine's gift, last minute baking is always an option. And men... girls love a guy who can cook.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

XOXO

Citrus Polenta Cookies

Need a little sunshine in your winter? I know I do, especially here where its constantly cloudy and drizzly. What better way to bring sunshine than these golden yellow cookies infused with light citrus flavor?

They are kind of the perfect combination between cornbread and cookies.

I really just don't have too much to say except to give you this recipe. Warning: you can't very well sneak one of these without anyone noticing because they are really crumbly.

Citrus Polenta Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup polenta

1/2 cup all-purpose, self-rising gluten free mix

1/4 teaspoon salt

grated rind of 1/2 a lemon

grated rind of 1/2 an orange

4 tablespoons vegan butter

1/2 cup raw cane sugar

1 large egg

*makes about 18 cookies*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

First, whisk together the polenta, flour, salt, and grated rind.

Then add in 4 tablespoons of softened vegan butter. Mix together as well as you can.

Add in the egg and continue to mix until you get a dough.

Roll into small/medium sized balls and place on a buttered pan.

Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Do you see the pretty little specs of orange? That's my favorite part. Oh and the tacky paper napkin? My second favorite part.

Back in Action

Dear Readers,

First of all, I am sorry it has been so long since my last post. As some of you know I was in Kenya most of the summer (which was incredible, by the way) then school started, which has proven to be my toughest semester yet. I took extra hours, got a new job, started a new editor position with our online newsmagazine and was training to be an aerobics instructor. Now that the semester is coming to a close, I am reader to start posting once again!

As I said two posts ago, I now no longer eat anything with gluten or dairy. Even though I still cook for my non-allergy friends and family, I do not want to recommend any recipes that I cannot personally recommend, so the recipes on this blog will almost entirely be gluten and dairy free but none less tasty.

I am also working on redesigning and editing, so it may change from time to time. And lastly, I have finally figured out more of the manual settings on my camera, so hopefully my photography has improved and will continue to improve.

To kick-start the restart to my blog I will pass on a recipe my mom and I made today from the Babycakes cookbook made by the owner of the famous New York bakery. It's a simple chocolate cookie but its so soft and delicious.

Babycakes Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup coconut oil

6 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups evaporated cane juice

2 cups Bob's Red Mills gluten-free all-purpose baking flour

1/4 cup flaxseed meal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons xanthum gum

1 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Now, take out two medium bowls. In the first bowl mix together the coconut oil, applesauce, salt, vanilla, and evaporated cane juice. In the other bowl, mix together the flour, flaxseed meal, baking soda, and xanthum gum.

Using a rubber spatula, gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until a grainy dough is formed. Next fold in the chocolate chips.

Using a spoon, place small balls of dough one inch apart on the baking sheets. Once dough is placed, gently press the dough down using the back of the spoon.

Bake the cookies on the center rack of the oven for 15 minutes. After 9 minutes, rotate the trays 180 degrees so that they bake evenly.

Lastly, let cool on the sheets for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. You can store these in an airtight container for up to three days at room temperature.

Now all you have to do is enjoy and share! Trust me, if you don't tell anyone they are gluten -free and vegan then no one will ever know (my family didn't!).