Monday, 25 February 2013

Little pillows of delight...and a deep question

Egg whites & sugar turned into little delights...
All weekend I've been thinking about a sentence I read in my Guardian newspaper's weekend magazine.  "If you knew you were going to die at eight tonight, would you want to have spent today doing what you are doing?".  When I first read this, it really touched me.  The more I am thinking about it though, the more I think it assumes people always have a choice.  Maybe it is the case for some but generally speaking?  And doesn't it mainly apply to a small fraction of our Western society (for lack of a better word)?  If I am sitting in a village in Zimbabwe, trying to feed my family or even on a low income in a city somewhere here, do I really have a choice about how I spend my day?  Hmmm...I'll continue pondering about this...

And how do I now find an elegant link to today's recipe?  Impossible, so please bear with me...
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I've always been a bit unsure what to do with leftover egg whites.  There seem to be quite a few recipes around that just ask for the yolks but then you end up with the whites hanging around with nowhere to go.  Well, there are some simple answers...

Did you know that you can freeze egg whites?  I have only just found out - the best way is to pop them in an ice cube tray to freeze in portions.  Just mark the tray clearly, so that you don't end up with a very strange G&T on a Saturday evening :-)

Anyway, another good thing to do is to make meringues.  These sweet little delights can be stored for ages and are delicious on their own, crushed on top of ice cream or as part of Eton Mess (think fresh fruit, cream and meringues...yummy).  I made plain and chocolate meringues and they are as light as a feather.  It took a little while to dry them in a low oven but I did that whilst preparing dinner, so it wasn't too bad at all.  And if you have anything else that benefits from a low oven heat, maybe you can make that at the same time?  All you need is some egg whites, sugar (granulated & icing) and a whisk but you can also add cocoa powder, colour etc.  Simply beat the egg whites until forming peaks and gradually beat in the sugar (I used 3 egg whites, 60g granulated & 60g icing sugar) - place dollops of this on a baking sheet and bake on a low heat (100c) for about 45 - 60 minutes or until completely dry.


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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous25 February 2013 at 15:35

    I have made these before. They were delicous. Low cal too. In answer to your deep question... If I had a choice then no. I am at work today. I really like my job but not as much as I love my family. I would much rather spend my last hours with them. Yet, if I absolutely could not be with my family, I would rather be at my work than some other places I could end up. I sure would not want to spend my last minutes on line at WalMart or something, lol. Like you said though we certainly can not always count on being able to plan our last hours. Wow, I feel like I'm getting a bit maudlin here so I think I will wrap it up. Have a Great Monday! :)

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    1. KirstenInWales26 February 2013 at 10:38

      These are a great little treat, aren't they? And as you said not too bad for the waistline either :-)
      Sorry if I was a bit morbid with my post - didn't mean to be :-) It was just that that article was on my mind. I agree though - being at Walmart in the last hours would just suck :-))

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  2. Anonymous26 February 2013 at 05:25

    In our house we seem to have the other problem...what to do with leftover yolks? My daughter often cooks pavlova so then there are 3 yolks waiting to be used. I throw them in an omelette sometimes or make egg custard but other ideas would be appreciated.
    I'm a new reader to your blog - love it!
    Dianne (in Australia)

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    1. KirstenInWales26 February 2013 at 10:41

      Hi Dianne! How lovely of you to stop by and read my blog - I am very glad you are enjoying it! :-)
      You could maybe make some pasta with the leftover yolks - it's surprisingly easy and very tasty. I made ravioli but you could always just go for long strips of pasta. There's a recipe under "pasta" in the list on the right of the blog. Hope this helps! Kirsten x

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  3. Cabbage Tree Farm26 February 2013 at 19:47

    Hi Kirten,
    I use leftover egg whites (I keep mine in the freezer also) to make friands.
    Leftover egg yolks don't keep at all well but if you had several they could be used to make ice cream.
    Bridget

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    1. KirstenInWales26 February 2013 at 20:23

      Oh, ice cream is a very good idea! I hadn't thought of that for the yolks - thank you! Kirsten x

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