Mini Pavlovas ie. A Little Piece of Heaven

After my freshman year of college I was lucky enough to do a summer abroad for school and lived in London with some of my family there. We spent a lot of time doing all these different things I had never done before, and they cooked some of the most amazing food. A different meal every night and all things I had never tried before. It was a really great experience.

My cousin, William, figured out that I have a HUUUUGE sweet-tooth (it really didn't take him that long) and so a staple in the house became Pavlovas, a meringue dessert made with whipped cream and berries. I loved it so much I ate it for breakfast, and when we ran out of berries I used yogurt. My mouth is watering right now thinking about it...

Here's the recipe I use for Mini Pavolovas, straight from Barefoot Contessa with a few of my changes:

Meringue

You will need:
* 6 extra - large egg whites, at room temperature
* 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a small glass and a pencil, draw 6 (3 1/2-inch) circles on each piece of paper. Turn the paper face-down on the baking sheets.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, and cream of tartar on medium speed until frothy. Add 1 cup of the sugar and raise the speed to high until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. Whisk in the vanilla. Carefully fold the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar into the meringue. With a large star - shaped pastry tip, pipe a disc of meringue inside each circle. Pipe another layer around the edge to form the sides of the shells.
(I do not have a piping bag and have tried to do it the cheap way with a plastic bag and snip the tip off and I'm too much of a slob so I just scoop a bit on the cookie sheet and smooth it over with my spoon.)

3. Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringues are dry and crisp but not browned. Turn off the heat and allow the meringues to sit in the oven for 4 hours or overnight.

Whipped Cream

You will need:

* cold heavy cream
* powedered sugar (generally 1/4-1/3 of a cup)
* pure vanilla extract (generally 1-2 teaspoons)

1. Whip the cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (you can also use a hand mixer). When it starts to thicken, add the powdered sugar and vanilla to taste and continue to beat until firm. Don't overbeat!

2. If the meringue is not done put the bowl back in the fridge and make sure to beat again when you take it out to serve.

Berries

You will need:
* Fresh Strawberries
* Fresh Raspberries
* Sugar

1. Remove tops and slice up strawberries into a bowl. Leave raspberries whole.

2. Add a sprinkling of sugar on top. Then put the bowl in the fridge and let sit in there for at least 30 minutes (the longer it sits, the sweeter the fruit and the more syrup you'll get).

To assemble:

1. Get a plate and put the meringue in the middle.
2. Scoop a dollop of whipped cream on top.
3. Spoon berries on top.
4. Eat!

Smoked Gouda and Bacon Macaroni and Cheese

My favorite way to cook is to take the basics of a recipe and change them around to make my own. Growing up, my parents generally cooked the same things all the time so I learned how to make those things just by watching them, but if I wanted to expand and learn to make all sorts of other yummy meals I had to figure them out myself. I think that tweaking things to make it your own is the easiest way to develop your own set of recipes and yourself as a cook because you've got the basics laid out in front of you, you just need to take it and run with it. I'm now at the point where I just reference my standard cookbooks for temperatures and times of how long to put things in the oven and use my specialty cook ones for ideas.

One cook that I love is Ina Garten (from the Barefoot Contessa Food Network TV show). I'll admit, for some she can be hard to take, but I love french food and I love how she presents everything. So she's one of the shows I like to watch a lot (along with Sandra Lee, Giada De Laurentiis, and Paula Dean). This is a recipe for a more adult version of Mac and Cheese that I have surprisingly found that all the picky eater kids in my family absolutely love. Must be the bacon...

You will need:

* 1 pound cavatappi
* 1 quart milk
* 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, divided for sauce, and 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) for breadcrumbs
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 8 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (2 cups)
* 8 ounces Smoked Gouda cheese, grated (2 cups) (in all honesty, this cheese is the star of this dish. You need at least 8 ounces, but if you put in more, this will only taste better. I recommend going for the biggest block you can find in your store and going from there. I think Trader Joe's has the best for the cheapest price and Whole Foods is over priced, so if you can't go to TJ's then just get it from your regular super market.
* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/2 pound bacon (this also tastes just as good without the bacon if you don't eat meat)
* 1 1/2 cups fresh potato bread crumbs (4 slices)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Make bacon in a frying pan, and only cook it about half way. When it's done, after letting the bacon cool a little while, chop/rip it up in to little bite sized pieces.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. In a large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Still whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Add the Gruyere, Smoked Gouda, and nutmeg while sauce is on the lowest heat setting. This is the most labor intensive part of the dish and takes the longest because that is a lot of grating. I get my husband to help me with this part because otherwise it would take me almost 2 hours from start to table.

While you're making the sauce, make the pasta according to the box.

Put the macaroni and bacon in to your very large casserole dish. Then add the sauce and stir well.

Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. You can make the fresh bread crumbs by just putting them into a food processor. It's really important you use fresh bread crumbs because dried ones with or without seasoning ruin the taste and texture. The fresh bread crumbs become really sweet and crispy and dried ones don't absorb the flavors as much. If you don't want to do it, then just skip the step. Don't use the other stuff!!

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Enjoy!