So many people asked me, in the weeks since my blog of 11/13, why I didn’t include my Grandmother’s meringue recipe in the blog, that I have decided to reprint it here. All my life she made this same recipe to top her famous pies. Each time I make it now, I think of her, in her faded green bib apron with it red and white checkered trim and two little white buttons with whisks stamped in red, buttoned  each pocket tight.

She always told me anything was possible in my life, if I chose to believe it was possible, and I trusted it would come to me in time. “Have the faith of a mustard seed,” she said, referring to the Biblical story, and then she would turn humble egg whites into shiny wintertime fairy castles before my doubtful blue eyes. Making meringue reaffirms my knowing that I have the power to choose.

Magical Meringue
Heat oven to 300*
3 egg whites
1 Tablespoon water
Dash of salt
¼ Teaspoon cream of tartar
4 Tablespoons powdered sugar
¾ Teaspoon vanilla
Mix the egg whites, water and salt together. Beat the eggs until frothy and add the cream of tartar.
Beat until they are almost stiff. Beat in ½ teaspoon of sugar at a time, until all in combined.
Continue whipping and slowly add the vanilla. Beat until peaks form and it holds its shape well.
Pile lightly on top of pie filling and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden edges form on the top of the peaks.
Cool completely on a cool counter.

By attempting the impossible, one can attain the highest level of the possible.
August Strindberg, Swedish playwright