today is about food.

specifically sweet, sugary food.

lars had a great season tapping the maple trees

at the lodge and in just 2 weeks collected enough

sap to boil down and make 12 pints of 

rich maple syrup. 

this is only the second attempt at syrup making for the 

larsons and this year's batch is far superior to last years.

dale learned by trial and error that we didn't 

boil it down far enough last spring. it was still good,

but not thick like it is this year.

did you know it takes about 50 gallons of sap

 to make 1 gallon of syrup.

*(did you know that you can make syrup from the sap of

other types of trees too?)

the guys used blue canning jars so the syrup looks like carmel~ : )

for our dessert on Easter sunday i made meringue shells.

i'd been craving them for a while and haven't made them in 

many years.

oh my goodness~~ they were so good!

i've made them occasionally my whole married life- and

they're not something i've ever had at anyone else's house. 

(next time i host book club i'm going to make them for my friends).

the recipe is in my good old betty crocker cookbook.

there are only 3 ingredients.

eggs, cream of tarter and sugar.

as i was separating my eggs, i got a teeny bit of egg yoke in with the whites.

 if you've ever made meringue for a pie, you probably know what happened. my whites would 

not beat to a stiff consistency. i ended up throwing that batch of batter and starting over.

oh well~

here is my second attempt- they really are simple. after beating your batter till it's

quite stiff, you cover a cookie sheet with brown paper (aka a grocery bag cut up), 

and make mounds of it- then shape the middle kind of like a nest.

now... the secret is in the baking. 

you place them in a 275 degree oven for a longggg time and you don't 

open the oven till they are all done baking. Then they

still need to stay in the oven an add'l hour after you shut it off.

*i have a convection oven that adjusts to a lower temp automatically- thus the 250 temp . 

i knew my hubbie would come home and go right to the oven and

open it when he smelled something baking.~

when they are done they are light, flaky, and good for days.

they are delicious served with whipped cream and fresh fruit,

or lemon filling- and although i've never tried this, i think a little caramel 

 or chocolate sauce would be amazing too.

this weekend my daughter's bridal showers begin!

we're so excited~
i've heard a little about what the hostesses have planned for saturday and
i think adria is going to love it.
: )

april showers bring may flowers...

get it?

the wedding (with flowers galore) is in may~

be thankful, be well, be blessed, 

b.