raspberry pistachio mini pavlovas + a giveaway

haaaaappy monday, everybody!!

how were all of your weekends? mine was as relaxing as can be, right down to the socks with birkenstocks that i wore outside not once but twice (!!!) for warmth (low was in the 30s!), comfort, and to imitate my style icons the olsen twins. i did all the fall things: hosted an apple picking party, made caramel apples, made chicken with apples, made a (sadly flopped) honey cake with apples... and then wrapped things up by watching miss america at the town pizza parlor and it was magnificent.

today a thing called beet harvest pre-haul starts! it's basically the amuse-bouche of beet harvest: you get all of your equipment ready, start picking from your fields, and take in a sampling of beets to the plant so you're ready to get your harvest on come october first. there is a big truck filled with beets in our yard right now! i am tempted to yoink one and do recipe experiments but i'm afraid to climb up onto the truck. actually mostly i'm afraid to go outside right now because of the cold. 

ok now let me tell you about these pavlovas. first, the person behind these pavlovas, who is also one of my favorite bloggers ever, stephanie! i feel like she doesn't need an introduction because if you read my blog then you've seen the zillion times i've linked to her blog and if you've seen her blog even just once you know she is the tops. she is also the tops in real life, we were each other's dates to the saveur awards when our men couldn't make it, and if we lived in the same town, i could see some major kimmy gibbler/d.j. tanner action happening. her joyful and fun personality oozes from her work the way the hollandaise oozes from this grilled cheese. i've made so many of her recipes and they are all delicious while managing to be shockingly simple... which is why it is about time that her book comes out! i can't sing enough praise about it. it's inspiring, it's approachable, it's creative, it's flavorful, it's nothing you don't want, it's fit for pretty much anyone. i see these pictures and think, shit, i cannot make that. and then i read the recipes and i'm like, wait a second, i think i can. i think i can. i think i can. and so pictured here is the first ever pavlova i ever did make. and despite me planning on having people over to help us finish them, eggboy and i demolished them and didn't even look back. 

they're fluffy, airy little creatures with a perfect amount of sweetness, sourness from the raspberries, and savoriness from the pistachios. they also look cute, like a cartoon version of a dessert. but they're real! and real good.

raspberry pistachio mini pavlovas

from stephanie le's book, easy gourmet

makes 14 mini pavlovas

ingredient

2 large egg whites

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/4 c pistachios, roughly chopped

1/2 c whipping cream, whipped into soft peaks

1 c raspberries

chopped pistachios, to serve

clues

preheat oven to 350ºf.

with an electric mixer, whip the egg whites with the salt until peaks start to form. add the sugar in a slow stream. continue to whip until the eggs are shiny and stiff. sprinkle in the cornstarch, vanilla, vinegar, and pistachios. gently fold to combine.

scoop the meringue into equal mounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet. place in the oven and immediately turn down to 300ºf and bake for 25 minutes. turn the oven off and leave in for another 25 minutes and then remove from the oven. cool completely.

to serve, top with softly whipped cream, raspberries, and an extra sprinkle of chopped pistachios.

note: if you want super-green pistachios, blanch them in boiling water for 10-15 seconds. strain, then rub with a clean towel to remove their skins. if the skins are still clinging, keep the pistachios in cold water as you rub.

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annnnd.... i'm giving away a copy of easy gourmet! to enter this giveaway, leave a comment with the best dessert you've ever had! this giveaway is open to u.s. residents only.

update 9/22: this giveaway is now closed and the winner has been notified. thanks so much everyone!

-yeh!!

weekend warriors

we ate pizza and listened to oldies. we churned ice cream and had it with cake. we brunched. we picked tomatoes, romped through the farm, built a fire, typed up invitations... our house smelled like pumpkin and at night we all fell asleep, all tangled in piles of blankets, plopped in front of the tv. 

these first few days of harvest have been so swell! eggboy has been working much longer hours, but egg sister and her man came to visit, so we went out and visited with him and egg dad... i brought them pumpkin bread and stuff! it felt so ferociously like fall, i basked in the crisp air with my sweaters and fluffy socks. oh it was the best.

happy tuesday everyone!

-yeh!

one year ago...

one year ago today, we rolled into grand forks, north dakota, in a van filled with ikea furniture, pencil skirts, and entirely not enough sweaters. i didn't know what a combine was or how to frost a cake, and part of me thought that i could get around by foot and bike alone. 

today my closet is filled with flannel shirts, frosting-stained overalls, and boots that are still damp from yesterday's romp through a sugar beet field. i don't have a bike yet, but driving on the always-trafficless highway listening to minnesota public radio might be my new favorite hobby.

out our window, some corn stalks in our garden have grown just tall enough to say hello and giggle at us in our underpants because... for the first time in my adult life, this year has meant no roommates. 

with one year under my belt, i've found myself morphing my introduction from "i just moved to the midwest from brooklyn," to a plain and simple, "i live in the midwest."

it feels good. settled. it makes me all smiley and ready to get married and stuff. 

one percent of me still craves a bagel and lox at all hours of the day, but heavens me, if this past year is any indication of what my future in the midwest holds, i am so gosh darn excited.

(someone stop me before i get too mushy.)

happy anniversary, mister midwest and me! i'm gonna go stand outside and let you bite me with all the mosquitos you got!

-yeh!!!

weekend warriors

beans, lots and lots of beans

a full 36 hours with my computer turned off

late nights with tea and a typewriter

early mornings with olive oil cake

eggs benedict with these english muffins and a side of homegrown kale, in front of the last leg of the tour de france. (and a correct inkling that kittel would win this one (!!!))

a sunday morning coffee date over the discussion of honeymoons: a half marathon in hawaii? a bed and breakfast tour of new england? a big fat scandinavian adventure????

a galette with onions and spinach from our garden, lots and lots of parmesan, and a bunch of thoughts on the theme of how about i make a ton of galettes for the wedding?

time spent at one of my very favorite bakeries

coffee, set out to brew overnight, so that it was just strong enough for this fine monday morning...

happy monday!!!!!!

-yeh!