Things I've been up too...

It's been a busy month with the birth of my daughter, cookie exchanges and just finding time and energy to do things that I love. But last Sunday I attended a cookie exchange with a few friends (about 25 of them). Lisa was so nice to host this cookie exchange at her house. After slave in the kitchen for two days (yes it took me two days, with an newborn at home and tons of phone calls I finally got my cookies done). Tim was very pleased with all the cookies I brought home. 100 cookies or so, plus the two dozen I made for him. After sampling all the cookies I decided that my favorite cookies were the Chocolate Chip Meringues and Gooey Butter Cookies. Tonight I made the Chocolate Chip Meringues. Here is the Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 egg whites
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper, and set aside.

In large metal or glass bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar while continuing to beat until they hold stiff peaks. Mix in the vanilla and cocoa on low speed, then fold in chocolate chips by hand. Drop small mounds of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart.

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven. Turn off oven, and leave the cookies in the oven for 1-2 more hours, or until centers are dry. Remove from pan and store in an airtight container.

Other things that I've been up to while out on maternity... taking care of Annabelle, sleeping a few hours here and there, playing with the baby and when I have time baking. I can't do all my baking without inspiration. I must say that I love google reader. Google reader holds all the blogs that I'm interested in reading in one location, no more bookmarking. Thank you google reader for making my life easy. If you have time to check some cooking blogs, check out Vintage Victual. The blogger is having a give way of some yummy mixes. I wish I had time to blog about my food experiences, but with Miss Annabelle and then starting back to work in a few short weeks, I just don't have time.