Not Your Average Meringue

3/01/09: Spanish Chicken with Pasta and Chocolate Cream Pie

• Sources: For chicken I went to southerngood.about.com and for pie, Antoinette Pope cook book.

• Defining moments: First time for chocolate pie filling and meringue.

• What I learned: I learned that even though I've seen my mom make meringue without one bit of difficulty, that doesn't mean meringue making will be painless. Ok, yes, my meringue went completely wrong and I am still puzzled by what happened. I stayed true to the recipe--the recipe my mom uses--but my meringue still remained in a marshmellow fluff state even though I used the electric beater on it for 1/2 hour! In the end I poured the "marshmallow meringue" on top of my chocolate cream pie and baked it. The pie turned out fine (taste-wise, too) but my older sister was a bit perplexed by the pies' flat meringue surface. "Doesn't meringue pies have peaks or something?" she asked.
  

• How it tasted: The Spanish chicken was awesome I think and my youngest sister may have to change her birthday meal plan. The chocolate cream pie was good too, and no, the meringue didn't taste like marshmallows--close to it though. And my Papa told me a very funny scenario that happened this morning. When he first went into the kitchen in the early morning he saw that the leftover pie was gone and was very "upset" about it! He didn't know that the pie was placed in grandma's refrigerator. When he discovered that the pie still existed he sighed with relief. :)
  

• How about a 2nd time? Yes, for both recipes.