Life in Denver has been fraught with unexpected consequences. The results of these little chain-reactions aren't bad, just unforeseen (though also totally predictable, as long as you're noggin is on straight). Take for instance our living situation. We planned to use Momo's house as a landing zone, a place to rest our heads for a moment before finding a place to truly call our own. But here we are, four months in, happy as clams, and feeling more settled in our "temporary housing" with each passing day. Or--also related to housing--there was the time when Momo and I bought almost an entire home's worth of furniture for the place Premal and I were *thisclose* to closing on, but you know how that story ended. This left us with an extra oh... 20-ish pieces of furniture--large pieces--and nowhere to put them. We ended up giving Momo's sunroom a little update, and the results are dreamy. Finally, I've learned that when a recipe calls for 5 egg-yolks it's best to figure out what to do with the accompanying whites beforehand. Otherwise you'll end up with vats of unappetizing translucent gunk crowding up your fridge until you get the wise idea to transform them into magical pavlovas. Which is exactly what I did.
I based mine off of this one from Ina Garten, though I opted for precious individual portions, as I find full-sized pavlovas a tad intimidating. Also, I lost my nerve and jacked up the heat to an uncouth 350 degrees f when they showed no signs of setting after 2.5 hours at the prescribed 180. Perhaps they were more golden than the Contessa would have liked, but they tasted sublime (and I prefer most things a shade or two darker--this is a reference to my husband). Finally, while berry compote is a perfect accompaniment to pavlova, I opted for Charity's caramel sauce, homemade spiced dark-chocolate ice cream, and a sprinkling of fresh raspberries. This was a very, very good idea.
P.S. THIS is my unofficial soundtrack for this gif
