Sunday, February 6, 2011

A Simple, "Dairy-Free" Half-Birthday Party




I am not sure if you have experienced the sadness of almost always having to go to school on your birthday, but I assure you, there is an equal sadness when one is never able to go see friends for a birthday due to summer vacation.

Personally, I have a birthday so close to Christmas that I only had to go to school once on my birthday and it was the year I was home schooled. However, my dear friend and roommate, Sarah, has a summer birthday and often laments the fact that her friends are usually out-of-state when she turns another year older.

Sarah does her best to remember other people's special days and make sure they are not forgotten. She is the kind of person who throws together an impromptu party or goes the extra four (not just one) miles to ensure that the bridal shower is amazing. Although I am not as proficient at party-throwing as Sarah, I wanted to do something special for her, so I invited her and some of our close friends to a dinner party in honor of her half-birthday.

Despite Sarah's best efforts to force her body into accepting dairy products, she is definitely lactose-intolerant, so I tried [and kinda failed] to plan the menu accordingly: William-Sonoma's Chicken Prosciutto and Balsamic with Ina Garten's Pesto and Pea Pasta, and then my mom's Forgotten Cookies for dessert. The only problems were the Parmesan in the pasta and the chocolate chips in the cookies. But that's why there are lactose pills, I suppose.


Forgotten Cookies
These cookies are somewhere in between a merengue and a no-bake cookie. My mom always made them around Christmas time. Also, because you have left over egg yolks, making these is also the perfect excuse to try your hand at a chocolate pie for the first time, like I did.

Ingredients:
2 egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
Dash of salt
Dash of vanilla
1 cup of chopped pecans
1 cup of corn flakes
1 cup of chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Beat eggs whites until frothy (not yet peaks).
Add sugar, dash of vanilla, and dash of salt. Beat until stiff peaks.
Fold in pecans, corn flakes, and chocolate.
Drop mixture by spoonfull onto foil covered cookie sheets. Place in oven.
TURN OFF HEAT and leave over night (8-10 hours).
DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR until morning.


My First Try at Chocolate Pie
I will be trying this again, but I think I will try to go for a pie with a thicker consistency next time. The Baked cookbook, the bakery in NYC, looked like it had a fantastic chocolate pie recipe. I'll let you know when I make it.

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