Actually, it was macaroons and banana cream pie! Egg Beaters were whirring, coconut was everywhere and the baking sheets lined up and ready to cook last Wednesday in my petit, well-used kitchen. It was the fourth year in a row that Jackie and I made macaroons together and since our friend Debbie was off from work that day, she decided she’d join us as well. My kitchen was hopping, a bit crowded actually, so we worked in stages. Instead of making all three batches at once, we took turns using the bowls, beater and of course, the oven. It was a less messy and more efficient strategy for three bodies to work together in one small space.
As we waited for our decadent treats to bake to a golden finish, we sat down in my dining room to enjoy a simple lunch of potato leek soup and freshly made bread. The timer went off every twelve minutes, interrupting our serene meal, as we took turns running in and out of the kitchen to place some macaroons to cool and others to bake. We chatted away, catching up on our busy lives.
The leftover egg yolks spurred a last minute idea to make banana cream pie. My Joy of Cooking cookbook came out as Debbie ran home to get her pre-made graham cracker crusts. It was a true team effort as we worked together to whisk the sugar, milk and corn starch into a creamy custard, thinly slice the bananas and then layer both into a decadent pie. We laughed as Debbie realized she hadn’t “scolded” the milk prior to the whisking, as I told her it’s never nice to yell at your milk.
Our friend Lou said the macaroons were the best he and his wife had ever had and the kids couldn’t believe they had banana cream pie for dessert on an ordinary Wednesday.
It was a winning Wednesday — good food, good fun and good friends!
The banana cream pie recipe is from the Joy of Cooking cookbook but here is my recipe for chocolate chip macaroons.
Coconut Macaroons with mini Chocolate Chips
Makes two dozen
8 ounces sweetened angel flake coconut
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 stiffly beaten egg white
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix coconut, vanilla extract, salt and condensed milk together in a mixing bowl. Beat egg white until stiff. Fold the egg white into the coconut. Add the mini chips and mix carefully. Form the coconut mixture into mounds and place one inch a part onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven until golden for approximately 12- 14 minutes. Remove the macaroons carefully using a small spatula and cool on a rack.