My Holiday Failure

This is what I get for being too greedy during the holidays...

Not only have we steadily increased the number of holiday goodies bags we give out, but I've been trying to add new items each year.

After my weekend of candy making and cookie baking, I attempted to push the envelope just a tad further and go for Peppermint Meringues [on a weeknight].

My base recipes were one from fellow blogger Anne's Food and something I scanned on Food Network's website. The result was tragic...

Good thing I had just worked all day, cause the energy to pulverize these sweet little candies was in full supply...

A powder form...peppermint sugar.

My beautiful egg whites.

The assumed culprit for my failure...all natural Peppermint Extract.

At the time we were smack dab in the middle of the holidays, in fact just days before Christmas. My grocery store was clean out of Peppermint Extract and I knew Mint Extract wouldn't be the same...so I headed to the small natural food store just down the street and picked up this stuff. What I initially thought would be a happy substitution, proved to be severely wrong...I added the all natural, organic extract and poof!

My egg whites deflated....

I still went through the coloring and thought I'd try just baking the flattened mixture to see how it would come out.

Awful is all I have to say.

Straight into the rubbish...better luck next year!