the saddest pepper plant that ever lived.

(and then died).

it's true. my friend gave me a beautiful pepper plant boasting red, robust chilis and bright green healthy leaves. i've since repotted it and it's shriveled into a depressed few stalks. there are a few peppers hanging on for dear life, but the sheer weight of them threatens the stability of the entire plant now. oh, it's all just so sad. any advice on how to resurrect this little guy?

very special lemon meringue cookies.

i found this recipe on a blog run by an enthusiastic baker of delicious cute things.

meringue isn't difficult at all, and after attempting what looks like a complicated recipe tonight, i'm wondering why i don't just whip up some egg whites more often. this was easy and the results made me feel like a pastry badass. the delicate flavor of these sweet little nothings is sort of divine. it's like a lemon pillow floated down from a warm spring cloud and alighted on my tongue. and the lemon curd, well... i mean, butter and sugar and lemon juice. come on.

joy's cookie recipe called for a pastry bag and parchment paper. i substituted the bag for a ziplock baggie with the corner cut out and the parchment with a non-stick pan that required a little more scraping than these delicate little cookies deserved. que sera, etc.

still not too shabby for impromptu baking.

**and i wish my good friend, the amazing and talented katie newburn, were here to take a better picture of these little guys than i did. look at her food photography at http://www.katienewburn.com/ or her blog at cloudsandcoffee.