Laura started the cooking yesterday morning by trying out two recipes for Coconut Macaroons, with the second attempt more successful than the first. They did not turn out exactly like store-bought macaroons, and we're not sure what we're missing to make them more crumbly. It is important to whip the egg whites until you see peaks, otherwise they mixture will not bind properly. The macaroons were very tasty and we hope to have a second batch soon.

Mark made two versions of Key Lime Pie. First, there was the classic Cook's Illustrated version, with 4 egg yolks mixed with lime juice, whipped topping and homemade graham cracker crust, and the second was from a bottle of lime juice with only sweetend condensed milk and Cool Whip as ingredients. After cooking them both up (well, only one, since the no-egg version required no cooking, an exhaustive taste test (Laura's family) reports that the simple no-egg off the bottle recipe is preferred, combined with the homemade graham cracker crust and lime zest. We've posted the combined recipe, enjoy!

For Christmas dinner, Laura's mom cooked up individual cornish hens, complemented with side dishes of baked beans, cooked cranberries, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Everything tasted excellent. One of the more interesting sides was Frog's Eye Salad, a recipe from Laura's Aunt Nancy. No real frog's eyes, just small pasta in cool whip and pudding with pineapple for taste. It's a real treat for dessert. Another highlight was Laura's grandmother's Cole Slaw, lightly made with cabbage and vinegar minus the usual mayonaise. It provided a great opportunity to use the food processor for shredding the cabbage. No one left the table hungry. :)