Cinnamon Meringue Torte

This has been served at our Christmas Eve party for many years, and is my personal favorite. My mother used to make it, but my sister has taken over that duty and gave me the recipe printed below.

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Meringue: Cover a cookie sheet with a piece of heavy paper and draw a circle 8 inches in diameter. Beat two egg whites with a 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. vinegar until soft peaks form. Blend 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon together. Gradually add to white until very stiff peaks form and the sugar is dissolved.

Spread meringue within circle on paper. With the back of a spoon, build a rim about 2 inches high, leaving a 1/2 inch thick bottom. Bake in preheated 275°F oven for 1 hour. Turn off heat and let shell cool 2 hours or longer. Do NOT open oven until total time is up. Shell should be cool before filling.

I usually make the shell the night before and let it stand overnight in the oven.

Filling: Melt 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate bits in a double boiler. Cool slightly, then spread 2 tbs. over the bottom of the shell.

Blend two beaten egg yolks and 1/4 cup water together. Add to remaining chocolate. Chill until thick, around 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Whip 1 cup heavy cream gradually adding 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, beating until cream is stiff. Spread half of whipped cream mixture over chocolate in shell. Fold remaining whipped cream into the chilled chocolate mixture and spread on the whipped cream in the shell.

Chill several hours or overnight. Garnish with whipped cream, chocolate curls or pecans.

This can be a tricky recipe, depending on the weather and humidity. Sometimes, it works perfectly. Sometimes, not so much. Make sure the egg white and whipped cream are beaten to stiff peaks. I usually double the cinnamon. The egg yolks are NOT cooked so this is a forbidden recipe by modern standards. Mom liked it because the yolks and white were even. Most meringue recipes, you end up with something left over.

Hotel to Airport on Marta

From hotels around the Peachtree Center Mall, like the Atlanta Hilton, Atlanta Marriott Marquis or Hyatt Regency Atlanta, the Marta Station in the mall is a dandy way to get to the airport. Going back Sunday I found the Mall locked, so had to go around the outside of the building, but there is an exterior entrance to Marta there. The machines inside will be happy to take three one dollar bills and convert them to a Breeze ticket and fifty cents change. The concierge at the Hilton warned me not to use a large bill to pay, as the machine gives change in heavy coins. It was not obvious how to buy the $2.50 one way trip at first, but after pushing the first button, the one-way ticket option appeared. Once you have the ticket, you tap it on the pad at the gate, then step forward and through. Keep the ticket, as you use it to get out of the gate at the other end.

Both the red and yellow lines go to the airport. They also go north away from the airport, so make sure you get the train on the correct side of the platform. A sign on that side tells you how long it will be before the next train to the airport, and it was accurate. You can't miss the airport as it is the last stop. I finished checking out at the Hilton at 8 a.m., took the Marta, and was through airport security at Hartsfield Jackson airport by 9:15. Of course, your experience may vary.

If you are used to bus or subway travel, you will love it. Like any public transportation, there will be a good diversity of folks on board. The Marta site suggested walking purposefully as a safety measure. I am a generally nervous traveler, and felt comfortable the whole way. If strangers worry you, of if you have baggage of checkable proportions, you will want to spend the extra loot for the Airport Shuttle. But for a guy with a laptop and a duffle, Marta was a fine way to go. Thanks, Atlanta.

Acronyms

There is a rule in journalism that says the first time you use an uncommon acronym in a document, you must spell it out in full. After that, you get to use the acronym. This should not be a rule of journalism. It should be a federal law.

Digging Out a Car in Montana

• When possible, wait for a sunny day. No sense digging out a car on a miserable day when you don't really want to drive. Take the bus.
• Go at it easy, especially early in the season. You may be using muscles that don't get out much, so be gentle with them. If you have a heart attack, the fact that your car is cleared off won't help that much.
• Don't damage that paint. Swing your pick-ax parallel to the surfaces of the vehicle, not perpendicular. When you are within two feet, switch to a shovel. Within three inches, use plastic tools to break up the snowpack and a broom for bulk removal. Use a brush and scraper combination tool when you are down to the last inch of snow and ice.
• Go inside and warm up from time to time. Especially when you can't feel your fingers and toes anymore. Hot chocolate is good, but no peppermint schnapps if you are going to drive today.
• Let nature work for you. If you are not in a hurry, expose the windows, then go inside and write a blog entry while the sun melts things for you. (see photo)
• If you enjoy life, remove snow from the hood, roof, bumpers and tailpipe, for various safety reasons. Remember the time you saw someone driving with just a patch in front of the driver's eyes cleared? There is a reason you don't see that every day.
• Don't forget to clear a path between your car and the main road. No point doing all that work just to get stuck right away.

AECT Grand Opening in Second Life

The new AECT virtual world headquarters was opened in Second Life in conjunction with the 2009 conference in Louisville. I was not able to attend, but I was able to participate. And I did the video which is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl-kn6Vihz4

MTALN has come and gone

The Montana Thai Active Learning Network 2009 group has come and gone. They are in Thailand now working on their action research projects. One of this year's highlights; I was flipping channels in the evening and there were our visitors being interviewed in the state capitol by some legislators. And this year, I got to go trick or treating with the Thai folks on Halloween, which really was a treat. More details at http://mtaln.blogspot.com/.

ISTE in Second Life

Always willing to try something new in the field, I agreed to run security for a virtual world extension of a professional conference. The peaceful setting produced little in the way of incidents, and I spent three days assisting a great bunch of volunteers. Full details and photos in both real and virtual settings can be found here on flickr.