Still reveling in the relaxation of my girls weekend- I for some reason thought last week was going to be a breeze. I knew there were some things to do to get ready for Walker’s birthday which was on Sunday, but his party had been organized, my mom was making his cake, his dad and grandparents were coming into town and Walker was going to stay with them over the weekend- all of these things made it seem like the week and week
end were going to be stress free. But then life happens and Walker gets a trimmed branch in his leg Wednesday night which resulted in his first ER visit. I know that I should be happy and thankful that it has taken him this long- just shy of 9 years to actually hurt himself enough to wind up in the ER, but I really just wish he would never hurt himself again ever. I would post a picture of the bone-deep gash in his leg, but it is really pretty disgusting so I won’t. Walker really was a trooper through the whole experience and watching him all loopy on morphine was really pretty funny, and 12 stitches later, I thought- OK, that was a small glitch and he won’t be able to play in his last soccer game, but we made it through this. Then we went back to the doctor on Friday to get his bandages changed and his leg was infected. Well, of course I have been reading the horrible story about the woman who fell on the zip line, and every terrible thing that could happen to my sweet little boy rushed into my brain.
Fortunately, Walker did not have to be admitted overnight- but he did have to get another round of IV antibiotics, and they switched his oral antibiotic to a stronger one, so hopefully now, we are all in the clear. In fact, you wouldn’t have even known that he had a bone-deep gash in his leg as he prepared for his birthday party on Saturday afternoon. All Walker wanted to do for his birthday party was have a limo- clearly, the coolest thing ever to an 8-year-old- he didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything, he just wanted to have a dance party with his friends in a limo. I thought this was ridiculous. His dad thought it was a terrific idea- so I caved in on the condition that his dad ride in the limo with the kids- not me. When the stretch Hummer that his dad had reserved pulled up, these kids went nuts- they piled in, and off they went for an hour long drive that would end at the playground around the corner so we could all have cake and ice cream. It actually was a fantastic party for the kids- they had a ball, and since all Corby and I had to do was set up the cake at the playground and wait for them to return, it was a pretty easy party for me as well- Walker’s dad and his step mom (who decided to go for the ride as well at the last minute and thank goodness she did because two adults is always better than one when dealing with 12 kids in a limo) definitely got the bad end of this deal as he reported about the utter mayhem and extreme loudness that was the limo ride. The next day was Walker’s actual birthday, and we all met up at my parent’s house for a birthday dinner celebration. 
Walker’s dad and step mom and their two children who are 5 months old and 17 months old, Walker’s paternal grandparents, me, Corby, and my parents and of course Walker all celebrated his 9th birthday and toasted ourselves for turning out such a wonderful boy. The best part of the whole night outside of the many many bottles of wine and Walker himself, was the cake. Walker decided he wanted a meringue cake with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce and whip cream. My mother makes the best meringues in the world, and she gave me the recipe to share with you! So despite all the craziness of the week with hospital visits and limo birthday parties, ending any week with a meringue cake always makes it better!
Meringues
Beat:
3 egg whites at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. water
When stiff peaks form, very slowly add 1 cup sugar.
Form into small shells or 3 large discs on DOUBLE -layered waxed paper.
Place in a 200 oven and let bake all night.
For shells- serve with a scoop of ice cream and drizzle with your favorite sauce.
When making the large discs- scoop ice cream into two 9 inch cake pans that are lined with wax paper (keep excess paper on the sides to lift out ice cream later) and press down until it is flat and is about 1 inch thick. Store in freezer over night while the meringues are baking. In the morning, layer one meringue disc on the bottom, then the ice cream, then another meringue disc followed but the second ice cream and finally the last meringue disc on top. Cover the whole cake with whip cream and drizzle your favorite sauce on top.
When we were in Nashville this past fall, we went to the Loveless Cafe for breakfast one morning. It was awesome, and I have been dying to go back since then. Since I am up in the Catskills and nowhere near Nashville, making one of their Naked Berry Pies will have to do. As you will see, “naked” refers to the fact that you do not use a pie pan to make these amazing delicious pies. We have friends coming up this weekend with their three boys, and I can’t wait to try out this recipe http://www.lovelesscafe.com/recipes. I am thinking of using blueberries- if anyone else tries them with a different fruit, please let me know how it turns out, and I will try to put up a picture of my attempt this weekend!!
