May is here!  Look around and you can see spring in its fullest glory.  The beautiful trees and flowers are magnificent.  National Walking Month is May.  Walking is one of the easiest ways to improve our health and stay connected with our friends and community. Walking is a weight bearing exercise, as you are carrying your own body weight.  Many health benefits are associated with walking as little as 20 minutes a day.  What a beautiful month to enjoy walking!

    Mother’s Day and Memorial Day are holidays we celebrate in May.  In kindergarten and first grade, we always made small gifts and sweet cards for our mothers to show them our love.  I have sweet memories of celebrating my mother when I was a child.  My dad made sure my brother and I appreciated everything she sacrificed to give us a loving, nurturing home.  I miss her so much every day but especially on Mother’s Day.   Memorial Day is the unofficial beginning of summer.  Temperatures are warmer and we think about outside activities.  We are blessed in North Carolina to have the beach and mountains within a comfortable driving distance.  Whether you like warm weather at the beach or cooler weather in the mountains, May is a great month to enjoy the outside.  We remember on Memorial Day all those who sacrificed their lives to give us the freedoms we enjoy each day.  We honor each one of them and remember their families on this special weekend.  

   This month’s recipe is Angel Food Cake. I grew up eating a lot of Angel Food Cakes at my grandmother’s house.  The cake is light, low calorie and delicious with fresh berries and whipped cream.   Keep this recipe handy because the recipe in June will use this cake as an ingredient.

    Happy Mother’s Day!  Enjoy your Memorial Day!  Blessings, Peggy Isenhour

 

 

10 egg whites at room temperature

1 ¼ tsp cream of tartar

¼ tsp salt

1 Tablespoon vanilla

½ tsp almond extract

1 ¼ cups sugar

*1 cup cake flour (King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour)

 

Preheat oven to 350°.  Beat whites, cream of tartar and salt in a large bowl (use stainless steel bowl, not glass) until soft peaks form.  Add vanilla and almond extracts.  Gradually add sugar.  Beat until stiff and shiny but not dry.  Sift flour into whites and fold very gently.  Pour batter into 10” ungreased tube pan (not Bundt pan).  Bake for 25 minutes.  Invert immediately. I use a wine bottle to invert the cake.  Keep the cake upside down until totally cool and then remove cake.

 

 *To make cake flour, put 2 tablespoons of corn starch in a one cup measure and then fill with all purpose flour.  You now have cake flour.