Fridays, Feasting With Friends- Featuring Kelly Roshelli

One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends."

~Laurie Colwin 'Home Cooking'

Kelly Roshelli

Kelly and her beautiful daughter, Avery

Our guest for todays Fridays, Feasting with Friends is my lovely college friend Kelly Roshelli.  We met while attending Ohio University, what seems like simply ages ago!  Kelly is just about the most bubbly person you will ever meet.  She is silly, full of life, and enjoys every. single. second. of it!  It is impossible to not feel happy and have a wonderful day when you are in her company.  I used to always say that Kelly was my wild and crazy friend, but that isn't at all the right way to describe her.  What I always meant by this statement was that she was always so brave and outgoing.  I have always been a more reserved person.  I love letting loose, but I tend to shy away from the limelight; which usually means taking the backseat to many things (although deep inside I would love to be that one on that stage singing my heart out to a crowd...)  But with Kelly, I feel braver, stronger and so much more outgoing.  She brings out those sides to me that I seldom see any other time.  I admire her zest of life and in that way wish I could be just like her.  Thank you Kelly for bringing out in many ways, my best self, the one I am usually too afraid to let loose- but makes me feel so great when I actually do!

Kelly lives with her sweet husband Erick and their stunning daughter Avery, just outside Washington D.C. Although the distance stinks, for I would love to see her more often, she is amazing at making time for her friends back here at home when she comes to visit.  One of the coolest things she and I got to share was being pregnant at the same time and now bonding over the joys of motherhood like we never have before.

Kelly and I, both wonderfully pregnant at her baby shower

Maybe one day (forever fingers crossed) she and Eric will decide to move back to Ohio.  But until then I will enjoy our phone conversations and live up every second I get to spend time with her family at each visit.  I love you Kel!  Thanks for your beautiful friendship and for always making time.

Please enjoy todays Fridays, Feasting with Friends.  And I hope that one day you too can experience the Joy of Kelly.  Because it really is an awesome thing.


What is your favorite thing to cook?
I love to cook my dad's homemade spaghetti sauce! I usually whip up a huge batch on a weekend afternoon and freeze it in 2 person servings!

How about your least favorite thing to cook?
I'm not a big fan of cooking anything on the grill; that's Erick's job!

What is your favorite local restaurant and what is one you are dying to try out?
a fun favorite restaurant is called Marrakesh. It's Moroccan and super fun. I love taking people there from out of town!

Music and food go together so beautifully. You are hosting a dinner party, what would be on your playlist?
Good question....I'm not super big into music, so maybe some Jack Johnson?

What would you choose to be your last meal on earth?
Cheese!!! I LOVE cheese, all kinds, if I could eat cheese for every meal every day, I would! Kinda cheesy, haha.

What are you currently reading?
I'm not much into novels, so right now I'm reading Baby Led Weaning. It's a book on how to start my 7 month old straight on solids instead of puree's first since she seems to like to feed herself instead of me spoon feeding her!

don't you just want to eat her up?!!

What is your favorite Kitchen Gadget?
My garlic press....couldn't live without it!

Do you have a signature go-to dish?
Lately I've been making a variation of a greek styled quinoa dish or a mixture of the pad thai dish from Amie's website using the peanut sauce instead of the traditional pad thai sauce.

What is your favorite thing about where you live in Alexandria, VA?
My favorite thing about living in Alexandria, is how it is so close to so many things to do. 15 min to DC, about an hour to the mountains and wine vineyards, and not far from the beach. I also love the weather! We get all 4 seasons with a fairly mild winter which is great and makes it so there is almost always something in bloom!

Do you have a favorite meal from your childhood and do you cook it today?
I love grilled cheese and mac and cheese....go figure, they are both with cheese!

Top 3 Movies of all time?
I love SO many movies! Favorite Comedy is Multiplicity, Favorite Kids is Hook, and I love Vampire movies, the super hero type movies like X-Men and Iron Man, and loved Inception last summer!

What was your happiest moment in life?
Seeing my daughter's heartbeat on the sonogram for the first time, I still cry when thinking about it!

Where do you do your grocery shopping?
Harris Teeter or Whole Foods

What is your favorite guilty pleasure when it comes to food?
Chocolate. I love those little dark chocolate Dove Promises.

Can you tell me about what you are most proud of?
My daughter, Avery.

Kelly, Eric and Avery

Do you have Culinary Resolutions that you would like to accomplish this year?
I am trying to learn to cook more healthy meals and getting my family to enjoy different types of foods.

One word that best describes you is: 

no clue! My husband just called me Dynamic :)

I actually asked Kelly for this recipe.  She was baking a batch the last time I talked to her and it got me in the mood!  I have never tried making them before so I am excited to use her recipe.  Thanks Kel!

Print this Recipe

Meringue Cookies
Meringues are egg white-sugar cookies that are baked for a long time at a low temperature.

4 large egg whites
1/2 tsp distilled white vinegar, or cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with foil.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until frothy. Add vinegar; beat until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add sugar; beat until glossy stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla.

Spoon tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart each, making about 44 cookies.
**Actually I put the mixture into a cookie decorating funnel (not sure the correct name) and squeeze out the cookies. This makes them look much prettier like the ones from Trader Joes.

Bake until meringues feel dry and crisp all the way through, about 3 hours. Turn off oven; leave meringues in oven for 1 hour. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks to cool completely. Peel meringues off foil and store in an airtight container.

Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

This recipe is such a winner because of so few ingredients and relatively low calories for what you get...fat free. and Very versatile, you can use tons of variations with extracts such as lemon, peppermint, chocolate added to make many flavors...I even thought of maybe using food color to make for different holidays!