Recipe: Cherry-Pecan meringue bars
(from Carole Water's Great Cookies)

These are amazing. I even made them with less sugar/butter for my grandma, and still sensational. I will admit they take a little bit of time to make, but definitly worth it!

Filling:

1 c dried cherries

1/2 c water

1 c cherry preserves

1 t fresh lemon zest

1/2 t cinnamon

pinch of ground cloves

pinch of salt

Place the cherries and water in a smal saucepan. cook, covered over medium heat ~5 min or untill tender and almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Add rest of filling ingredietns. Bring to a boil, stirring to combine. Place the mix into a food processor and pulse 5-6 times. chill mix for 30 min - 1 week.

Crust:

3/4 c (1.5 sticks) butter/margarine (i'd say have atleast some butter for flavor)

1/3 c lightly packed brown sugar

1 t fresh lemon zest

1 3/4 c flour

1/2 t salt

Place the butter in a medium saucepan and barely melt over low heat, remove from heat and allow to finish melting. set aside to cool to tepid then stir in b.sugar and zest fiwth a fork. Blend in the flour and salt all at once. Stir until looks dough-like. drop in spoonfulls onto pan (use a 9x13" pan that has been covered with either parchment paper or greased foil . make sure paper covers sides of pan too). and press dough evenly into bottom of pan. Bake at 350 for ~15 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes then spread the cherry filling over crust (make sure to get edge to edge)

For the Meringue:

8 oz pecans

3/4 c sugar

3 egg whites, at room temperature

1/8 t salt

1 t vanilla extract

Place the pecans food processor and add 1 T of sugar and pulse 3-4 times, or untill finely choppe3d. set aside. In a seaparate bowl mix the egg whites on med. speed until frothy. Add the salt, then beat until firm. Add the remaining sugar 1T at a time, add vanilla and beat a bit longer until shiny meringue forms. Fold in 1/2 the chopped pecans.

Spread the meringue mixture over the cherries evenly, sprinkle remaining pecans over the merangue and bake at 350 for 35-38 minutes, until golden. cool on a wire rack. Remove from pan (use the paper/foil to lift) and cut into bars. enjoy!

these may be frozen and also travel well (so send some to me!)