It is 7pm on a Friday night. 

My son and I are sitting in the BMW that his dad left for us to use while on a business trip.

The engine is turned off. Russian music is playing on Spotify. My teenager is in the driver’s seat. We’re both quiet, each in our own thoughts. We just came home from dinner at the restaurant. 

I am wearing a dress and my bare knees are folded in the direction of the driver. 

I look down, and, for a second, I am 17, in my boyfriend’s car, in the driveway of my apartment building on 20th Ave and Anza, in San Francisco. He is in the driver’s seat. The engine is turned off. Russian music is playing on the cassette player. We’re both quiet, each in our own thoughts. We just returned from the Lucky Penny diner, where weeks earlier we had our first date.

I look up.  It is 30 years later.  Foster City.  Our son is in the driver’s seat.

Mini Almond Dacquoise Cookies

Ingredients

6 egg whites. from small/medium-sized eggs 
1/2 cups almond flour
Stevia, dry, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F
2. In a stand mixer, whip egg whites on high, until frothy
3. Add Stevia, with the mixer still running
4. Lower the speed to low (I lowered it to 2) and add the almond flour in 2-3 batches
5. On a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper, pipe out shapes 
6. Bake for 20 minutes, or until dry and the dacquoises easily pop off without crumbling

Drink pairing

Did anyone say Sparkling wine? This Roederer Estate Brut is so good and goes well with the light and airy cookies.