Major Meringue Mess

Well, here it is guys... The first MAJOR FAIL on my cooking blog!  Let me just say this first; I am not a dessert pro by any means; and now I am more convinced that I should just stick with main dishes! Ha.  Sooooo... My original plan was to make a custard with a meringue top drizzled with caramel.  Sounds good right?? I thought so too, HA. Anyways... I have made custard before, and I had never ever had it come out lumpy until today, go figure.  But it came out lumpy... I tried whisking it really fast to get them out, but the custard just kept get more and more chunky lumpy.

Since I already had my egg whites all divided up by this point I decided to go forth with the meringue... BAD choice!  I have never made meringue before but I knew that it may require some skill... Little did I know just how much skill!  I beat the egg whites, sugar and vanilla until stiff just as the recipe said; But when the time came for me to drop spoonfuls of it into the boiling water, they just wouldn't work! GRRR.... Now, I thought  meringue was supposed to be very firm and a tad bit crunchy; let's just say they came out slimy and floppy, like a pancake (minus the slimy part).

So I'm blaming the weather.  Yes, the weather.  I had to blame something or someone, and since I was the only one present, I had to pick something.  So how about that weather today guys? It's not very nice that's for sure!

If any of ya'll have any suggestions or comments about making meringue, I would love to hear from you!  I will attempt it again sometime... I just have to regain my composure first!
I'm going to get a milkshake...