I was thrilled to learn that one can freeze egg whites. I now do that all the time, placing them into one of those freezer bags that lets you add a note. I indicate the number of egg whites and the date – and since most of my egg white recipes call for 2 or 3 whites, I bundle them that way. Egg whites can be frozen for up to twelve months. Taken out of the freezer, it takes about on hour for them to thaw. Of course, you can also buy those little cartons of egg whites. (If you use that, note that you must shake well before each use.)

Once the freezer starts to fill with egg whites, it's best to have a good repertoire of egg white recipes - I'll add more in the weeks to come. For now, see Coconut Macaroons, and Chocolate Walnut Cookies, Coffee Almond (gluten-free) Cookies, Italian Amaretti, Almond Clusters.

It is best to use egg whites at room temperature, especially when beating them to soft/ stiff peaks.

Nervous about separating whites from yolks? 

• I am used to doing it by hand.

• Here's another way to do this by hand

• Here's the most crazy approach - using a water bottle!!

• or... this elegant Food52 product

When separating eggs, do each over an empty bowl, not the bowl that has all the other nicely separated eggs. That way if a yolk breaks it is not ruining the entire batch. Egg yolk bits can be removed from a bowl of egg whites most easily by fishing them out with an egg shell.

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