I think that if you assure they are moisture free, they will keep quite a while.
I would wrap in floi and then put the whole thing in a tupper....and put on the pantry shelf.
I don't "know" I am just guessing.
nd if they are stick when you unwrap them....just re dry in the oven.
Linda C

Well dried meringues, like yours, will keep almost indefinetly. Just do as Linda said and wrap in foil and put in airtight container. I always include a paper towel in such things in case any moisture tries to invade, it will absorb it. A week is nothing, I recently found a box of meringues I had in the pantry that Christy had brought back from the UK, no preservatives, and they were.... cough.. 3 years old!! and they were perfect. Didn't even taste old. LOL.. I often use the last of meringue in pastry bag to pipe a few flower and stars to dry and use on cakes and have kept those for a year I'm sure, with no visible loss in taste or texture.

Wow! Thanks all for your advice. The reason I thought I had to freeze them is because in this month's Gourmet magazine there is a recipe for a Pavlova. It said that the meringue shell could be "made two days in advance and frozen." That left me believing they were highly perishable.

Coco, where do you put your paper towel? Is it just thrown into the container, or do you wrap the meringue in it before wrapping in foil?

I want the luncheon to be really special. It is for my college roomie's mom, who is 78 and not in very good health. So driving 2 hours to have lunch with me is a really BIG deal.

I just throw it in the container, although sometimes I wrap the meringues in just paper towels, especially if I'm wanting to cushion them. If I'm making the small things I layer them with paper towels to keep them from breaking, just like I do with candied violets and such delicate things. Speaking of which it's almost violet season. Yayy, love those things.

That's really nice you're doing this. I'm sure it will be appreciated.

Pavlova meringue is not crisp and dry but rather soft and chewy which is why it needs freezing if made ahead otherwise it just becomes a gooey mess.

Dry meringues will keep forever and certainly for one week as described above.

Thanks all. The meringues are tucked in a huge Tupperware bowl with the air squeezed out as much as possible on a top shelf. Rain is predicted for the entire week, until the day of the luncheon. This is going to be a challenge.

Thanks, also, loves2cook, for clearing things up about the Pavlova. My parents went to New Zealand (or was it Australia?) many years ago. While there, they stayed for a couple of days with a farm family. The farm wife made something she called a Pavlova and gave Mom the recipe. It is NOTHING like any other recipe I've ever seen for Pavlova. The shell is made of something with gelatin in it and coconut. It is more like a chiffon than a meringue.

Gelatin and coconut???? That may be nice, but it is NOT a pavlova.

You know, if it's raining and you have space in the freezer - I'd toss it in there just for safe keeping.

tupperware keeps things very dry when the lid is sealed, I wouldn't worry about it...........

Colleen, Glad to get the take of an Australian on Mom's dish. She makes it when she thinks she needs something "exotic." It isn't exotic, it is awful.

No room in the freezer, loves2cook.

Later in the week, I am going to make some nice cookies and pick up some ice cream. If when I open the Tupperware on Sunday morning, the meringues are unusable, I'll go to Plan B (always have to have Plan B!). We'll just have ice cream, cookies and the strawberries I was going to put in the meringue shells.

By the way, I roasted strawberries yesterday and served them over the coeur la creme for dessert yesterday. Roasting brought out the sweetness without a lot of sugar.