Place egg whites in a large bowl. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 300°. Line two very large baking sheets with parchment paper or foil; set aside.

For meningue: Add salt, vinegar and peppermint extract to egg whites. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed until stiff peaks form and sugar is nearly dissolved.

Transfer meringue to a decorating bag fitted with a 1/2" star tip. Pipe 1" kisses 1" apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake all the meringue kisses at the same time on separate oven racks for 7 minutes. Turn off oven; let meringues dry in oven with door closed for 1 hour and then open the door and let the kisses stay in the oven for another 30 minutes. Lift meringues off of paper. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

In saucepan,combine chocolate pieces and shortening. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Remove from heat. Spread crushed candy in a shallow dish. Dip bottoms of meringues in chocolate (or use a small spatula and spread some on bottoms) and then dip in crushed candies. Place on waxed paper and let stand until chocolate is set. Makes about 175 meringue kisses.

You can crush the peppermint candies by placing them in plastic bag; seal the bag and using a meat mallet, pound lightly to crush the candies.