Here is a little bit of background on just how I came about this cooking thing.

     First off, I'm not one to go expirmenting on how to cook stuff. I was drilled by my Aunt Emma in Fredrick, on the farm, when I was a kid. She had me right beside her in the kitchen, cow barn and garden so everything she did, so did I and she was a kind, gentle and unforgiving soul when it came to her kitchen and cooking for the workers of her farm.

     Can you picture Aunt Jamima? Well, that was Aunt Emma too. Always in a skirt to the floor wrapped around her big belly with a mans shirt on and her apron that covered it all. Everything in her existance had a reason from what she grew, how to can it, cook it and put it away for later. It wasn't just for feeding folks, she knew vitiamins and minerals right down to a science and ALWAYS skuffed at store bought food. Said it was killing stuff with perservatives that could rot out the insides of a hog. Yup, she scared me silly about that but I sure did want that store bought food. :)

     There was never a day that we didn't have to make a cake, tarts, puddings or a pie and usually it was made out of something left over.

"Pie doesn't always mean fruit." She used to tell me. "A pie is something in a pan with a cover of some sort over it."

     Then she would smile and tell me to go get this or that and pull the chair over to the old woodstove to start fix'in. At Eight years old, the lemon pie was the first that I learned to do and usually it was in the winter months that we made it. Her reasoning? In the winter months, men needed to have acid fruits so they didn't get itchy skin. She told me I should always make sure everyone got something orange, lime, grapefruit or lemon, a citrus to keep the Skurbies away. For years, I thought they were everywhere and looked under the bed when I went in for the night! To me it was a creepy bug trying to eat me!

Lemon Meringue Pie

Laying out and getting ready. Since all of this is from scratch, it's best you get things ready first. There is a timing to doing this that you have to pay attention to or you'll end up with a burnt mess. It's a hot receipt from the start so don't count on a tea towel to hold stuff, get a good set of oven mitts to stay safe and you won't end up dropping the finished product on the floor, like I did many times!

Make your pie shell first and get it in the pie pan. It has to be pre-baked so get it ready first.

     If you want a tall pie, use an 8" pie pan, if you want a flat pie, which is easier to cut and serve plus adds more servings, use a 9" pie pan. This pictured is a 9". The meringue is level to the edge of the pan. Done like this it is easier to handle, cover and serve. (Less calories to eat!) Everything has to be real and fresh. No lemon consentrate for this girl. I do use real butter too but, you can substitue margerine but it tastes different.

     Stirring spoon is ALWAYS a wooden spoon. To make life simple use a flat stirring laddle, it's much easier to get to the bottom of the pot and scrape or stir, not to mention cleaning it.

     Grate the lemon peal, measure what you need and stick it in a bowl, then squeeze the lemons and set aside, get the hot water going and seperate the eggs putting them aside too. Then your ready. :)

     Each year, for as long as I can remember, Aunt Emma took her Lemon Meringue Pie to the Frederick Co Fair and she always got grand champion for it. Her receipt is in the Farm Journal cookbook. She was so proud of that too but, I have her original in her own hand writing but she did it by dash and handful.;)

     7  level tablespoons of cornstarch

     1 1/2 cups of sugar

     1/4 teaspoon of salt

     1 1/2 cups of hot water (save 1/2 cup for Meringue.)

     3 egg yolks, beaten

     1 tablespoons of butter

     1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel (ZEST)

     1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice, squeezed

     3 egg whites

     1/4 teaspoon of Cream of Tatar. ( It's a spice to make egg white stay stiff)

     6 Tablespoons of sugar

     Mix cornstarch, 1 cup of sugar and salt in a saucepan; gradually stir in hot water. (This is where the flat wooden ladle come in handy) Cook over Med direct heat, stirring constantly until it gets thick and clear, about 10 minutes. At first you'll see chunks of clear, keep stiring and don't walk away. In a few minutes it will get really thick and start to leave the side of the saucepan. It is here, it can burn easy. Once it is nice and thick, take it off the heat and turn the heat down to low. Once you take it off the heat, let the burner burn while you put some of the hot mixture (about a 1/2 a cup) into the mixed up egg yolks. Stir quickly since the mixture is hot and the yolks are raw or you'll have scrambled eggs in the pot. Then put the eggs back into the pot and put on the low heat. Stir constantly until the yelllow is totally mixed in the hot mixture and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the butter and mix, off of the heat.

It is at this time that I'll tell you that the above is how to make the BASE for a cream pie of any sort. You can substitute any half cup of fresh fruit juice such as orange, lime, grapefruit etc and continue on. Like I said, my favorite is peaches and cream with a shot of Ameritto in it. :) No matter what you use, just use a half of a cup to flavor. In the case of my peaches and cream and ameretto, all equal, just a 1/2 a cup combined.

      For lemon pie continued: Add lemon peel (zest) and juice, stirring until smooth. Pour into a BAKED pie shell. Don't go putting this in a raw pie shell, if you get a store bought one, put that in an oven at 350 degrees for 20 min first.

     The Meringue Topping. Beat with a mixer. Oh such a easy thing to do but most folks don't know the secret to a good meringue. Here is the trick, after you seperate the white from the yolks, put the whites in the freezer so they get super cold. By the time you are ready to make it they will stiffen fast. Another tip: when you think they are stiff enough, beat them longer. You want hard peaks to form and the mix should loose the glossy look. Now... spread the meringue on the filling and make sure it touches the edges of the baked crust, thick all the way around or it will shrink and leave a hole. Put the pie in the oven baking in a moderate oven 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the peaks on the meringue are brown. Check often so they don't burn, if you notice they are, turn the heat back to 325. The marangue must cook. Use the mitts to take it out of the oven and put on towels or a cooling rack. This pie moves when it is hot so be careful. Once cool, put in the fridge to get totally cold.

     Don't put a lid on the pie and if you see there are beads of swet coming on it as it stores, put a paper towel next to it in the fridge to stop it. Enjoy.   

     Again, eat small slices, less is more and don't eat it all at once, you will want to. :)xoxo