Best-Ever Lemon Meringue Pie

This weekend we celebrated my eldest's son's 35 birthday. Whew! That makes me old. And, yes, Maureen, you and Matt are considered family. We really had a wonderful time with a burrito bar that my second son and his finance put together, a pub type trivia game (that was so fun!), and my hubby's famous pies. He is such a talented piemaker that he really puts me to shame. He made a traditional pumpkin pie and a lemon meringue. I offered to make the pumpkin. I mean, how hard is it to mix the ingredients in a bowl? But, no, he wanted to do both. Do you think he might have a trust issue there? So Saturday morning he was up at the crack of dawn making pies. Do you have any idea how soothing it is to wake up to those aromas? It was as if I had died and gone to heaven.

The recipe that we have used for lemon meringue pie for over 25 years comes from my favorite of the Farm Journal cookbooks, Farm Journal's Best-Ever Recipes. This is the cookbook that started the whole obsession with this series. It was given to us when we were living in a little hamlet in Colorado by my hubby's boss. And it has been one of my go to cookbooks ever since. I have found very few recipes that haven't been absolutely wonderful. So, ta-da, the pie.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup water

4 eggs, separated

1/2 cup lemon juice

3 TBS. butter

1 tsp. grated lemon rind

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 baked 9-inch pie shell

Combine 1 1/2 cup, sugar, 1 1/2 cup water and 1/2 tsp. salt in saucepan; heat to boiling. Mix cornstarch and 1/3 cup water to make smooth paste. Gradually add to boiling mixture, stirring constantly. Cook until thick and clear. Remove from heat.

Beat together egg yolks and lemon juice; stir into mixture. Return to heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles again. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and lemon rind. Cover; cool to lukewarm.

Combine egg white and 1/4 tsp. salt in bowl; beat until frothy. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, beating until glossy peaks form. Stir 2 rounded tablespoons of meringue into lukewarm filling. Pour into pie shell. Top with remaining meringue, spreading evenly.

Bake in 325 degree oven 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Notes: What makes my hubby's pies so scrumptious are his crusts. The secret is not to overwork the dough (which I always do). Hubby works at turbo speed in everything he does, and though this can be a bit irritating at times, it serves him well when making pie crust. And something we stumbled on to by accident, is using whole wheat flour for 1/4 of the flour required for the crust. We really like the results. Enjoy!

This is kind of a P.S. After he had finished the pies a recipe showed up on one of the blogs that I follow for Pumpkin Oat Scones. So I made a batch last night. They are yummy and healthy.

Go check out the recipe! Pumpkin Oat Scones.