Lemon Meringue Pie

Citrus from California is the best.  When I went home to California for my niece's birthday, my dad gave me two big bags of lemons and oranges from his trees.  I stuffed them into my carry-on and brought them back to Chicago.  What a treat!  I've made orange marmalade, orange bran muffins, orange spice pancakes, lemon cookies, chicken piccata, fresh squeezed OJ for smoothies, and a delicious lemon meringue pie.

It was 9:30 on a Friday night when I decided to make the pie.  I had never made a lemon meringue pie so it was a bit of an adventure.  I wasn't sure on whether or not the consistency of the curd or meringue were correct but luckily Daniel has a keen sense for all things pie and assured me that I was on the right track.  After the pie was assembled and baked, it went into the fridge.  The unfortunate thing about lemon meringue pie is that it needs to be cool when eaten.  So, we had it for breakfast dessert the next morning.  Absolutely, scrumptious!  I used a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com.  I've listed the original recipe below and it can also be found here: Grandma's Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe.  Also, I used Ina Garten's pie crust recipe, which I use for all pies or quiche that I make.  The recipe called for a pre-baked pie crust.  I found information on pre-baking at http://www.ochef.com/955.htm. 

I will definitely use this recipe again!

Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
2 lemons, juiced and zested
2 tablespoons butter
4 egg yolks, beaten
4 egg whites
6 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
3. To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and
continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.