Lemon Meringue Pie!

 Almost every evening Ulli and I walk to the Monastery.  We solve all of the world's problems, encourage one another on the joys of living on a small quiet island in the long winter months, and of course, talk about food.  I learned last night that Ulli didn't eat eggplant growing up in Germany either.  If you saw our moussaka
recipe yesterday, Yannis shared how I thought eggplant was disgusting, so did Ulli. We are continually finding common things  from our childhoods in Minnesota and Germany.  Our love of sweets is one of them.
 Lemon Pie is one of the first recipes I shared with Ulli; we even baked a beautiful one together in our early years here.  Yannis and I picked bags and bags of lemons today.  After distributing them throughout the neighborhood, I think I still have enough to make Mom's Lemon Meringue Pie-Ulli's favorite!

Mom's Lemon Meringue Pie
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups water
3 eggs, separated
1 Tablespoon butter
1/4 cup lemon juice
grated rind of one lemon
baked 9 inch pastry shell
meringue topping
     Combine the sugar, salt, flour and cornstarch and gradually still in the water. (in a medium sized saucepan); cook, stirring constantly, untill thickened and smooth.   Gradually stir hot mixture into beaten egg yolks, return to low heat and cook, stirring two minutes. (reserve egg whites for meringue topping.)  Stir in butter, lemon juice and rind and cool slightly . (I always add a bit more rind -taste the mixture and adjust to your personal liking)  Pour into baked and cooled pastry shell and cool.  Top with meringue.....

Meringue Pie Topping
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
     Beat the egg whites until light and frothy; add the cream of tartar and continue beating until the whites are stiff enough to hold a peak.  Gradually beat in the sugar and beat until the meringue is stiff and glossy.  Add the vanilla and stir in.  Pile the meringue lightly on cooled pie filling, spreading it until it pouches the edges of the pastry to prevent the meringue shrinking.  Bake in a preheated over (425F. or 215C.) until the top of the peaks are brown, 5-6 minutes.  I think it's a good idea to watch this baking as it can brown very quickly.
     Actually, the lemon pie was a request of Yannis' today.  He deserves a treat after all his work on the moussaka yesterday.  It really was the best moussaka I've ever eaten-eggplants and all!!