She’s on a roll (A post by molly)

My Aunt Doris is one of the best gift givers in the world. Not only does she give gifts to her own children and grandchildren, she also never missed a birthday of her great nieces and nephews. Along with the birthday girl/boy’s present, she  always sends something for their other siblings too, so no one felt left out. Each gift is personalized to the receiver, with such precision that one might think she keeps constant tabs on you. As a coming of age gift, for my thirteenth birthday I got a clutch purse. When I was younger and going through a “Little Miss Picasso” phase, I received an amazing oil pastel art kit.

This year takes the cake though… or pie… or perhaps dough. In any case, this year as a very early birthday present Aunt Doris sent me a real marble rolling pin, after reading a blog regarding my difficult rolling pin. Aunt Doris is an avid baker, and she uses a marble rolling pin that was my great grandma Dorothy’s.  I used my new rolling pin for the first time this Wednesday for a Lemon Meringue pie. I have no idea how I ever rolled out dough before this new rolling pin. It was fabulous. No special techniques needed to get the dough thin enough, no spending an hour rolling out the dough. The pie turned out fantastic thanks to Aunt Doris and her wonderful gift giving.

Lemon Meringue Pie

1 bake pie crust

Filling:

1 ½ cup sugar

1 ½ cup water

½ cup cornstarch

¹/₃ cup water

4 egg yolks (save whites)

½ cup lemon juice

3 tbs. lemon zest

3 tbs. butter

Meringue:

4 egg whites

½ cup fine sugar

1. Mix 1 ½ cup sugar and 1 ½ water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until boiling.
2. While sugar water heats up, mix ½ cup cornstarch 1/3 cup water in a small bowl. Stir into boiling sugar water. Whisk until clear and jelly-looking. Remove from heat
3. Whisk yolks and lemon juice together. Whisk into hot mixture. Return saucepan to heat.
4. Once boiling stir in lemon zest and butter mix completely. Pour immediately into pie crust.
5. In a very cold metal bowl, use an electric mixer to whisk sugar and egg whites. Whisk until stiff peaks form.
6. Spread over lemon filling, making sure get seal between the crust and the meringue. You can make decorative peaks with a spoon.
7. Cook at 350^o for 15-20 minutes, meringue tips should be dark brown.