Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my #1 fan...my Dad :)

I love you Dad!!!

I know this is two days late (you're not really surprised by my tardiness, are you?) but that's because we were celebrating Father's Day with you on Sunday (I really don't have an excuse for yesterday...I had to work?!?).  It was great spending the day with you even though you snuck away every now and then to check out the golf game on tv (did you think I didn't notice?).  On Father's Day, you didn't ask to be spoiled.  Instead, you prepared an amazingly yummy meal for us (that's just the kind of man that you are!).  The eggplant parmasan was delish!  Equally delish was the lemon meringue pie that Sarah baked for you from scratch (and with lots of love!!!).  I'm sure the chicken parmasan you prepared for the meat eaters in our family was just as good but it was kind of cruel (vegetarians rejoice!).

I hope you know how much you are loved!!!

To remind you how much I love you (since I can't bake!), I'm suggesting that you re-read the blog posts that were dedicated to you "A message for Dad" and  "He's da man!" :)

For those of you interested in baking a lemon meringue pie for your Dad or Grandpa, check out the recipe Sarah used to bake her Poppa a pie: 

Lemon Meringue Pie

Pastry

• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup cold vegetable shortening
• 5 tablespoons ice water

Lemon Curd

• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup cornstarch, plus 2 tbsp.
• 10 egg, yolks
• 1 cup lemon, juice
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• grated zest of 4 lemon

Meringue

• 4 egg, whites
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon, juice

Directions

Pastry

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Sift the dry ingredients together.
3. With a pastry cutter, blend in the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Add the ice water gradually until dough forms.
5. Pat the dough into a flat disk and refrigerate for at least an hour.
6. Roll the dough into a 13-inch round. Place it into a 9-inch pie plate and crimp the edges in a decorative pattern.
7. Pierce the bottom with a fork.
8. Place a piece of parchment or tinfoil in the shell. Fill the shell with pie weights.
9. Bake for 20 minutes.
10. Remove the pie weights and paper and continue to bake about 15 minutes until the pastry is golden and set. Cool on a wire rack.

Lemon Curd

1. In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch with 1 cup of water until dissolved. Set aside.
2. In a small saucepan add egg yolks, lemon juice, sugar, lemon zest and salt and the remaining 1 cup of water.
3. Cook over medium low heat for one minute, stirring constantly. The mixture should not boil but the sugar should dissolve.
4. When the sugar has dissolved pour in the cornstarch mixture and turn up the heat to medium.
5. Cook mixture, stirring continuously with a spoon so that the mixture does not stick to the bottom or the sides of the pan.
6. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes until it has started to boil, thickens and becomes translucent.
7. Set filling aside to cool slightly.
8. Immediately make meringue so filling stays warm.

Meringue

1. Whip egg whites on high speed.
2. Immediately add cream of tartar and whip until soft peaks form.
3. While whipping, add the sugar one tablespoon at a time to allow it to dissolve.
4. Add the lemon juice at the end when the meringue is shiny and holds medium stiff peaks.

Assembly

1. Pour the warm filling into the cooled pie shell and spread the meringue on top, making sure to reach the edges of the pastry.
2. Use your spatula to swirl the meringue into peaks.
3. Cook the pie at 375 degrees F. for about 6 minutes until meringue is just golden.

These are photos of Sarah's lemon meringue pie:

The recipe is from the Food Network's Christine Cushing.  Click here to go directly to her webpage.