Toni Versus Meringue

Yesterday, I had the honor of being featured as a Guest Blogger on the blog Mommy Of Two Little Monkeys.  I wrote a piece about Fluff.  You can read my Guest Blog posting here.

So, when I think of the word Fluff  I think of meringue.  After writing my Guest Blog piece, I instantly had a hankering for a meringue pie.  Lemon meringue, coconut meringue, it didn't matter.  Speaking of meringue, I have a funny pie story to share.  It was my first face-off with meringue.  Maybe some of you can relate.  

So, about 4 years ago, I wanted to bake my mom her favorite pie for Mother's Day.  My mom LOVES Coconut Meringue Pie.  I went to the store and bought all of the ingredients for making her favorite pie.  I was super excited as I wasn't too domesticated at the time and this was one of my first attempts at making something from scratch.  Well, pretty much from scratch.  I did buy a frozen pie crust.  As I began trying to make the meringue, I was having the most awful time.  I kept getting yolk in the egg whites and would then start the process over.  Thank goodness I bought two dozen eggs.  I used every single one.  Sad, but true.  So, I finally got all of the egg whites in the bowl.  Thank you, Lord!  I turned on the mixer expecting the egg whites to make the most marvelous peaks.  Nothing.  My husband even Googled "tips for making meringue."  

Step in, Andy, my husband.  How many people does it take to make meringue?  Well, in our case, two.  At long last, the meringue was perfectly peaked and looked just heavenly.  I had already made the pie filling and added it to the pie crust.  It was warm as I poured it into the pie crust.  I then topped the pie with the fabulous meringue.  Perfection.  I baked the finished pie in the oven for the designated time, around 12-15 minutes or until the coconut on top was lightly browned.  I proudly removed the pie from the oven and we headed to my mom's house for Mother's Day lunch.  When it was time for dessert, I presented my creation to my mom.  My mom looked at the pie and smiled.  She then asked me how long I baked it.  I thought it was a funny question and told her that the pie baked for about 15 minutes until the coconut on top was lightly browned.  My mom then asked me if that was the only "baking" the pie did.  I was getting a little confused as I didn't know what she was getting at.  She finally asked if I had pre-baked the pie crust prior to baking the finished pie.  I was a deer caught in headlights.  What was she talking about?  There was no mention of pre-baking the pie crust from the allrecipes.com recipe I had found.  Whatever did she mean?  Upon further inspection of the pie, we discovered that it was a doughy, gooey, unbaked mess underneath the magnificent meringue.  Since the pie crust wasn't pre-baked, the pie filling baked into the dough and was a disaster.  I was crushed.  All of this work for nothing.  My mom laughed and began to scoop the meringue off the pie.  She ate a spoonful of the meringue and savored the bite.  "Well, at least your meringue turned out," she said.  And thank goodness it did!

Happy Saturday!  Have a safe, fun weekend!

Happy Blogging,

Toni The Chic Momma