A Sunny Welcome to the New Year!

Did January fly by or what? That's NOT a complaint, btw.. the quicker winter gets the flock outta Ohio, the happier I'll be! :) When Jen, our lovely January hostess and author of The Canadian Baker announced what this month's challenge was going to be, I was a little distraught. Lemon Meringue Pie. Some of you might remember way back when we made The Martha's Craptastic Crepe Cake. I had originally wanted to fill my crepe layers with a blood orange curd. currdddddddd kuh uurrrrddddddddd Ugh the sound of it still gives me the willies. So when I knew I'd be attempting another curd, I was shaking in my black fuzzy slippers. I had no problems with the crust.. I used all the water, but didn't add any more. It was pretty dry when I turned it out onto the counter, but I just kept smooshing until I could get it all together. I wrapped it and threw it into the fridge for a while and when I needed it, it rolled out nicely. Amazingly, I have no horror stories for you guys this month! I KNOW! Can you believe it?? My curd turned out beautiful.. there wasn't even a whiff of ass this time. Bonus. I was a little disturbed when the cornstarch, sugar and water concoction started to thicken.. And I know I wasn't the only one, so don't even pretend you didn't think this exact same thing! "I've just cooked myself up a batch of snot." I wasn't expecting that.. but I carried on and was rewarded with a thick and creamy, quite tart, lemon curd. My pretty crust broke :( Although I was extremely pleased with myself that I did not end up with lemony scrambled eggs, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the taste of it. As Helene can attest, it was too tart for me, but after thinking on that I realized that, DUH.. it should be tart because the meringue is so sweet. They'll balance each other nicely - and they did! The meringue, again, I had no problems.. they whipped up all nice and poofy! I did not bake the meringue though. I had an opportunity to try a torch for the first time, so I went for it. Ask me what kind of torch.. go ahead.. ask me.. I used a Bernz-O-Matic torch! That's a small, propane fueled torch that is used for saudering pipes. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I still crack up at the thought of Hubbs and I taking turns weilding that thing on my vulnerable meringue. teeee! But it was fun! I am so buying a lil kitchen torch now! One where I won't need to wear a welder's helmut for protection! 'kay nooooo.. we didn't wear the welder's helmut. But that would have made a lovely photo. Next time maybe. :) Speaking of Hubbs, he is an LMP connoisseur as it's his favorite dessert of all time. So I was a bit nervous when I served him the first slice, which, btw, did not produce a puddle of liquid and did hold it's shape beautifully. The look on his face was priceless after he took his first bite. He put the plate down and gave me a hug! Said it was the best LMP he'd ever had.. so, I guess it was good! hehehe Great big thanks to Jen for picking a really nice challenge this month! And huge, huge thanks to all of the Daring Bakers and our soon-to-be Daring Bakers.. we're over 500 strong now! Woot! Please, click on the Daring Baker link to the right and go check out some of the best lookin' Lemon Meringue Pies that you'll ever see. :) xoxo