My Oh My What A Big Lemon Meringue Pie!

Lemon Pie Filling – (recipe adapted from) Pies & Pastries, Pg. 199 – Evelyn V. Zink (Mrs. B.E.)

 

Sweet’n tart lemony curd, fluffy sweet meringue topping, all atop a rich flaky pastry – who can resist a decadent lemon meringue pie?  There are lots of variations out there – whether it be the store bought variety, “Homemade” via a boxed powder filling, or made from scratch – we’ve never really met a lemon pie we didn’t like…and that is saying a lot given Jan's serious aversion to eggs.

In preparing for this post we were very much inspired by the Foodie Cult Classic film “Toast” – a biopic film based on a bestselling memoir by Nigel Slater, a British celebrity chef.  Set in the 1960s and 70s, the film features retro culinary delights prepared by the main character’s stepmother (played by Helena Bonham-Carter) as seen through the eyes of a child – these over-emphasized, colourful and whimsical dishes eventually inspire the child to follow his culinary dreams.  At one point in the film a baking war is waged between the adolescent Slater and his stepmother in an all out battle to produce a larger than life deep dish lemon meringue pie - the kind of things pie dreams are made of.

Food Stylist Katherine Tidy's Famous Lemon Meringue Pie from "Toast"

While we’ve eaten plenty, we’ve never actually made a lemon pie – so naturally for our first one we’d challenge ourselves by making a giant, cartoon sized version.  Go big or go home we say!

Crack is Whack Christmas Crack!

Dutch Oven Detour (recipes that should have been included in the Dutch Oven Cookbook)

Wow - so sorry to have been away for so long - life has a funny way of getting in the way things...anyway glad to be back and with the holiday's just around the corner we're in full on DO (dutch oven) mode.  Oh...and in case you noticed we've encountered a few...ummm...challenges with our URL (www.thedutchovendiaries.com) - which you may have noticed isn't currently working - and if  you haven't noticed - shame on you!  Anywho - we're workin' on it - in the meantime, you can find us right here at www.thedutchovendiaries.blogspot.com.

So Christmas Crack seemed to burst onto the holiday baking scene last year - introduced to us by the very talented Kilted Chef.  The holiday baking scene hadn't experienced a frenzy like this scince Martha Stewart introduced us to cookie flooding!  Everyone was talking about it, it was even named the "must have" holiday treat of 2011 by Good Housekeeping magazine (totally made this up).  The interesting tidbit about this sweet treat is that it is made using saltine crackers (premium plus).  The crackers bring the salty to this highly addictive sweet'n salty snack.  Saltine crackers are baked with a brown sugar butter mixture that forms a toffee base, this is layered with chocolate, and then topped with candy cane pieces and nuts.

L'Eggo My Eggo!

Waffles – (recipe adapted from) Vegetable and Supper Dishes, Pg. 171 – Mary C. Oxner (Mrs. S.W.)

When it comes to breakfast – no more waffling required.  We’ve found you a winning waffle recipe!  We’re not big breakfast eaters personally – in fact it was after Noon by the time we actually ate these…I guess that makes it brunch…or is it lupper?...that’s a debate for another day.

As children of the 70’s we are all too familiar with those round frozen waffles from a box – you know – the one’s they used to fight over in the commercials – what the heck is an Eggo anyway?  Well these waffles are a far cry from the frozen variety – dense, yet light and airy with a nicely browned, crispy exterior.  This recipe is pretty basic – and was easy to prepare.  In fact, this was our first time making waffles (well…aside from the Hampton Inn breakfast bar – does that count?) and we had no challenges.  If you wanted to, you could mix it up a little by adding cinnamon, chocolate chips or even pumpkin pie spice to add a little autumnal aroma to your waffles (tis the season).  We’re looking forward to trying some variations of this recipe next time around.