There are so many things I love about Spring. I love how fresh the air feels, I love that I am motivated to exercise a little bit more, I love all the flowers that bloom and I love watching my children playing with the hose, barefoot and happy.
However, there is one thing that makes me super, super sad. My Meyer lemon tree is looking bald. The tree starts to bloom in November and usually by mid December I have fabulous tasting lemons. By the end of March, our tree is looking very sad. At this time of year, I pick as many lemons as I can reach and start zesting and squeezing. I don’t let one single lemon go to waste. I freeze the zest in 1 tablespoon increments and flash freeze. Once they are frozen in their shape, I throw in a container or zip lock bag, label and date. I freeze the lemon juice in ice cube trays, also in 1 tablespoon increments. I then bag up the same way.
Eli and I woke up one morning to a gloomy, rainy day and he was in the mood to bake. He wanted to make a pie. He wanted to make a lemon meringue pie for his friend, Aidan, which happens to be his favorite dessert, ever. Since I am a lover of all things lemon, I was up for the opportunity to hang together in the kitchen. After surfing through a few of my cookbooks, we settled on Ina’s Lemon Meringue Tart.
We made a large one for Aidan’s family and a small one for us to sample. My only suggestion is to cook the curd a little longer than she suggests in her recipe. I cooked it until I found the consistency that I desired. We also baked the meringue in the oven a bit longer than she suggests and then torched it a bit in the end.
If you like lemon, this is a must have dessert!