Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe Lost Forever

The lemon meringue pie recipe that made Aunt Gertrude famous has been lost, her youngest niece lamented to me recently.  Her Aunt Gertrude passed away at age 92, still sharp as a tack, yet no one in the family ever thought to get that lemon meringue pie recipe from her.

How sad. A heritage of family enjoyment and tradition lost forever.

“I just wish we had realized how important that lemon meringue pie recipe was to all of us,” Aunt Gertrude’s youngest niece said. “There was something so wonderful about it…a fresh lemony sweetness and an absolutely perfectly toasted marshmallow meringue. I can’t remember an important family event when her lemon meringue pie wasn’t there, except unfortunately at her own funeral reception.”

Aunt Gertrude’s youngest niece said the family tried to find the lemon meringue pie recipe among their Aunt Gertrude’s belongings, but to no avail.  They looked through all her bookshelves, in the kitchen drawers, and even in her menu planning desk.  She must have kept the lemon meringue pie recipe, and many other favorite recipes, all in her head.

With some diligence, the beloved lemon meringue pie recipe could probably be reincarnated, I
suggested to Aunt Gertrude’s youngest niece. Thinking back on how many years Aunt Gertrude was making the family’s favorite dessert, most likely the lemon meringue pie recipe wouldn’t have a shortcut, such as pudding and pie filling from a box.  No, Aunt Gertrude would have made a tart lemon curd-style filling, with fresh bits of lemon zest and lots of patience. She would have hand-beaten the egg whites to a frothy puff, even though crippling arthritis hampered her efforts. She knew her love of pie making would shine through and make it special.

Perhaps the family could pay tribute to their Aunt and her lost lemon meringue pie recipe by having a contest to see which relative remembers and reproduces the taste most accurately. Then they could start their long overdue family cookbook with a cookbook-making software such as Matilda’s Fantastic Cookbook Software.

If cooking is therapy, it would be one way to honor their loved one. And maybe Aunt Gertrude’s lemon meringue pie recipe won’t be lost forever.

Happy Cookbooking,

Erin

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Posted in Odds and Ends.

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