Archive for April 15th, 2010

• Day 47: Memories of Lemon Meringue Pie

  Date: 2010.04.15 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 1

  Even though I am on Day 47 without candy or sweets of ANY KIND, I realize more and more my ambivalence about my addiction.  Reminds me of a friend who’s in his third month off alcohol with the help of AA , but is not convinced that giving up drinking is for him.

  Luckily, my vice is a bit more benign.  Maybe I’ll change my tune but I don’t see myself ever becoming a candy-hater and virulent anti-sweets crusader.

  So don’t be surprised when you see posts about sweet things here – because, like a boyfriend you had to dump because you know he wasn’t good for you – I still have a very soft spot in my heart for them.  (I like all my ex-boyfriends and still keep in touch with all of them except one, Mr. Freeze.)

  I guess it’s part of keeping candy and desserts in my life while not actually eating them.

  Desserts hold such good memories, one of which was triggered today by reading my Berkeley, Calif. friend Michelle Locke’s delicious blog, Vinecdote, about food and wine.

  Below is Michelle with 95-year-old Peter Mondavi at the Charles Krug winery run by his family in Napa Valley, Calif.

  

  Today Michelle has a post about making lemon meringue pie from the lemons in her backyard.

  My mother made the best lemon meringue pie in the world and just thinking of eating her pie fresh out of the oven makes me so happy.

  Michelle’s a wine writer and photographer for the Associated Press, among other places, and knows her way around the Northern California vineyards. The two photos in this post were taken by her.

  Often times, however, she doesn’t need to go any farther than her lemon tree-studded Berkeley backyard when it comes to whipping up something sweet.

  

  From today’s Vinecdote:

  When life gives you lemon trees you’re pretty much obligated to make lemon meringue pie. It’s like a sacred citrus trust.

  First, of course, you have to care for, prune and harvest the trees. Which is reason No. 415 why Farmville.com is better than real life. On my virtual farm, I point and click to harvest. In real life, I have to get out into the chilly spring air with various sharp implements and hack away at gnarled branches while bits of nature fall down my shirt and wedge themselves into uncomfortable places. Other yards in my neighborhood boast beautiful, round trees aglow with little balls of orange and yellow. My trees are, well, let’s say wildly organic. I did finally prune the lemon tree after realizing it was headed for a power line. That didn’t seem right. My Meyer lemon tree shrub is equally rambling and I fully intend to do something about that.

  But not today.

  Hazards of husbandry notwithstanding, you do eventually net a clutch of lemons, which leads to Step 2: mixing them with enough sugar and starch to actually taste good.

  Continue reading Vinecdote’s great lemon meringue pie recipe here and see below finished product:

  

• Day 47: I’m Making Andi Want Sweets!

  Date: 2010.04.15 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 1

  

  My friend Andrea Ipaktchi knows from temptation as she’s lived in Paris for more than 20 years where there is every great foodstuff and sweetstuff on the planet.

  She’s normally not a sweethead but told me yesterday that because of this blog, she’s thinking about candy even more and sometimes having some. Oops.

  Andi is also my favorite illustrator – or illustratrice as she calls herself professionally.

  Her “sketchblog” is called April in Paris. Her designs are pretty, whimsical, funny and wise – just like her.

  Andi is the classic American in Paris. She’s not one to get too impressed and/or intimidated by the French – which is where we bond.

  One of her specialties is family portraits – to hang or even just for a Christmas card. You don’t even have to go to Paris. She can draw off a photograph.

  But I like her drawings of French pastries best. Click below to enlarge and enjoy!