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When Life Hands You Lemons...Make...Lemon Meringue Pie?
a fail by Charlene Conant

Luke and I had been dating for a week and had only known each other for a month. The plan was to spend the day with my parents at a conference and then have supper and a movie with my best friend and her husband, so I decided to make Luke's favorite pie -- lemon meringue.  I'm a fairly good baker and had made a lemon meringue pie at 14 successfully, so this one should be no problem! 

As I was preparing everything late the night before, I realized that we were out of the thickening agent for the lemon filling. I searched online and found that you can substitute flour in some cases, so I gave it a try!


The result:





As you can see the meringue is a little overdone, but did not fall: the usual disaster when it comes to meringue pies.








However, upon cutting into this pie, we found a soupy mess. My kind boyfriend ate his piece dutifully, smiling all the while. My best friend, on the other hand, told me I was crazy if she was going to eat lemon egg soup. Luke, thankfully, was not scared off by my failed attempt at baking. But it does bring to mind what my younger brother is constantly telling me..."you.suck.at.life."





About Charlene: 
Charlene was my roommate my junior year in college and remains a close friend. She's a program specialist at MSB and lives in Maine (I'm so jealous!) with her husband Luke and dog Garm. 


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