In this post: Lemon Meringue pie drama (with recipe), dog pajamas, giveaways and Pineapple Lies - FREE!

FIRST A QUICK HELLO...

If you're getting my newsletter for the first time, it's probably because I was recently in a BOOKSWEEPS giveaway and you signed up. Hopefully, you won! If you didn't, no worries... you sort of did, because:

• You can also find tons of free and discounted books (and enter to win a Kindle!) at my AuthorsXP.com book site. There are new giveaways every week and daily deals and steals. :)
• Scroll down for more giveaways... and...
• Finally, Pineapple Lies, Book #1 of my bestselling mystery series, will be FREE TUESDAY, JAN. 11th. I'll remind you so you don't miss it! (Always free on Kindle Unlimited and only 99c right now if you can't wait...)

Lemon Meringue Pie for, uh, Mike...(with recipe)

I did a lot of cooking over the holiday and made a lemon meringue pie for Mike, because he's not a big dessert guy (why is it always the skinny ones who don't like dessert??? ...oh....wait...I get it... ) 

He only got a slice and a half though. 

He doesn't want dessert often, so whereas I will tear through a wall like the Kool-Aid Man to get at a new dessert, he goes, "Nah. Not tonight" sometimes for weeks. Meanwhile, I'm stealing a little forkful every time I open the fridge, and I am finding more and more reasons to open the fridge. Need some creamer for my coffee? Mouthful of pie. Need a glass of wine? Mouthful of pie. Need to put away leftovers? Mouthful of pie.

Eventually, I gave up and just left the fork in the pie plate. No point in pretending anymore, once it isn't even dinnertime and half the pie is gone... I finally put two slices in a Tupperware and pushed it to the back of the refrigerator to wait for the day Mike actually decided he wanted some.

The pie was fantastic... though I screwed up the meringue and it never got fluffy, even after 20 minutes of beating. DIdn't matter. Tasted the same. My mistake? I forgot to get the egg whites frothy BEFORE I added the sugar. Rookie mistake.

Here's what I did right...

LEMON MERINGUE PIE RECIPE

• 2 Lemons (about 1/2 cup) I used Meyer lemons.
• Zest of those two lemons
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 5 tbls corn starch
• 1 tbls butter

Put sugar and cornstarch in a bowl, add little boiling water to melt it. Add rest of water and cook at med. high heat until it is transparent. Take off stove and add beaten egg yolks SLOWLY while mixing, or add the hot mixture to the eggs slowly so you don't get scrambled eggs. Add lemon juice, lemon zest and butter.

Crust

You can use your favorite pie crust, or you can use the most amazing graham cracker crust I made for this one...

1 and 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 10 sheets)
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

You can use any graham crackers but I accidentally ended up with Pamela's Products Gluten-Free Honey Graham Crackers because we were ordering delivery from Whole Foods and that's what they had. WOW. They are amazing. I almost ate the box before I could even make the pie!! (reading back through this I'm starting to see a pattern...)

Some graham cracker crust recipes add sugar. I did not. I don't like things CRAZY sweet and the  pie is a sugar bomb as it. It stayed together just fine without the sugar.

Okay, back to the recipe...

Turn crackers to dust, add melted butter, mix, press into pie plate and pre-bake for 5-10 minutes.

Pour the lemon mixture into the pie crust when it is done.

Then...

Meringue

Beat 2 egg whites until frothy, then add tbsp sugar and beat until stiff.

Let pie cool a little before you put meringue on top and then pour into crust shell. Cook at 350 degrees until meringue is golden brown (5-10 minutes)

Your Moment of Archer: Archer PJs??

We have a deal with my brother-in-law and his wife to not exchange gifts, but Heather went rogue this year and sent me pajamas with ARCHER's FACE ON THEM!! His real face! Not a dog that looks something like him. How cool is that?

So if you're looking for a great gift for someone - check out Cuddle Clones.