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I know this is a tech blog, but there really is a bit of crossover of recipes and analytical thinking with cooking. Also, I don’t have a separate personal blog right now, so I figured this is the best place to stuff a few recipes for now.

When I was growing up, Mom’s Lemon Meringue Pie was a special treat we had once or twice a year. As I got older, I helped Mom with the cooking and learned all the secrets. Thanks Mom!

After I moved to Arizona and had access to fresh off the tree lemons, I figured I’d try my hand at it myself. I made a pie, and it was good. But a pie needs good crust, and good pie crust takes a couple of hours to make (roll, ball, freeze, repeat ad infinitum).

Bars are easier. But most bars end up being this gooey lemon sludge, nothing like a rich pie made with lemon curd and topped with fluffy meringue. I did a bit of research and put on my thinking cap.

First, the crust. Needs to be crumbly and light, and buttery enough so the filling doesn’t seep in. What better than a shortbread crust?

Secondly, the filling. None of these “mix some lemon juice, flour, sugar, condensed milk” pretenders – it needs to be a legit lemon curd, made with butter and eggs, slowly thickened on the stove.

And finally, we need some fluffy meringue to top it all off.

I ended up finding three different recipes that had the components I needed: