Jac, you've touched on a subject near and dear to my heart. I have grown to love cooking, and I agree, using good ingredients to begin with makes a big difference. I find it very sad that so many people eat out of boxes and such. I used to, and still do sometimes, but for the most part it's just not necessary. For example, take pasta. I used to make those pasta dishes that you buy in a box with the seasoning package. Basically with those boxes you bring water to a boil, you throw the stuff in the box into the water, and it's done. That was never enough for me; I'd chop up some spinach, onions, and garlic, and add them to the pasta. Then I got to wondering, why am I doing this? I can get a package of pasta, boil it, do the same thing with the onions, garlic and spinach, add some olive oil, salt and pepper, grate some parmesan cheese, and wallah, a much better tasting meal in the same amount of time with the same amount of effort, and much healthier. So much of the packaged foods are not much easier to make and taste so much worse than real food. I have to admit that I've tried not to nag my dil and son about anything during their time together, but I did find myself doing just that about their nutrition and cooking. Since she's expecting now, I thought I'd point out that they really need to start cooking more and eating out less, both for their budget and for their nutrition. I've got a long way to go to convince them that cooking real food will make a big difference in their health and their budget, but I'm working on them. Did I say you hit one of my buttons, Jac? I'm going to copy that recipe, thanks for posting it. Sally

Debbie, According to Baking 911.com, Lemon Meringue Pies were originally meant to be eaten quickly and not refrigerated. There is some information on their website as well as some more on this other website about weeping Meringue. Ann

I also use the microwave recipe, which was given to me by Colleen. It's the easiest recipe I've ever used and I love lemon curd. I try to convince myself that I'll make tiny little tartlets, but I end up eating it with a spoon. Lemon Butter (Colleen�s) � 4oz butter (NOT margarine) 3/4 cup lemon juice �(about 3 lemons' worth) all the rind from the lemons, grated 1 cup sugar (I use superfine) 4-5 eggs, thoroughly beaten � Put butter, sugar, lemon juice and lemon rind into a micro-safe bowl. �Cook on high about 3 minutes, stirring halfway through. �Butter should be melted and sugar dissolved. �Beat in eggs and microwave in 30-second bursts until it thickens, about 2 minutes. �Whisk after each burst. ��Store in refrigerator to prolong the shelf life, which is short. Makes about 3 cups, maybe less. � Sneaky notes: If you are making a _lot_ of this, for gifts, etc, I peel the rind off with a peeler and drop it into the blender. �Then cut off the white pith with a paring knife. �Making sure there are no seeds, drop lemon flesh into blender. �Whizz it up until the rind is pulverised. �You should end up with about 1 cup of juice/rind mix per batch, to account for the rind and aeration. �You can double or triple the recipe, just use a bigger bowl and adjust the times. I also use the blender to whizz the eggs. �If they are not totally beaten, you can get little white strings from the egg white which don't look great. If you overcook it and it separates, beat up an extra egg. �Gradually mix separated (sounds much better than curdled, doesn't it? �) mixture into egg. �Repeat if necessary. � This is easy and delicious and doesn't make enough to spoil before I use it up, LOL. It's delicious as a tart filling but a bit rich for a pie, IMO. The notes are Colleen's, and I thank her repeatedly for the recipe! Annie

This easy one was posted on the cooking forum. Different than what you describe but maybe worth trying. Posted by teresa_nc7 (My Page) on Sat, Jan 23, 10 at 10:46 Chocolate Chess Pie 1 1/2 cups sugar 3 T. cocoa 1 small can evaporated milk 1/2 stick butter, softened 2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla Mix all ingredients in the blender or in a bowl with an electric mixer. Put into unbaked 9-inch pie shell and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or more til just set.