Lemon Meringue Pie, Asparagus Breakfast Wraps, and Monster Breakfast Bars

 I had an airport run this AM so that's why I'm up early...figured I would knock a post or two out. I'm kinda in my happy place anyway, nice weather, and speeding always make me happy. I kept thinking about slowing down (gas high!) , but I have a lead foot, and once the music starts blasting..... The last time I did an airport run I passed a G-Wagon AND a Porsche. I had to put the pedal to the metal but I did it, couldn't tell me nothing. 

Anyway...what have I been making this past week?

I'll start with my favorite. I haven't made many pies and definitely hadn't made one in a few years. This  recipe came up and I figured I would give it a try. Lemon Meringue..I don't remember eating many Lemon pies. I know I've tried it but I think I had the frozen mass produced one and I can't really remember what they tasted like. My Dad says my grandma used to make them all the time when he was growing up, but I never remember seeing one that she made...I always remember seeing her Red Velvet and German Chocolate. I wish I could have tried hers. We might have one of her recipes in a cookbook but I just went ahead and made the one from The Harry Potter book. Did you know that Lemon Meringue Pie is more American than Apple Pie? I always thought Apple was the quintessential American Pie.

I did mine over two days. I made the crust and the lemon curd on day one. I started late and the pie wouldn't have had enough time to cool if I had topped it with meringue the first day. Plus I thought the curd would be better if it had a day to sit and just let the flavors mingle. 

Next day I did the meringue, my very first one and it was so good...marshamallow-y.. Egg Whites are kinda amazing with all they do in baked good. The only thing that wasn't perfect was my sugar didn't dissolve all the way so every now and again there was the crunch of a sugar crystal. Next time I might try powdered sugar. Because I will definitely make it again. The first day..I was like OK that tases like Lemon Meringue pie, but the second slice/day I was in LOVE. One of my favorite pies. The lemon was so nice and tart paired with the buttery flaky crust (I made an all butter crust, ran out of shortening) , and the sweet-but not too sweet- meringue topping. You can find the recipe here.

Mine did start weeping in the fridge the next day..I covered in plastic wrap which I read you aren't supposed to do afterwards but it still tasted amazing so no big deal.

Next up Asparagus Breastfast Wraps. I tried cooking asparagus before and it was terrible, mostly because I didn't know you had to trim the stalks. I was gagging on it....so gross😁. Now I know how to cook it perfectly. This breakfast wrap was so good and the asparagus was perfect. I made my own tortilla wraps...which were also pretty great. I did all this in a 30 minute lunch break too! If asparagus is still available, I will probably make more this week...Got the recipe here.

And last up..more breakfast food. Monster breakfast bars which came in handy on the days I had to go into work. Takes some arm work trying to stir the peanut butter in. It has all kinda of goodies, coconut flakes, dried apricots and raisins, cranberries,...it also called for dried cherries and cinnamon chips but I didn't feel like going through extra to get my hands on them so I left them out. So much better than any type of granola bars you could get in the store. I mostly ate them alone but yesterday decided to have the whole works- eggs, apples, grapes, etc.

And that's all!