Be ready for a sweet and tangy post! Today I baked my very first lemon meringue pie!
Lemon meringue was always one of my favorite pies but I have never attempted to make it before because I thought it was too complicated. Also I didn’t have an electric mixer and you absolutely need an electric mixer if you want to have shiny meringue on top of your lemon pie. However, I got myself an electric mixer a few weeks ago and I so wanted to try it. Hahaha.
I used a frozen ready-made pie crust. I was too lazy to make my own! But the lemon filling and meringue were made from scratch.
The pie crust was baked blind first. There are several techniques to ensure the the pie crust holds it shape when baked empty. Some weight is usually placed in the shell to keep it from puffing. I lined my pie crust with paper and added some rice on top for weight. I also pricked the crust with a fork.
The meringue was quite easy to make. And the electric mixer definitely helped a lot!
According to the recipe I followed, the pie crust should be completely cooled before adding the lemon filling. But the stubborn me didn’t wait that long and poured the filling into the crust while it was still warm. *hremmm*
Here’s a picture with the crust covered with the lemon filling and then topped with meringue. I used fresh lemon juice and lemon rind, some sugar, cornflour and water for the filling. Ohh and have you noticed the small peaks and swirls I made with the meringue? *lol*
The pie was back in the oven for another 30 minutes so that the meringue could get a nice light brown color. Et voilaaa…!
The crust tasted nice despite it being a frozen product. The lemon filling was very smooth and sweet and sour in the right proportions. Definitely, the lemon juice and grated lemon rind made the pie’s filling tart and so tasty. And the meringue was sweet and light. However, I should have added more meringue on top of my pie. I so love meringue! But all in all, I have to admit that for my first try, my lemon meringue pie didn’t turn out too bad ! Hehehe!
I crawled out of bed this morning around 9.30 AM feeling like a bus has hit me. My whole body ached. I should have seen it coming. Sore throat, headache, runny nose… Damn it. I think I’m sick! Swine flu! Flu… or is it just a bad cold? Whatever. I just hate being sick during the weekend. This stupid thing should have waited for Monday to knock me down! *sneezing*
On another note… Ok, now it’s confirmed that I live next to the most irritating dogs in my neighborhood. My neighbors next door have 8 dogs and they are the most annoying dogs ever! No one is my house can go outside in the yard without being harassed by the loud, high pitched barking of those dogs. They bark constantly. They wake me up early in the morning when I want to sleep in late during weekends. They bark at people walking on the street. Those dogs simply bark at anything and everything. Sometimes it drives me nuts to hear those constant barking. Arghhh!
And the dogs’ owners? Those neighbors are the most disrespectful people I’ve ever encountered. If you own pets, you should be responsible for them and not let them continuously be a public nuisance to the people you live near. Sometimes, they would even let their dogs pee and poop anywhere they want without cleaning it up. I have talked to them so many times but they just don’t seem to care at all.
From what I’ve heard, according to the MSPCA, someone is not allowed to have more than 2 dogs unless he has a special dog breeder’s permit. I’ll have to inquire more into this but one thing for sure, my neighbors’ dogs are not registered at the MSPCA.
I like animals and wouldn’t want to harm them but their constant barking stresses me out and annoys the hell out of me!
I myself have a small dog. Sometimes she would bark at strangers but definitely, she’s not as loud as those 8 dogs next door! I’m not saying this because she’s my pet. I’m responsible enough to train my dog so that she doesn’t disturb the neighborhood. Too bad some people are not willing to do the same.
That’s all for today’s randomness. I think I’m going to make some chicken soup now. There’s nothing better than a warm soup when you’re sick Be good.
They traveled all the way from Singapore! Carine sent me some of her famous oatmeal cookies, both raisins and chocolate chips. Thanks Carine. The cookies were super delicious. In fact, they tasted so good that they didn’t last long. I think there’s only one cookie left! haha!
I also received this TGIF potato skin chips.
LaSh suggested we should wait till Friday to taste the chips! *lol*
Again, thanks a lot for the cookies and the potato chips Carine!
Today, I spent an amazing girls’ day out with… my mom! Hahaha. We used to go out quite often years ago but over time, we got busy with our own lives and these outings became rarer. However, today we were both free and it was just the perfect day to spend some time together just like we used to.
We started our day in GrandBay. We love it there! First stop was at Richmond hill to grab a cup of coffee and share a chicken pie.
I couldn’t take my eyes off those pastries at the coffee shop!
Macarons!!! <3
After breakfast we strolled and shopped around. To me, shopping in GrandBay is one big festival of pleasure and indulgence. Hehehe
We then drove to Cap-Malheureux. I took a few pictures here and there.
There’s this little church with the red roof by the beach that I really like. It just seems to fit so well in the scenery.
A view of the Coin de mire from the road.
A tree!
By then it was almost 2 PM. Time for a late lunch! We headed back to GrandBay because mom wanted to have pizza at Luigi’s Ristorante.
I had fried calamari with tartar sauce as appetizer. Very nice and so tasty! I like!!!
We also shared a Quattro stagioni pizza. I love the pizzas at Luigi’s. They are cooked in those wood burning pizza ovens and are loaded with fresh ingredients. Our pizza had salami, asparagus, mushrooms and green peppers. 4 main ingredients, hence the name “Quattro stagioni“, Four seasons. Of course, the pizza also had tomato paste, olive oil, cheese and herbs!
That was definitely a great Saturday. We got to spend a whole day just the two of us. I almost forgot how nice it was to go out with her.
Just read some news this morning about this Belgian teenage girl, Kimberley Vlaeminck, who’s pressing charges against a tattoo artist. She allegedly asked for 3 stars to be tattooed on her face, but instead ended up with 56 stars!
Kimberley Vlaeminck went to a local parlor called The Tattoo Box and was given to a Romanian tattoo artist, Rouslan Tounamiantz. The teenager stated that the tattoo artist only spoke broken English and understood some words of French. She explained to him as clearly as possible that she wanted 3 stars to be tattooed on her face.
Kimberly said she fell asleep during the procedure and was shocked when she woke up. Instead of the 3 stars she asked for, she had a whole constellation on the left side of her face! She is suing the tattoo artist for $14,000.
According to Rouslan Tounamiantz, the tattoo artist, he did just as he was told.
“She was awake and looked into the mirror several times as the procedure was taking place. The trouble all started when she went home and her father and boyfriend threw a fit.”
Weird story, eh? One question though… How on earth can someone fall asleep while getting a tattoo? o_O
I love receiving flowers. No need for special events. The only thing better than getting a bouquet of flowers is being able to enjoy them all year long. That’s the reason why I never throw away dried bouquets. I use the flowers to make my own potpourri! I’m definitely not much of a craft person but making potpourri at home is so easy that even I can do it. Hahaha!
I would usually leave the flowers to dry naturally. Sometimes I would fasten several small bunches together, tie the stems off with a string or elastics and hang them upside down to dry out more quickly. Next step is to cut off the stems and put the flowers in a large ziploc bag (oops I should avoid mentioning brand names! *lol*). And the final touch is to add a few drops of your favorite fragrance oil to the dried flowers and to shake the bag until everything is mixed well. If the scent is not strong enough, you can always add a little bit more fragrance.
Tadaaa! Your potpourri is now ready to be displayed in decorative jars or tied in small bags.
I use these potpourri to scent my drawers and closets or sometimes I would just place them in small attractive baskets or bowls to add a personal touch at home.
I received a bottle of maple syrup straight from Canada last week-end.
Thanks Annick
I couldn’t wait to open my bottle of maple syrup and so I decided to make some pancakes to go along with it.
Hot pancakes topped with maple syrup… Delightful! The combination is simply delicious and in so many ways, maple syrup and pancakes remind me of Canada. *sigh*
Maple syrup is usually associated as a topping for pancakes, waffles and french toasts. But there are so many other sweet and savory recipes that use maple syrup as an ingredient; maple oatmeal cookies, maple apple smoothie, maple glazed sesame chicken, grilled prawns with maple marinade… etc. I will definitely try some recipes with maple syrup ^^
While I was browsing for recipes, I found some interesting facts on the net. Did you know that pure Canadian maple syrup has more calcium than milk and contains less calories than sugar or honey?
Unfortunately, maple syrup is not very popular in Mauritius. As far as I remember, I haven’t seen any in grocery stores. Can anyone confirm??
Love used to be just a word in my life until someone came along and gave it meaning… And today I have his heart and he has mine.
I love him without knowing how, why or even from where. All I know is that my world spins around him… always. No, he is not supernatural, he is not placed above me on a pedestal. He is just a precious gift that I cherish, appreciate and am grateful for. He is the perfect one. Not the one from that TV show, or from that magazine. He is the one I have chosen to spend my life with. He is the one who shines in my dark days. He is the angel meant to guard my nights and spread his wings to offer me shelter. His embrace makes me feel safe. That’s what he gives me every single day and that’s what I hope to give him forever.
Life is no fairytale and we’ve been through a lot. But we stood together through adversity and promised to endure throughout storms. With his love came my strength to fight for what we have. And now I know that the ties that bind us are unbreakable.
Just hold my hand and I’ll never let go. That was the beginning of forever…
And in my world of daily struggles, you are my moment of happiness. I love you <3
Be good.
