LEMON BERRY MERINGUE PIE STEP 2B: PIE CRUST ROLLING 11 AUGUST 2023
Today is one o' those days to stay inside: temps will be over 100 F; humidity will be in the high 80s; it's a no-pool day; helicopters are flying (noisily) overhead, spraying for mosquitoes, so I may as well finish this LEMON BERRY MERINGUE PIE today. It's been YEARS since I've made a rolled crust from scratch; I still had - and was able to find - my rolling pin & rolling mat . . . Notice anything missing? Like, the most important ingredient in this step of the production?? Oh yeah, the pie crust dough . . . . . . which, as NOT mentioned in the recipe, is now hard as a rock. So I have to wait until it comes back to room temperature. NTS: Stick with the 15-minute cooling time, NOT the several days one. My first time ever rolling the crust on the rolling pin, then unrolling it into the pie pan; I can't believe I hadn't done it this way before . . . I remember trying to fold a crust into quarters to place it into the pan. With little success. (At this point, I had an inkling that a 9" pie pan would be too small. SPOILER ALERT: It was.) The dough was cracked in several places; perhaps it was still too cold to be rolled out . . . First time I've ever crimped the edges . . . . . . not only did I use a parchment paper round on the bottom of the pan (not stated in recipe and NOT a good idea); I also pricked the bottom of the crust . . . (ditto) . . . . . . . then the foil . . . . . . then the parchment paper . . . NTS: Parchment paper first, THEN the foil. You'll see why later. . . . and finally, the pie weights . . . (Every time I say, or even think, 'Pie Weights', my brain hears 'Pyewacket', Kim Novak's cat familiar in my favorite Howliday movie, 1958's BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE.) Click on Kim & Pyewacket to meet them both. After 25 minutes at 400 F, I take the foil, parchment paper & pie weights out of the pan and move them to a wire rack. I look back in the oven and see . . . an empty pie pan! WHERE'S MY PIE CRUST?!?! I look back at the foil, parchment paper & pie weights . . . the pie crust is STUCK TO THE FOIL! AND IT'S HOT! I was able to piece it together, somewhat, despite it being so hot, and this is the result after the 15 minutes at 375 F . . . NOT a crust to be proud of, but I wasn't going to start over; I figured it would hold enough of the filling to count as a pie. I think this is why there shouldn't be parchment paper at the bottom of the crust, and the parchment paper should come BEFORE the foil, and then the pie weights. Again, live 'n' learn.
THE RECIPE I USED, FROM PREPPY KITCHEN

STEP 3: LEMON FILLING HERE