By Dorotha Schaefer

Have you ever had a piece of pie that was so nearly perfect you had to talk about it? I had that interesting experience over the weekend. There it was as we waited to take our place at one of the tables – among choices of many different kinds of pie - cherry, apple, blueberry, rhubarb and lemon.

The meringue on this lemon pie was inches high, the crust gave evidence that it was homemade, not purchased at the grocery store, the filling was just the proper color of yellow, not too bright, not too dull. After having dinner, it was time to enjoy the triangle of lemon I had been eyeing with great anticipation. I was not disappointed – the pie was all I had supposed it would be.

As the pie disappeared, I recalled a memory of my childhood and a man named Fred Olwin who has since gone to his reward. He was a lover of meringue pies, especially lemon. He once announced in my hearing that the topping of lemon or other pudding pies should be high and light enough that when a person held the wedge in hand and bit off a chunk, the meringue should touch the eater’s nose. If I had been holding the lemon pie in hand and biting off chunks as Fred did, the meringue would, indeed, have touched my nose. My compliments to the baker!

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