Screaming For Ice-Cream

This week school begins and I am the proud mama of a senior!  I think she already has a touch of senioritis – is there a remedy for that?  Yep!  Miss T’s last year of high school and I am vastly aware of how fast it will pass.  We don’t see much of her anyway as she was recently hired by Starbucks as a Barista.  I’ll admit she looks pretty great in her black on black on black uniform complete with a Starbucks baseball cap!  Part of me is sad that my baby will head off to college this time next year, but part of me can’t help but dream of what adventures my man Dan and I will seek as empty nesters.  I hope to have more time for cooking and blogging, and of course bee keeping.

The Texas heat has not let up but we did have a short but much-needed rain shower early last evening.  It was glorious!  The wind blew and the air-cooled off, we just sat and enjoyed feeling the giant raindrops splatter on our feet.  I would have liked the drop in temperature on Thursday however, when we went to remove a hive of bees from a storage shed in a hot back yard.  Yes, Queen Mary and hive #7 moved into the apiary Thursday afternoon.  These girls had found a small hole into a space between a floor and a sub-floor of this little storage shed. After my man Dan ripped the floor apart I was able to remove their hive along with the queen.  Success!  Dan named her “Mary, Queen of Scotts”; as the man who called for the removal was named “Scott”.  I like his sense of humor.  Still praying for more rain so that fall will bring a last round of food for the bees, before they hunker down for winter.

It was 104* that day and we got plenty hot while working outside in the middle of the day.  The only thing I seemed to have an appetite for was ice cream.  In the August issue of “Southern Living” I’d noted a Lemon Meringue Ice-Cream Pie. In fact there was an entire section devoted to ice cream treats, but being a lover of lemon I chose this one.

I have never made homemade lemon curd and let me tell you, it’s well worth the standing and stirring required at the stove.  Honestly, I could eat it with a spoon straight out of the jar and be soooooo happy!  This pie is easy, but I should warn you, it is also time-consuming. After making and baking the vanilla wafer crust, it must cool completely, same goes for the lemon curd.  The ice cream needs to soften to a spreadable state and then be refrozen before serving the pie.  I discovered that freezing overnight is best.  Oh! and the meringue is whipped over a pot of boiling water.  Ha – I had to laugh at myself, all I wanted was to make and eat something cold and I spent a great deal of time stirring and mixing over a hot stove.  Nonetheless, this pie is a dreamy combination of tart lemon curd, sweet wafer crust and creamy vanilla bean ice-cream.

Enjoy!
 Lemon Meringue Ice-Cream Pie