Valentine's Day Pie

Valentine's Day has never been a big deal to Luke and I, but we always try to do a little something special for each other. This year I woke up to post-its hidden all around the house with sweet things that Luke likes about me (apparently I have 20 more to find). So far I have discovered them in places like: my shoes, kitchen cabinets, text books, underwear drawer, etc. I also came home to a nice table all set up with our china and a nice bottle of wine! It was wonderful...

nice and greasy after a long day of work and school

So you might be wondering what I did for my valentine? Well, if you know Luke then you know that he loves pies. If you know me, then you know baked fruit creeps me out; therefore, most pies disgust me. And if you have been reading my blog for awhile, then you know that my history with pies is short and sad, click here for my first pie story.

This year for Luke's birthday I gave him a coupon book for different things, and some of them conveniently included expiration dates (haha). Luke forgot to turn his pie one in on time, so I thought I would surprise him with making him a pie anyway for Valentine's Day. I really thought all things were lined up for a great night of pie:

1. Last year I messed up so bad it can only get better from here

2. I had my special pie plate that my mom found me at my grandma's. I think she thought it would help me out in my future endeavors:

3. I also had my grandma's Kitchen Aid...in hopes that her spirit would suddenly make me a good baker....and I must say it made me look like a natural (and that cute apron of course)

4. my mom called with some last minute advice about making sure your egg whites are room temperature.

So, all odds were in my favor and everything seemed to be going pretty well...and then I got the meringue (at least I pronounced it right this year), and instead of getting thick and high...it got about as thick as a piece of paper.

This is what I was hoping for:

and this is what I got:

Oh is that lemon soup?! Or, maybe a melted lemon bar? Maybe some snot? NO! That is the pie that I made. Seriously, I tried so hard. Maybe I need to stick to Costco or calling my grandma to make desserts that I am responsible for (oops Thanksgiving). So this year I got the flavor right, but the consistency and the meringue were mediocre at best. However Luke was just happy to see me try and followed up my sad attempt with a great veggie/ravioli dinner for the 2 of us.

So, Valentine's Day was great...but let's hope next year is the year with the pie!