A Belated Mother's Day

This day was resplendent with Mothers of all ages: Old Mothers, Grand Mothers, Great Grandmothers and New Mothers. Some Mothers were represented more than once on this list -- with the exception of the New Mother category, that is!

A special feature, besides celebrating the Day, that is, was a pair of Lemon Meringue Pies baked especially for Grumpy to insure that he would take the time from his (always!) busy day to take the long and winding road up to the #1 Granddaughter's home. Now, understandably the road can be much shorter and less winding, but that's only if Grumpy would only refer to his beloved GPS before he winds up on a dead-end street leading into a cul-de-sac.

The Grand Mother and Grumpy arrived at the festivities at approximately noon this past Sunday. Right on time, naturally -- and despite Grumpy's wandering about the neighborhood in search of "the road". Greeted at the door by two small Great Grandsons, Malachi and Amos, we were welcomed in, carrying the Grand Mother's gifts for the younger Mothers, as well as "surprise" gifts for each of the anticipated Great Grandgirls, Emileigh, Gracie-Mae and Elianna, as well as the host Great Grandboys, Malachi and Amos.

Soon a hearty meal was served and, after a "round table" blessing, orchestrated by young Malachi, we all ate and talked -- in that order. After filling our tummies completely adequately we were challenged with the offering of (not one but) two Lemon Meringue Pies!! Now Grumpy has never been one to turn down a Lemon Meringue Pie -- no matter how well he has previously been fed!

Some troubling negotiations immediately began between Grumpy and Malachi concerning who would NOT get the entirety of one whole Lemon Meringue Pie. Grumpy was, of course, of the firm opinion that the pie set in front of him, was intended only for himself. Grumpy finally conceded that a stomach ache would result if he ate the whole thing and so it was determined that it would be shared by all.

These were no ordinary, run-of-the-mill Lemon Meringue Pies, mind you! No sirree Bob!! These were made with love by Grandma Ducky, using goose eggs, duck eggs and with whole wheat for the crust. Why both goose eggs and duck eggs you ask? Well, according to the story overheard by Grumpy (he's awfully hard of hearing, you know!), the goose egg yolks were so big that when the peanut butter was added to the mixture with the lemon juice, corn starch, sugar and vinegar (see also http://www.lemonpiez.com/), the whole kit and kaboodle curdled, so Grandma Ducky threw out the whole double-batch of filling that she had mixed up and started over with duck eggs instead. This resulted in there being twice as much egg white as would normally be the case, so the finished pies had meringue that reached almost to the ceiling!! Why, Grumpy could hardly believe his eyes! Unfortunately, Grumpy was so overwhelmed by the enormity of the pies that he forgot to photograph these phenomena before he ate them -- well, most of them. Here is a photo of what was left of one of them. Grumpy was supposed to get to take the rest home with him, but a certain Son-in-Law stole into the kitchen while his "Keeper" was occupied elsewhere, and -- well you can see what happened.

(I hope he got a stomach ache!-- signed, Grumpy)