COOL and REFRESHING By Christy Rost During the dog days of summer, we all crave anything cool and refreshing – a dip in the pool, a tall glass of iced tea, a frozen Margarita, or strolling through the frozen food section of our local supermarket. My objective is the same when I select a dessert for my family or when we entertain at this time of year. The finale of any late-summer meal must be light in texture and refresh the palate. That’s why one of my favorite summer desserts is lemon meringue pie. Lemon meringue pie was my grandfather Sebastian’s favorite dessert and it was the first dessert I learned to create when I was twelve years old. I can still remember my grandmother showing me how to make pie pastry, the day I tackled it on my own, and filling it with a tangy, sweet lemon filling, topped with a light-as-air meringue. Lemon meringue pie is a wondrous dessert to behold and always garners sighs of appreciation from those at the table. My recipe has just the right amount of tangy lemon flavor and sweetness, nestled in flaky pastry, and crowned by a tall, snowy mantle of meringue. It’s the perfect dessert for a hot summer evening.  Lemon Meringue Pie Ingredients: Pastry 1 cup all-purpose flour ¼ cup sifted cake flour 1 tablespoon sugar ½ teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter 2 tablespoons shortening 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water Place flours, sugar and salt in bowl of a food processor; pulse several times to mix. Add cold butter and shortening; pulse until butter is pea-size. Pour in ice water; pulse until pastry comes together into a ball. Remove pastry, wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out pastry on a floured pastry cloth or surface. Transfer pastry to a 10” pie plate, flute edges and prick crust with a fork. Bake pie shell 10 to 12 minutes until pastry is lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely. Filling  1 ¼ cups sugar 1 package unflavored gelatin 1/3 cup cornstarch ¼ teaspoon salt 3 egg yolks 1 ½ cups water ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 teaspoon lemon zest In a large saucepan, stir together the sugar, gelatin, cornstarch and salt. Whisk in egg yolks, water, lemon juice, and zest. Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and just comes to a boil. Remove saucepan from heat; set aside 15 minutes to cool, stirring every 5 minutes. Pour into cooled pie shell. Meringue 4 egg whites, at room temperature ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar ½ cup sugar With a mixer at high speed, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until whites are foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until meringue forms stiff peaks. With an offset spatula or knife, spread meringue over lemon filling, sealing well at edges of pastry. Bake in a 400-degree oven 5 to 10 minutes until meringue is pale brown. Cool 40 minutes; then refrigerate until ready to serve. Recipe makes 1 pie. Get more of Christy Rost's recipes in her archives. Click here. Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions? Email: jwdineline@aol.com