Watch the "Lemon Meringue" VIDEO on Fox 17 Grand Rapids - click here

My father grew up during the depression on a small farm in Michigan. Like most folks during that troubled time, they did not have much money. Fruit that didn’t grow in your own backyard was considered special and hard to come by. When my grandmother made lemon meringue pie, it was for special occasions only, such as Easter or company dinners. One summer Sunday in 1937, Reverend Frye was scheduled to come to dinner at my father’s farm. My grandmother awoke at dawn to make the special lemon pie and placed it in the dining room window to cool while they were off to church. Unfortunately, Zip the beagle found the pie too much to resist and found a way to reach Grandma’s masterpiece. Upon their return, nothing was left of the beautiful pie, but an empty pie pan and a contented dog sleeping with meringue stuck to his nose. Zip was sent to the barn from that day forward and poor Reverend Fry never got to enjoy my Grandma’s pie that summer day so long ago. Fortunately for you, you can.