Start by making a batch of pie dough. Of course I love it when you use CurvyMama Pies' Basic Butter-and-Lard Dough. But if you don't want to, just make any recipe you like. Roll out enough dough for one 9-inch pie pan.

Ease it into your pan, trim, and crimp. Place the pie shell in the freezer.

Preheat the oven to 425.

Once the oven is up to temperature, line the frozen pie shell with parchment and fill it with dried beans, rice, or whatever you like to use for pie weights.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove parchment and weights.

Bake for another 5-8 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Now it's time to make your filling. (This can be done several days ahead of time, too, if you prefer, and chilled until you're ready to use it.)

First, set a strainer over a medium-sized bowl and place them near your stovetop.

In a heavy saucepan, whisk together your whole eggs and egg yolks. Whisk in the lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, and salt. Stir in the butter. Cook and whisk over medium-high heat, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the pan to keep chunks from forming.

Keep whisking while the butter melts and the mixture starts to simmer around the edges. Stir in the cornstarch-water mixture. Keep whisking about 30 seconds more, paring back the heat a little if necessary to keep it from reaching a boil (a low simmer is okay). Take the curd off the heat.

Using a soft, bendable scraper, pour and press the curd through the strainer into the bowl. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the curd to keep a skin from forming. Chill until room temperature or cooler.

Put your egg whites in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment.

In a saucepan, combine the sugar with just enough water to form a thick, sludgy texture. Put the cover on the pan, and place a medium-high heat under it. Swirl occasionally, but DON'T STIR, as the sugar dissolves.

When the sugar-water mixture begins to simmer, start beating your whites on medium-high speed.

Take the cover off the sugar-water pan and attach a candy thermometer. Boil the syrup until it reaches 244 degrees. With any luck, this will happen right about the time that your egg whites reach the medium-peak stage.

Slow the whisk on the stand mixer to medium speed. With the whisk still going, pour the hot syrup into the egg whites, taking care to avoid spattering by pouring between the whirring whisk and the side of the bowl.

When all the syrup's poured in, continue beating until the side of the mixing bowl is no longer warm to the touch. Come up and feel the mixing bowl occasionally, but don't be concerned if this process takes 5-10 minutes or more.

Don't hurry the process; wait til the side of that bowl has cooled off. By that time, your egg whites should have taken on an alluringly glossy, marshmallowy look, and should hold stiff peaks.

Spread the curd into the pie shell. Spoon the meringue on top, using a butter knife or a small offset spatula to spread it all the way to the edges of the pastry to make a seal all around. Make swirls and peaks--I find I can make the best peaks with the back of a spoon--with the remaining meringue that you heaped onto the pie.

If you have a kitchen butane torch, brown the meringue. If you don't, preheat the oven to 375 and place the pie in the oven for about 15 minutes until the meringue is golden brown.