Lemon meringue nests

This week's dessert theme needed to be something do to with eggs...you see, the man making the meal tonight is serving chicken.  We, of course, have to answer the age-old question...which came first, the chicken or...? 

(and before you groan too much, it was his idea...not mine.)  ;)

At any rate, I just could not bring myself to do a custard.  Many of the recipes were listed on pages along with flan.  FLAN.  blech.

Instead, I chose to go with my own little version of these lemon meringue nests.  I wanted to choose something a little special, because this will be our last "regular" Wednesday night meal of the year.  (Can you believe that after Lent will be summer break from church activities?!)

After I saw how much the puff pastry shells sold for at the grocery store, I decided to alter the recipe a little bit and try to make my own.  I still bought puff pastry sheets and cut them into squares.  (Still expensive, but I figure I saved myself about fifteen dollars.)  I put the dough squares into muffin cups, poked holes in the bottom with a fork, and baked them.  The bottoms still rose a little, but I jabbed them back down when they came out of the oven.  ;)

I wasn't sure what pre-made lemon pie filling would taste like, so I just made some using a recipe that I had used a few times in the past.  I also used the meringue recipe out of my Betty Crocker cookbook, as it promised not to shrink if I didn't get everything completely sealed.  (It didn't!)

So...there you have it.  Enjoy!