Cranberry Meringue Pie

My maternal grandmother made a delicious pie using the inexpensive and readily available cranberries. It's simple but tart and tasty.

• 1 pre-baked pie shell
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup cold water
• 4 cups fresh cranberries
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, separated
• 4 tablespoons powdered sugar

Cook sugar and water until sugar dissolves. Add cranberries and cook over medium heat until cranberries stop "popping." Cool slightly. While mixture cools mix flour, salt and egg yolks together until smooth. Stir three tablespoons of the juice of the cooled cooked cranberry mixture into egg yolks. Add the egg yolks to the cooled cranberries and simmer for three minutes, stirring carefully to avoid burning the berries. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract. Set filling aside to cool.

Pour cooled filling into pre-baked pie shell. Top with a meringue made by beating the four reserved egg whites with the four tablespoons of powdered sugar. Brown the meringue by setting the pie in a preheated 250-300 degree oven for a few minutes just until the meringue is set and lightly colored. Cool pie completely before serving.