I learned to make homemade cream pies w meringue at the early age of 12 on the farm. The men folks worked hard and could burn up the calories. Likewise the women... Dad had a sweet tooth and I can still see him with a glass of milk w pieces of white bread in it and plenty of sugar. I guess we didn't have any sweets around at that time. Sliced tomatoes on his plate always had a mound of sugar on top. In summer we made three or four pies every day, sometimes cake. We were a family of 6 children and Dad quite often had hired hands and sometimes Mom had a hired girl to help mainly when we are were very young.. Every Saturday a dessert was prepared for Sunday. I like desserts after every meal even if it is just a piece of candy. The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.