Simple, Sublime *Key Lime*

I met Neil in 1997.  He was born in Florida, but when I met him, he'd recently landed in SC after 15 or so years in the Norse Land (you may know it as Minnesota).  Over those years, he'd been back and forth to FL, since his parents had moved back down there.  As we got to know each other, I learned a lot of interesting things: practically everything in America was invented in MN ('cause they spend half the year locked up in their snowed in houses just thinking up stuff?), when racing jet skis on TV, wear bathing trunks with a drawstring waist (MOOON over Miami), Ducatis are the only motorcycles worth owning and most importantly, real key lime pie is NOT green.

Garnished with one of our teeny, tiny limes

Up until this point, key lime pie never really piqued my interest. At. All. But, turns out, it's Neil's most favorite dessert on Earth.  But, as he was making me aware of this, he also educated me of something I'd never heard before.  Real key lime pie isn't green.  Lime pie is green, perhaps.  Food coloring helps too. But a real key lime isn't the same as the big limes we all see on a regular basis.  No, key limes are tiny.  

See the size of these little babies?

Seriously, like the size of a ping pong ball and that's considered a big one.  And, key limes are way more tart than "regular" (Persian) limes.  In fact, these little green orbs will turn your cheeks inside out...that's how tart we're talking about!  So, Neil advised me of this:  if you see a "key lime pie" in a restaurant that is green, know this:  it's not real key lime pie. Just say NO.

Soaking up some sun

 Well, here we are all these years later and we're married and have a wonderful little girl. And, I've been making key lime pies for awhile now.  The first time, I bought a bag of key limes from the grocery.  Like I said, they are tiny.  So, I cut them all in half, clutched them in my fingers and juiced them one by one. When it was over, I could hardly unclench my fists and was convinced that I'd just given myself incurable arthritis. I vowed that as much as I loved Neil, this was his one and only homemade key lime pie.  

The life saver

Well, lucky for him, I was browsing around Williams-Sonoma one day and lo and behold!  I discovered you can BUY key lime juice in a bottle!  Now, this was a game changer, indeed.  I bought a couple bottles of (really) expensive juice and ran right home to bake up a pie. Months later, my sister was visiting and saw this primo juice in my fridge and said something like, "You know you can get this in the grocery store, right?"  Bahh wuhhh?  So, my little sister drove over to the Piggly Wiggly and returned with four bottles of key lime juice for the price of my two Williams-Sonoma bottles.  But, no worry...now we're in business!  I can make Neil's fave anytime I want.  Easily, inexpensively and all year long.  Good thing for him, because I was never juicing those little limes by hand ever again. Never, ever, ever, again. Period.


Fast forward to today.  I now have the most awesome juicing tool ever invented.  Good thing too, since this Christmas, my parents found a key lime bush that has been cross-bred with a loquat, so it can withstand colder temps than they have in Florida.  So, now we're growing our own key limes on the patio! I wouldn't be so excited about this if it were not for my juicer, especially since I'd vowed never to juice those things by hand again!  Of course, you just can't beat the bottled juice, but if you want to go old school and juice yourself, you must get one of these.  Plain and simple.

You just need this for any kind of citrus juicing...go get one!

 This weekend was St. Patrick's Day.  We were having corned beef and cabbage at my inlaws' house on Sunday.  The only thing I had on hand that I could whip up quickly that was remotely "green" was key lime.  I was able to harvest one of our tiny baby limes to garnish and the pie turned out terrific as usual.  The crazy thing is how easy this recipe is.  Most of the time, you use a graham cracker crust, which is quite delicious.  But one day at the grocery, I came across a granola crust, which I'd never seen before.  I used one for this latest pie and it was terrific.  In fact, it was better than a plain ol' graham cracker crust.  I think this will be my new "go to" for these pies.  

The low-down on key lime pie is this:  don't waste your time with "regular" lime juice, either juice your own little tiny key limes or buy the key lime juice...there IS a difference!  A half cup juice, 3 egg yolks and a can of condensed milk.  Mix until smooth, pour into pie shell and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.  

Another must-have:  egg separator

Good eggs are important

Look at that beautiful yellow!

Freeze egg whites in individual packages for future recipes

Then, cool for about 10 minutes before refrigerating.  Garnish as you wish, but rest assured, it wil be happily consumed decorated or plain Jane!

Garnish or dive right in...your call!

 

Weekend in Asheville

Friday was my brother-in-law Darren's birthday, so the little fam trucked up to Asheville to celebrate with him.  My sister planned this dish for Friday night that she had actually gotten from our mom.  It's a pecan-crusted pork tenderloin.  In a word, fantastic.  It's pretty simple too.  So many simple dishes are, in fact, the best.  You slice the tenderloin into medallions, dip in maple syrup then chopped pecans and into the skillet.  We combined with roasted potatoes and green beans for a super supper.  

Medallions a-cookin'

 

Darren's party was great fun too.  Cooked hot dogs and brats on the grill and had my sister's newest surprise find.  She was at Sam's and one of the ladies had a stand to try a smoked brisket.  Now, my sister is probably the BIGGEST skeptic I know.  She tried it; she liked it; she bought it.  And I'm so glad she did.  It was a fully cooked smoked brisket that only needed to be heated 15 minutes per pound.  OMG this was some daggum good meat!  I made a sandwich with just mayo and it was superb.  Neil added some BBQ sauce to his and was pleased.  I think it would also be great on a foccacia with herbed mayo.  If you see this at Sam's, buy it.  You'll thank me.  Well, really you'll thank Katherine.

Since we had the Vivver with us, we swung through Hendersonville on the way home and hit up Stepp's orchard.  We picked a 1/2 bushel mixed with Fuji and Golden Delicious.  I love this orchard. It's family owned, they have wagons you can pull the kiddies around in and a corn maze.  Afterwards, we drove to Lake Lure and got Vivian in a mountain stream for a little creek hiking.  Now, we are up to our ears in beautiful NC apples.  Last night I made apple pie ice cream.  Today, a monster of an apple pie.  Then, when I get a second wind, apple turnovers to put in the freezer.  

My pie crusts don't look good, but taste is another matter!

 

It Ain't Pretty, but it's Homemade!

Believe it or not, I've never made a homemade apple pie.  I just didn't grow up with apple pie being a regular in my Mom's repertoire.  Interestingly, I've always been drawn to apple pie and I read the recipes all the time.  So, when Viv and I picked all those beautiful "Blushing Gold" apples from Hendersonville, I decided now is the time!

So, I went for it today.  First, let me make a confession.  I'm a decent baker, but I have always had trouble with dough/crust/pastry.  From pizza dough to pie crust.  Everytime I turn around I have a magazine or Ina Garten telling me how easy it is to do a crust from scratch, and I believe them, but when I try,well, it is anything but easy for  me.  

Nonetheless, I decided I'd try once again today with the crust and I was gonna go all the way to the actual elusive apple pie.  Long story short, I had crust issues, but I managed to hammer it out and create a pie.  Maybe I pulsed too long in the food processor? I don't freakin' know...

So, it's been baked, the house smells wonderful and Neil says it looks great.  In fact, what he actually said was, and I quote, "Wow, baby, that looks like a real "old lady at church" kinda pie." It's cooling and setting up now.  We'll know later tonight how it turned out!