award winning key lime pie

My husband Paul, God bless him, is not a good cook. Don't get me wrong, he's a very talented and resourceful man but cooking is not one of his many talents. Not that I'm complaining, we make a great pair actually. I do all the cooking and he does everything else. Unfortunately for him, I am not always there to cook for him. You see, he works half time in Germany. He spends 2 weeks there, and 2 weeks at home. Now according to him, he doesn't often eat out but cooks for himself most nights. He has mastered a few recipes that I believe he eats quite often. Fajitas I know is one of them. Tuna and crackers is another. Living in a foreign country can be challenging and can get quite lonely if you don't speak the language. To combat this, Paul has joined a social club in Germany. A club for people with English as their first language. They do various activities that I suspect usually involve going to pubs. One recent activity was a dessert night. Everyone was required to bring a home made, not store bought dessert. He found out about this night while he was here in the states and asked me for my recipe for his favorite dessert, Key Lime pie. He was in luck. Key Lime pie is one of the easiest desserts to make. We were not sure if all the ingredients would be available there so I bought him some graham wafer crumbs and sweetened condensed milk. "Will you need a pie plate?" I asked him. "Nope, I'll get one there". And off he went. A few days later he called home to tell me that pie plates were nowhere to be found and to ask what he should substitute it with. He settled on a spring form pan and hoped for the best. My recipe was hand written and had no pictures to help so he turned to the Internet and found this photo as his inspiration.
http://static.flickr.com/75/170227199_0acf5c3670.jpg
Now I wish he had taken a picture of his final product but I suppose he didn't know I would write about it. He also didn't know that out of 29 desserts it would win BEST IN SHOW! That's right, my husband who rarely boils water won first prize! I wish I could have been there but I suppose if I had been I would have cooked it and he wouldn't have had the chance to shine. So congratulations Paul! Now come home and make me some pie.

Key Lime Pie

Mix 1 1/2 cups graham wafer crumbs with 2 Tbsp sugar and 5 Tbsp melted butter. Press into bottom and sides of pie plate. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Cool.
Mix together well:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup lime juice
1 tbsp grated lime zest (about 2 large limes worth)
Pour into cooled crust and bake at 325 for 15 to 20 minutes. It should be set and a little jiggly in the center. Cool.
Top with whipped cream (whipping cream or heavy cream whipped with a tbsp or so of sugar)
Freezing for 10 minutes will make it easier to cut.





A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do. ~P.J. O'Rourke