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I learned, first hand, what an idiotic statement that was at the age of about 12. Watching my grandmother peel and section a bowl full of tart apples, coating the slices with cinnamon, sugar and abit of flour and then beginning on the hand-rolled crust…..

There is nothing easy about making pie ! The phrase must be referring to the process of eating it. After about 2 hours of preparation and baking, the bubbly sweet pastries were devoured in a matter of minutes.

I remember that afternoon well – it was the first time I really appreciated good cooking and understood it as a simple foundation of family and bonding. I saw the influence my grandmother had, the joy she was able to provide and the satisfaction it brought to her. I remember vowing to learn to “cast a spell” of love and cinnamon the way she did.

Years later, I rock the apple pie. Since childhood, my son asks for “Birthday Pie” instead of a cake. It is an afternoon process, though. So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I came across a recipe that actually IS “easy as pie” ! (Or, easy as eating pie, as we’ve already established the ease of making pie is a misconception….)

Sorry, it’s not apple – no shortcuts there. But how ’bout Key Lime ! Back when I was still gainfully employed, I found myself in an office full of amateur chef’s – we were always bringing in recipes or samples to share. Now that I’m not working, I’ve been going through all of these and putting them on computer. I came across this one with the hand-written notation “crazy easy & good” ….I looked at the recipe and thought “yeh, right.” But I do love lime. And raspberry, and cinnamon….Mmmm, sorry. Anyway, I whipped it up and it really is crazy easy & good !

Amazon.com

There are so many "culinary mysteries" !

(Best served cold after refrigerating for a couple hours)

Preheat oven to 350.

Graham cracker crust: (yes, you can buy one, I won’t look…but I promise it’s easy!)

1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs (about 24 crackers – crush in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin. Six year olds are great at this. )

6 tbsp melted butter

2 tbsp sugar

Mix all together, press into pie pan evenly around bottom and sides.

I pre-cook crust for just afew minutes (7 -10) it seems to hold together better.

Filling:

3/4 c. key lime juice (I cheated and used a bottled juice called “Nellie & Joes famous Key West Key Lime”, I think Trader Joes has a good one as well. Yes, there’s a difference between key lime and regular lime).

1/2 c. sour cream

3 c. sweetened condensed milk ( I bought two 14 oz. cans and used all of it, figured why not use that little bit that was left…)

Add alittle grated lime zest if you use real limes.

To make:

I put alittle shredded coconut all over bottom of crust first. (love the two tastes together!)

Using a whisk, combine the lime juice, milk and sour cream for acouple minutes and is another step our six year old did. Pour into crust.

Bake for only about 8 -10 minutes, you’ll see acouple pinpoint bubbles on the surface – DO NOT brown, bake only long enough to help it set.

Then let pie sit in refrigerator for the afternoon. That’s it ! (I put toasted coconut on top and served it with whipped cream).

The prep time was less than 15 minutes, ok, maybe 20. Enjoy !