Pie*ography: Key Lime Pie

 The bottom of the backside of my recipe card reads "One of B______'s favorite pies", a note from his mom. And it very quickly became one of my favorites, and then one of our children's favorites.
Perfectly blended sweet meringue, and a tart, creamy key lime filling. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I don't make this pie often, mostly for B.'s birthday, or Valentines Day, but we celebrated Passover last Wednesday and this was our dessert. A fitting end to the bittersweet reflection that Passover invokes. So here is my contribution to Anne Marie's Pie*ography.

Let's take a moment to admire that beautiful, golden meringue, shall we?

A few things to say before I divulge the recipe:

The weather can very much affect this pies outcome, but don't let that stop you, just know that it might be a little "weepy". Perfectly acceptable to serve your guests, but not going to win you a prize for looks at the county fair. (See the last picture in this post, as it was drizzly outside the day I made it.)

Also, this pie really needs to be made and eaten the same day, it doesn't keep very well and gets all syrupy and drippy and your meringue "melts". My advice is to gather together anyone you want to impress, put on a pot of coffee and have some pie.  

Allrighty now, who's ready for the recipe?

Key Lime Pie

~4 egg yolks

~6 egg whites

~1/2 c. Key Lime juice (I use Nellie and Joe's which I've found at W*Mart. That was some time ago and I don't know if they still carry it, or where to tell you to look other than by the lemon juice at your grocery store.)

~1 can sweetened condensed milk (some day, I'll be brave enough to try making my own, but fear of ruining the pie has kept me from it.)

~3/4 c. sugar

~1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

~ Pre-baked pie crust (I add a tablespoon of sugar to my crust dough for this pie, just 'cuz.)

Filling:

Beat yolks until lemon colored.

Blend in condensed milk, then slowly add lime juice and salt. Mix well and set aside. (DO NOT ADD POUR INTO CRUST YET!!!)

Meringue:

Preheat your oven to about 330.

Add cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat until foamy. Begin adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time and continue beating until the egg whites peak. (I stop the mixer and lift the whisk out. If the egg whites in the bowl remain intact with the egg whites on the whisk, it's done. Does that make sense?)

Add 6 Tablespoons of the meringue to your filling mixture and gently fold in. Pour filling into your pre-baked crust. Top with remaining meringue, using the back of a spoon to make peaks.

 Bake until golden, about 10-15 minutes, cool completely on a wire rack.

Serves 8 soon to be very happy people.

(And make sure you go visit all of those other delightful looking pies that have been linked up!)

Pie*ography Thursday

    

I have been SO excited for this since Anne Marie posted Pie*ography Thursdays last week. I baked, set up and photographed my pie and then never got the chance to post it. But that just puts me further ahead this week.

So about pie. I LOVE pie. Pie is one of B.'s favorite desserts, and sadly, I don't make it nearly as often as I should. My crusts are tasty but ugly and well, who wants to eat ugly pie? Okayfine I do.

Today -er last Thursday- I was feeling savory. I had been to the dentist, had another visit there the following morning and wanted comfort food. Deep Dish Hunters Pie kind of comfort, with venison and carrots and mushrooms hiding under a garlic mashed potato crust, oh yes comfort at it's finest.

I realized too, as I was making it, that nearly all of us in this house contributed somehow to this meal.

B. spending a bitter cold winters evening out in the garage butchering the deer we were blessed with, me pressure canning it the next day, herbs from my herb garden, peppers from the vegetable garden B. tilled and the kidlets helped me to plant and mulch and weed, my 8 year old daughter helping me peel the carrots, stir and add and smell.

All of us working together in some way at some point and it coming together in a way we all can see and savor. The bounty of the Lord sitting on our table. I often remind myself that food is a privilege, not a right. And we join hands around our outgrown little table 3 times a day to thank HIM for this privilege.

    

Deep Dish Hunters Pie

(I just eyeball this recipe any more, but here is the measured one)

Mashed Potato Crust:

1 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed (I like skins on, but Handsome Husband doesn't)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 milk

1 Tbsp. butter

1/4 crushed dried rosemary

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Cook potatoes in boiling water until tender; drain and mash. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Go ahead and taste it. Good, huh? Well resist the temptation to eat them all by setting them aside until later.

The Filling:

1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms

1 c. sliced carrots

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/4 chopped green pepper

1 Tbsp. butter

2 cups cooked cubed venison (left roast works well, I've even used ground venison. Sub beef if you're not a venison fan.)

1 1/2 c. beef broth

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

3 Tbsp. all purpose flour

3 Tbsp. cold water

1/3 c. shredded cheddar cheese

In a large skillet (I used my cast iron skillet, then just baked the whole thing in it) saute your mushrooms, carrots, onions and peppers in butter until tender, for this is right. The butter I mean. Use olive oil instead of butter if you must, but please don't ruin this with margarine. Ugh. 

Add the venison, broth, thyme and nutmeg. A splash of red wine is nice too. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat and veggies are tender. 25-30 minutes give or take.

Combine the flour and water until smooth; stir into skillet. Bring to a boil, and stir until thickened, roughly 2 minutes. Transfer to a greased 2 quart baking dish and spread mashed potatoes over the top. I'm going to be honest and say that is harder than it sounds. I drop spoonfuls of the potatoes around somewhat evenly, then smooth them together. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly. Your house will smell positively divine. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese and bake another 5 minutes or until the cheese melts. 

Serves: 6

July in August

Despite almost no rain this summer, it has been a fantastic year for the blackberries. I picked 3 quarts, and that was what I could easily get to, there were lots just out of reach. Being ginormously pregnant does not lend itself well to blackberry picking, and because I hate being pricked, my crazy get up included: jeans that had to be hiked back up every 2 steps, B.'s old unlined Carhart, and gloves. All to keep thorn stabbing down to a minimum. Kinda helped. We have lots of old canes, and they are savage when it comes to picking. But 3 quarts picked and frozen? I am thrilled, that's the most I've picked ever!

 You need to do this for BLTs or what my Omama called Cheese Dreams. Slice your tomatoes, drizzle lightly with olive oil, a whisper of fresh ground sea salt, and a few sprigs of fresh thyme if you have it. Bake at about 250-300 for a few hours, until somewhat shriveled. For Cheese Dreams, toast a slice of bread, spread with mayo, add tomatoes, bacon strips and either Muenster of M. Jack cheese. Broil until cheese melts.

 You'd look like that too if you had just finished chocolate cake for breakfast

We did VBS at my in-laws church, this year they "visited" Daniel in Babylon. The Kidlets loved it as usual.

This has by far and away been our best garden. Except for these peas. Pretty blooms, tasted terrible. It may have been the heat, though that's never really affected peas for me before. I'm going to pull them out, have B. till up their spot, and replant with a different type for a fall crop. I hope so anyway.

 These pictures are from about 2 weeks ago, right after B. tilled.

 Pumpkins on the far right, one of them seems to have died. They are those gorgeous blue-green kind that I forget what the are called. They had some heirloom pumpkins at the grocery store last fall, and when they were reduced to a dollar apiece ( I almost spent the $8, just because I wanted it so much. Glad I waited!), I bought 2, just to save the seeds. Hard to see, but there are sad little zinnias (that seems to be the only thing that's flopped this year), peppers, peas. tomatoes and basil which have nearly tripled in size since I took this picture.

I have to look up the kind, but these bush beans are amazing. Nearly 2 foot tall plants, and I should have supported them somehow because they are falling over with beans. Less what we've eaten, I've frozen 18 quarts out of 2 pickings, and need to go back out to pick more today.

Zucchini, more peppers, yellow squash, cukes, watermelon, cantaloupe, and cosmos.

I haven't gotten a whole lot of zucchini, squash or cucumbers, which is fine because we are able to eat it without wasting. I have to fight Honey and Biscuit for sauteed zucchini.

First of the harvest

Chef Salad on a hot day

I took the first big haul of beans out to snap on the back steps while watching the kidlets play, but who wants to play while Mom is snapping beans? Not they!

"Look, I have a mustache"

Muffin cuteness

Beans was hilarious. He would grab a bean, and with elbows out try his darnedest to rip it apart, his whole little chunky self shaking in effort. Then he'd give up and try another. 

It occurred to me as I was sitting and snapping (right before the work crew came to help), that I am living out exactly what I've always wanted to do. With decidedly less land and no livestock, but still, a-right-down-to-sitting-and-watching-my-children-play-while-I-snapped-beans-dream-come-true.

It's been so dry, that there are actually black-burned patches in the yard.

We went for a Sunday drive a week ago, and stopped to look at some chicken coops, which brings me that much closer to the live stock part : ) Though they probably won't happen until spring.

 Can't quite get used to Honey reading to the littles. When? How?

 ...Clean clothes on the line...

 Tomatoes growing out of my compost bin. Honey found a rat in there yesterday. Woo-Hoo.

Jewels recipe for fresh tomato sauce, with my homemade sausage. Divine.

I've done almost NO canning, and that's making me kind of crazy. Maybe I'll hit up the flea-market Monday. Anyone wanna come along?

 I'm still trying to figure out where the heck July went. Didn't we just celebrate the 4th, and now all of the sudden, it's August. I'm due in 2 weeks. Say what? Yeah, 2 weeks, though I go in for a U/S tomorrow, where I'm pretty sure they will say "Nope, the little monkey is NOT head down, we're going to turn and induce next week." Which is fine. I'm used to it, and actually, it's kinda nice knowing "I will have baby on such and such a day." because I can get all the last minute stuff done. Unlike the last 3 though, I have had a LOT of contractions. Hopefully that will mean things move along a little faster.
Well, a certain oldest son is awake and has set up a game of memory for he and I to play, so I must go.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring some sort of baby news!

Party In the Kitchen

SIX cookies recipes post for ya on the kitchen, with more to come. Once the cookies have been baked and posed. Enjoy!

Joining the Ranks

Amy and Rebecca posted their star topped pies, so I decided to post mine too.

Blueberry Peach, made for "Remorial" Day.

Forgot to sprinkle cinnamon sugar on that middle star, and their crusts look better than mine.

I finally posted the noodle tutorial! Go to The Kitchen and there it is!

Happy eating!