It’s thanksgiving! For most of you that doesn’t mean limes galore, but at 5 for $1 here in Florida, I couldn’t resist the irony.

Contrary to New England, the warm weather in the south brings cool desserts. Although you can still find the standard apple pie, most desserts incorporate the local grown favorites: citrus, peaches, and more citrus. As always I like to make recipes that my roommate will (at least) help me eat and let me tell you: that girl craves key lime pie like there really is no tomorrow.

During the process of creating this to die for piece of heaven, I learned a whole lot about florida limes. Key Limes aren’t only grown in a certain area, they’re actually a completely different breed of limes. They’re about the size of a ping-pong ball and they have a very distinct flavor (more bitter and tart) compared to regular limes. They have a much thinner skin and instead of being dark green in color, they’re almost yellow.

So instead of using the key lime, I made the executive decision to use regular limes for my pie. What’s the fun in that? I know, but I did it because they were super cheap and I’d like to make the ingredients of my recipes accessible for everyone (good luck getting key-lime juice in Goffstown, New Hampshire). I guess you could call this a regular lime pie…

Crust:
1 1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs (or 9 full sized graham crackers crushed)
2 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 c. (or 5 limes worth) lime juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If the graham crackers aren’t already crushed, put them in a food processor or do the old bag and can trick like I did (you can see in the picture above. Once completely crushed, mix all ingredients for the crust and then press into a pie pan. Put in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the crust is crispy.

In another bowl, mix all ingredients for the lime filling until smooth. Pour into the graham-cracker-lined pie dish and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. After it’s out of the oven, let cool on the stove for 10 minutes, then place in fridge for 3-5 hours or until completely chilled.

Note for making lovely lime pie: So tart, so creamy… ah, it was spectacular. We ate the whole thing in 2 days, just to give you some perspective. It was so tart that whipped cream was a must (cream, little bit of powdered sugar, whip until thick in case you’re interested in making some!). After squeezing all of those limes, my hands were literally burning so I would highly recommend using gloves or having someone help you. Also, it’s important that you crush the graham crackers very fine. I don’t own a food processor (I didn’t even own a whisk up until a month ago), so I did the can-and-bag trick which worked well, but I was impatient as usual and didn’t crush them as fine as I should have. Other than that, this was incredibly quick and easy!