Dirty Little Secret

Yep. There it is. My most favorite summer dessert: Key Lime Pie. I know the picture isn't the best (taking a good picture of a white frozen treat in a white bowl isn't exactly easy), but it tastes amazing. Sweet, tart, and cool on a hot summer day!

Here's why my post has that elusive title: it's REALLY REALLY easy to make. So easy, I'm almost embarassed to post the recipe on here. But, why be stingy with a good thing, right?

So, here it is - my dirty little secret:

2/3 cup Jo & Nellie's Key Lime Juice
8 oz. Lite Cool Whip
14 oz. Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 graham cracker crust

Literally, all you do is mix the first three ingredients in a bowl until blended, pour it into the graham cracker crust, and freeze for 1-2 hours (until it's totally frozen through and through). If you want to eat it frozen (that's how I like it), just slice a piece and eat it! If you'd rather it be a little creamier, let it sit out for a few minutes before you devour your piece.

Hope you enjoy it! I just can't tell you how good it is! Hope everyone enjoys it and is enjoying her/his summer!

~ Mari

My, Oh My, Sweet Potato Pie

How thrilled were we to be making pie in Bakery Skills? Quite. We were to make two flaky pie crusts, one graham cracker crust, one sweet potato pie, and one key lime pie.

Have you ever tried to make flaky pie crust from scratch? It is not an easy feat. It's quite hard to keep it from being too crumbly... which causes it to fall apart while trying to put it in the pie pan (not that that happened to me...). I definitely over-mixed my shortening into the flour. If you mix it slightly you'll get a flaky crust and if you mix it as much as I did, you get a mealy crust. A mealy crust might be desirable for a custard, but not so much for a sweet potato pie.

The pie filling came out quite well, though. Lots of brown sugar and evaporated milk (makes a more rich pie than whole milk). Yum. Mine might have gotten a little overcooked, but nothing too bad. You want the middle to be very jiggly when it comes out of the oven. Mine was only slightly jiggly. Fail. :)

The key lime pie came out pretty good... looking, that is. We didn't get to try either pie in class, but I got to taste the sweet potato pie today in Culinary Cafe. It was divine. I always thought pumpkin pie was the perfect fall pie... I was wrong. Sweet potato pie is amazing (especially with REAL whipped cream).

So, I am quite excited about the upcoming weeks. I have to make a ginerbread house or a specialty bread for the final baking project. I'll definitely put some pictures up of that. I'm also choosing my classes for next semester. Ace of Cakes... here I come (I'm taking cake decorating)!

Off to watch the most important election.... ever. I hope I won't have to stay up too late, considering I have to be in class at 8:00 am tomorrow. ;)