Hi everyone, I made some Strawberry Tarts as part of “Tuesdays with Dorie” http://tuesdayswithdorie.wordpress.com  and some strawberry shortcakes as well. Then I posted the picture on my brand new blog—http://bungalowbarbara.blogspot.com

The tarts were good, but we really preferred the shortcakes!

Oh, and here’s the latest—a Key Lime pie just out of the oven.

Made from Rose’s recipe in the Pie and Pastry Bible. No meringue, neither of us like it. Jim picked up a 2-lb bag of Key Limes at the grocery store, so it was made with fresh-squeezed Key lime juice. Man, squeezing those tiny things was a pain. We both worked on it. Had to stop and rest frequently.

I had heard that Key lime zest was bitter. I decided to test it. I grated a bit of zest, combined with sugar and yogurt (1/8 tsp. zest, 1/2 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. yogurt) and tasted it. Then I did the same thing with regular Persian lime zest. Yes, the Key lime zest did seem more bitter.

So this was made with Persian lime zest.

We’re having trouble waiting for it to cool!

i love the look of your Key Lime Pie, A slice of that would be very welcome!

I tried to leave a comment on your blog but I was unsuccessful as I do not have a Google/blogger account!  I will bookmark your blog however and click on as I find it interesting and we seem to have a few things in common, ie. knitting ,embroidery etc.  Good luck with Tuesdays with Dorie,  I have her book too so will be interested to see how you get on with the challenges!

Congratulations on launching your blog Barbara. The strawberry tart and shortcakes look really good and so does the key lime pie.

Barbara- everything looks great!! But my heart is breaking a little that you don’t like meringue.

I generally prefer shortcakes or other vehicles for fruit rather than tart dough. Tarts seduce you with their prettiness and often disappoint in flavor town.

Mmmm, I love meringue, but I know several people who don’t…. more for me I guess .

All kidding aside, I love your pics Barbara, and congrats on the launch of your blog!

As for all of those teeny tiny key limes you had to squeeze - have you seen these tools?  They make squeezing a pleasure!

Barbara - I think I managed to leave a comment on your blog, but it’s not showing up yet.  Very nice job with it, btw!

Thank you, everyone!

Jeannette, I will find out how to set up my blog so you don’t have to have a Google account to comment. I’m still learning about all this!

We both like whipped cream much better than meringue. Good thing we live in Wisconsin!

The tart dough was very tasty, but I just love the way the juices soak into the shortcake…live and learn!

Patrincia, I had seen those squeezers on a DVD of America’s Test Kitchen and coveted it immediately. I told Jim if we made any more Key lime tarts that we HAD to get them! (By the way, any recommendations for sources? Do you have one? Do they work well?)

Barbara A. - 11 June 2008 01:42 PM

Patrincia, I had seen those squeezers on a DVD of America’s Test Kitchen and coveted it immediately. I told Jim if we made any more Key lime tarts that we HAD to get them! (By the way, any recommendations for sources? Do you have one? Do they work well?)

Hi Barbara - Yes I do have one and I love it!  I’ve seen them for sale all over the place - catalogs, kitchen store, even Wal-mart.  They are usually green, yellow, or orange.  My kitchen is mostly stainless and I’m not too fond of brightly colored kitchen tools (nothing against The Yellow Kitchen Hector buddy), but I managed to find a white one at TJ Maxx some time ago.  I believe Oxo Good Grips is making a stainless one now. 

The neat thing about these squeezers are you put 1/2 of a lemon/lime/whatever into the thing, kind of upside-down like, and the plunger thingy ends up turning the half inside-out while it squeezes every last drop of juice from the empty shell it leaves behind.  I only have the lemon sized one, and it works for limes very well.  I’ve even squeezed a few oranges with it after I cut the halves into quarters (I have to do that with some of the larger lemons too).

Barbara A. - 11 June 2008 01:42 PM

Patrincia, I had seen those squeezers on a DVD of America’s Test Kitchen and coveted it immediately. I told Jim if we made any more Key lime tarts that we HAD to get them! (By the way, any recommendations for sources? Do you have one? Do they work well?)

Hi Barbara - Yes I do have one and I love it!  I’ve seen them for sale all over the place - catalogs, kitchen store, even Wal-mart.  They are usually green, yellow, or orange.  My kitchen is mostly stainless and I’m not too fond of brightly colored kitchen tools (nothing against The Yellow Kitchen Hector buddy), but I managed to find a white one at TJ Maxx some time ago.  I’d post a photo of it, but I can’t figure out how to resize my photos on my new computer - have to wait until the tech savvy teen gets home.  Oh, I believe Oxo Good Grips is making a stainless one now.

The neat thing about these squeezers are you put 1/2 of a lemon/lime/whatever into the thing, kind of upside-down like, and the plunger thingy ends up turning the half inside-out while it squeezes every last drop of juice from the empty shell it leaves behind.  I only have the lemon sized one, and it works for limes very well.  I’ve even squeezed a few oranges with it after I cut the halves into quarters (I have to do that with some of the larger lemons too).

Here’s a slice of the Key Lime pie. It was delicious! I like Rose’s recipe better than the “standard” one I’ve made before - hers has more lime juice (good, because I think the standard version is too sweet) and a beaten egg white to give both firmness & lightness. And the graham cracker crust was great too.

....sorry…I can’t post anything sensible…. still drooling over that slice of pie