Saturday was the last day at Ashwabay for the season and we headed up to join the fun. There were cardboard box races (Charlie won third fastest and Meg's 'ride' never made it down the hill), an easter egg hunt, a costume contest, tubing down Portway (Ted took third place) and a water skipping event. It was 77 degrees and sunny- unbelievable! Charlie was skiing in his shorts, t-shirt and a smile from ear to ear. It was a surreal afternoon, my brain knew it was March 17th but the warm breeze and sunshine felt like June. We sat outside the T-Bar with friends, had a couple of beers and cheered on the water skippers- it was one of the best St Patrick's Day I can remember.
The summer in March fun continued today with the first beach day of 2012. It was 70 degrees on the beach with sunshine and a warm breeze. The kids went swimming, built sand castles, dug holes and took turns burying each other. Will awed and amazed Sadie with his one-handed cartwheels and George reprised his role as Retriever Extraordinaire with the Chuck-it. I sat on the beach, listening to the water and thanked every lucky star I could think of for this taste of summer.
All the sun and sand made me think about Florida, which made me think about key lime pie (I liked the pies from Publix), which led to a trip to the grocery store and pie for dessert. The kids had smores when we got home from the beach and I headed into the kitchen to whip up dinner (chicken fajitas) and the aforementioned pie. I am sure we will get another cold snap and maybe a snowstorm but this respite from the cold and damp has been a godsend. While I will miss braises, stews and soups, this weekend reminded me how much I love grilling, sitting around the fire outside looking at the stars and of course, key lime pie and smores!
Key Lime Pie
Pie Crust
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp butter, melted
Filling
4 egg yolks
2 cans sweetened, condensed milk
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice or Nellie and Joe's Key Lime Juice
2 tbsp lime zest
Make Crust
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl with a fork until combined, then press mixture evenly onto bottom and up side of a 9-inch pie plate.
Bake crust in middle of oven 10 minutes and cool in pie plate on a rack. Leave oven on.
Make Filling and Bake Pie
Whisk together condensed milk and yolks in a bowl until combined. Add juice and zest, whisk until combined.
Pour filling into crust and bake in middle of oven 15 minutes. Cool pie completely on rack (filling will set as it cools), then chill, covered. If you are in a hurry, you can put the pie in the freezer after you pull it out of the oven. It will set within a couple hours.