Green Pie!

It was late on Sunday night when I was overcome by a sudden, overwhelming urge to bake pie. Nothing else would do, it had to be pie! After all, I shortly realized, Tuesday was Pi Day (3.14), so it did in fact have to be pie. But not just pie, it had to be green pie, because this week is St. Patrick's Day too, and therefore green is a must.

This led to a google image search (sorted by color, mind you) of possibilities. It turns out there are only about 3 possibilities when you want a truly green pie. The first was grasshopper pie, a delicious blend of mint and chocolate, which happens to be one of my favorite flavor combos, but since I anticipated sharing my pie with my co-blogger Julie, who isn't much of a chocolate fan (I know, I've been demanding her woman card for that one), I opted against it. The next option I found was avocado pie. Ew. Blech. I don't like avocado, but for many reasons that just sounds gross. Enter Option #3, key lime pie! Perfect winner!

I came across this link in the process for Lemon Chiffon Pie. I thought this post was great. I have really enjoyed the Community Supported Home Cooking experience so far, especially contrasting my own cooking style with others'. That blog post is a perfect example of the differences between my personal cooking style and Julie's. Most of what I make is fairly quick, easy, and functional. It's not supposed to be pretty or refined, it's supposed to fill me up and taste good doing it. Julie's cooking is very often about style and refinement, with little to no shortcuts. Everybody has their own ways of doing things, I just thought this was a great moment to realize that everyone cooks for different reasons. Some people cook to express themselves and release their creativity, which sometimes I do, but usually for me cooking is a wholesome, enjoyable way of putting food in my belly.

The blog post alluded to a Key Lime Icebox Pie, which was perfect for my intentions, so I went for it. I always make my own graham cracker crust, but even better for certain situations is vanilla wafer crust (also, gingersnap crust is amazing). I have a standard recipe for graham cracker-like crusts, which I got out of my Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cheesecake Cookbook:

Dessert crust:
1 1/2 c. crushed cookies
3 tbsp sugar
1/3 c. butter (which always turn out too dry so I'd go with 6-7 tbsp)

Also, a personal cooking problem of mine: overenthusiastic use of vanilla. This recipe called for 1 tsp vanilla in the icebox pie. Being the enthusiast I am, I never measure vanilla with a proper measuring spoon. I just pour a little in the batter and call it good. Well, this time I went a little too far. There was definitely a blow-by-blow battle between the vanilla and lime juice for the leading role of this pie. It was still tasty, and satisfied my pie need, but I think I've finally come around to admitting my vanilla hubris.