"key lime" news and stories

I used to curl my lip at my dad's dedication to Key Lime pie. As a kid, it was just too much for me. But once I went to Key West, and had the classic, perfectly made pie myself, I was hooked.

Now I need to try the new ice cream recipe over at The Kitchn -- Key Lime Dream Ice Cream! (Part of the recipe is currently cut off, hopefully it will be fixed soon.) The only complaint I have is that it just says "lime juice" in the ingredients. But at least the submitter says: "If you're lucky enough to find them (unlike me..), substitute key limes for the Persian limes. Cook's Illustrated says the taste is the same between the two, so don't fret about calling it key lime..."

Eh, I'll still fret. The amount of non-Key Lime recipes out there that use the title drive me nuts. If its a good recipe, it doesn't lose its magic to take out the "key." Heck, called it "Persian Lime Dream," if you can't find Key Limes. We don't call sweet potato or yam dishes just "potato." We don't label something "mandarin orange" and then put regular oranges in. So why is everyone so intent on using the "Key Lime" label without using the actual fruit?

Okay, rant over. Now it's time to drool over the thought of how tasty this will be...

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• This month's recipes: Sweet & Spicy Chicken Curry, Cashews with Crispy Sage and Garlic, Potato Chips with Chevre, Pepper Jelly, and Bacon, Smoked Mozarella Spread with Flatbread Crackers, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Pumpkin and Yellow Split Pea Soup, Savory Cranberry-Walnut Biscuits, Dr. Pepper-Glazed Ham with Prunes, Roasted Turkey with Italian Sausage Stuffing, Apple Cake with Toffee Crust, and Slow Cooker Sour Cream Cheesecake.

We're back on Target. Or rather, we're back to looking at Target's in-store brand, Archer Farms, and some of the products they offer.

I mentioned the Chocolate Chip Petite Cookies last week, which were fine, but not worth running off to Target, battling the Soccer Moms in SUVs in the parking lot, and waiting in a confusing doubled-up line for 15 minutes. They're chocolate chip cookies, for goodness' sake!

Key Lime White Chocolate Cookies are the next installment of my Archer Farms Target Finds. The cookies are packaged in the same way as the regular chocolate chip, but everything is green -- in case you couldn't figure out that there is lime somewhere in the cookie.

Larabar specializes in making healthy, delicious snack bars from a blend of fruits, nuts and spices. Their energy bars are completely unprocessed, uncooked, non GMA, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, vegan and kosher - and despite their simple makeup (each has less than six ingredients) they taste great thanks to the natural sweetness of the high-quality ingredients that they use.

Last year, they added Lemon Bar and Cinnamon Roll to their lineup of bars, bringing the total number of bars in the line to ten for a few months, but the reaction was so positive that they just announced that another pair of new flavors are being launched on March 5th: Key Lime Pie and Pistachio. Hopefully, the Key Lime Pie will have the same bright, almost juicy flavor that the excellent Lemon Bar does.

The other recent addition to Larabar's offerings is the Jocalat line. Jocalat has evolved from the Maya bars that the company was offering last year and are a more candy-like product than the standard Larabars because they use fair trade certified organic chocolate in each one, in addition to their standard fruits and nuts. The bars are available in Chocolate, Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Coffee and Chocolate Mint (the coffee is my favorite) and each has just 190 calories, in addition to being entirely organic, high in fiber, protein, good fats and antioxidants.

Only a few days ago, I posted about Georgia and Alabama squabbling over the rights to a state fruit. Well, now it would appear that a couple of Florida politicians are bickering over which pie should represent my great home state. State Rep. Mitch Needelman of Melbourne (southern Florida) along with Rep. Ken Sorensen of Key Largo both feel that the key lime pie should be the state pie, according to a recent story in the Miami Herald. Rep. Dwight Stansel of Wellborn (northern Florida) thinks that pecan pie is a better suited icon for our illustrious state.

As a lifelong Floridian, it's a tough choice and I'm fond of both of them.

[Photo: Nick Vagnoni]
[Via Keys Treasures]

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