"Easy" Key Lime Pie

Northern Cali is great for a lot of things, and one of those things is fresh produce.  We often go to Larry's Produce in Suisun Valley.  It's great because you can get tons of fresh produce for cheap, and we are support local business!  Anyway, Larry's has Key limes, and even though they're actually imported from Mexico instead of the Florida Keys, I still had to pick up a bag and make some "real" Key lime treats!

My first attempt was a Key lime "cheesecake".  I found a super simple recipe online, and went to work!  I knew the reason most people don't use real Key limes in their dishes is because they're sooo tiny and labor-intensive, so I was prepared.  I bought a little hand-juicer (that's really cute, too!) and readied myself to cut and juice a lot of little limes.  It actually went pretty easy, but it took me 23 limes to get the 3/4 Cup of juice I needed for the recipe.  Anyway, the recipe turned out less like a "cheesecake" and more like what I know to be a Key lime pie.  And, besides the juicing the recipe was super simple, and the pie ended up being delicious!

Here's the recipe I used ->

Ingredients:
1 prepared graham cracker crust (or make your own - might make it that much better)
1 Pkg Softened Philadelphia (I think any brand is better than Philadelphia) cream cheese

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2-3/4 cup key lime juice (I prefer closer to 3/4 for tartness)
*You could just use regular lime juice of course, if you want this to be super easy and fast.

Directions:

Blend in food processor until smooth.

Pour in pie shell and refrigerate.

*And you may want to serve it with whipped cream!

Enjoy!