Key Lime Christmas

Try this easy, old-fashioned pie filling recipe with a graham cracker crust and meringue or whipped cream.

Key limes, the tiny little citrus fruits—more yellow than bright green and juicer (for their size) than the typical Mexican or Persian variety—are a Christmastime treat for me. For the last couple of years, I’ve had the pleasure of skipping a winter wonderland and spending the holidays on Key Colony Beach, located on mile marker 53 ½ in the Florida Keys.

Burdine's famous fried Key lime pie.

It’s here where the produce section at the local grocery store stocks green mesh bags filled with fresh Key limes. Where in the bottom of corner store ice cream cases sit a stack of frozen pies ready to be thawed and served. And every restaurant menu offers a classic slice or some variation on the theme. At Burdine’s, a great waterside joint, with ice cold beer, spicy fries, and a bucket on each table containing condiments and a roll of paper towels, they serve fried key lime pie—a thin layer of pie dough, filled with Key lime custard, rolled up like a little burrito, and deep fried. The Shell Man, a novel shop with shells galore, sells slices, dipped in dark chocolate on a stick, to enjoy while perusing aisles of souvenirs and curiosities.

Perfect for fresh key lime margaritas.

It’s a nice time, to spend my days away from the kitchen mostly and enjoy a weeklong life of seaside escape. Where the key limes I bring home find their way juiced into margaritas, or wedged on the rim of a rum and ginger ale, as I catch up some much needed reading and rays.