Slice of the Week - Key Lime Pie

I  mentioned this before, but I recently had the wonderful opportunity to take a vacation and visit some friends, family and theme park animatronics in Florida. So fun. So relaxing. So necessary.

One afternoon, I found myself with some free time in the seaside community of Vero Beach. This meant two things: 1.) I was to take a long walk on the beach. 2.) I was to take myself out to an unnecessarily long lunch. Why? Because those two things don't exist in New York. Yes, we have beaches and yes, we have restaurants, but when was the last time you had five hours to kill? 

I digress.

I ended up willing away the hours at the aptly named Mulligan's Beach House Bar and Grill. It was wonderful. I had an Adirondack chair all to myself, and save for a nice old couple from Michigan, a retired bussinessman from Ohio and some seagulls, I barely saw anyone. The service was was a bit unorganized and slow, but it resulted in an extra glass of Pinot Grigio for me, so I'm really not going to complain. 

After a mahi mahi BLT on toasted French bread with crispy sweet potato fries and two glasses of wine, I received my accidental complimentary third glass and ordered a slice of Key Lime Pie. Because when in Rome, ya know? According to Wikipedia, Key limes are grown in the Florida Keys, have thiner rinds than the Persian limes more commonly found in American grocery stores, and are known for their tart flavor and intense aroma. According to a Travel Channel show I once saw, Key limes are lighter in color, and as a result any Key lime pie that has an electric green hue has been altered with food dye. According to the inebriated businessman from Ohio, the winds whipping off the Atlantic ocean beat up against the thin rinds of limes when they're on the tree, but that's what gives them their tart flavor. I took all this information with a grain of salt (and that third glass of wine) and dug into my pie.

It was tart and filling and sweet and creamy and not electric green and I could taste the ocean and all those wind-beaten limes. Really, any time I'm eating pie while simultaneously running my bare feet through warm sand and softly gazing at waves crashing in the ocean is a good time. But it was a very good slice of pie ;)