Key Lime Can Do (part 1):

About once a month, we have a dinner party with a few close friends. And since I'm a silent show off, I like being in charge of dessert. The week before said get-together, I post on facebook, asking what I should make for dessert. It's fun for me because I get to see what everyone is craving; and I don't have to do any guesswork--in some circles this is called "lazy." I say "whatev's"
So this month's winner was Key lime pie. I instantly had a whole Hemmingway moment until I went into the grocery store and couldn't find any Key lime juice. Punks! I can't live like this, with your limited choices and my need to shop in less than an hour so my kids don't have a meltdown in aisle 6. So, here's what I did and here's how it turned out.....

First, you need a proper graham cracker crust. Ok ok, go ahead, buy it. You know, take the easy road and get that little 8 inch pan with it's tissue paper thin crust and make sure you don't bump it or it will crumble and you'll never ever get it to go back together. Go ahead. Yummy....gag.
MAKE YOUR OWN CRUST!!!!! What the hell? It's 3 ingredient. If you can vote for the president of the United States, you can make a graham crust. How? Put a sleeve of crackers in a ziploc back and smash the hell out of them with a rolling pin. Pour a half a cup of sugar in the bag and shake your money maker. Melt a stick of butter (NOT MARGARINE, honestly, people) and pour it into the bag. Shakey shakey. Pour it into a sprayed pie pan. Okay, so here's where I tell you that I'm using a deeper pan for this particular pie. Not the aluminum disposables. Not like a casserole dish or anything, just a 9x2 inch baby (if you have one of those nice pyrex dishes, use it here). You do what you want but the filling is for a big girl's pie, k? Press your crumbs into the pan (you'll have some left over, keep it in the bag in your pantry). Use a measuring cup to press the crust into the sides and bottom smoothly. Now pop this little beauty into your oven that you so thoughtfully turned on to 350 about 15 minutes before and bake the shell for about 15 minutes. DO IT.
Here's why: when you prebake your graham crust, you are caramelizing the sugar with the crackers and butter and it will now hold together instead of scooting out of the way when you pour in some thick, yummy filling. Now you have a crust you can be proud of. Let her cool while you make the pie.
Now, I'm gonna tell you a little something you want to know--you can make this crust with any cookie or cracker and its good stuff. Vanilla waffers, ginger snaps, oreos--go on with ya bad self, you tricky fool.
Now for the filling...