Is this gluten free?

Why, yes it is! My Key Lime Pie passed the holiday-with-wheat-eating-relatives test! It had been a year since I'd enjoyed a piece of pie for dessert. So I was probably the happiest about eating pie. But none of my relatives left even a crumb on their plate.

The crust was confusing part. I can't eat any packaged cookies, even the gluten free ones. And all the cookie recipes call for baking soda, which is off my list. So I decided to bake up some vanilla cookies without baking soda. I was just going to turn them into crumbs.

Crumb Crust Cookies

1 C butter
2 1/2 C sugar (Next time I'll use 2 C)
vanilla scrapings from 1/4 vanilla bean pod
2 eggs
3 C brown rice flour
1 t salt

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla. Add eggs. Beat well. Blend in flour and salt. Roll into balls and flatten the balls slightly. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet at bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Remove when they just start to brown around the edges.

*Note: They were a little dense and my crumbs were a little big. Next time I'll try whipping two of the egg whites and folding them in last. I hope that will give me a lighter cookie.

Key Lime Pie

Crust
1 C cookie crumbs (I ground mine in the food processor)
4 T melted butter

Press your gooey mixture into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Cream layer
1/2 C fresh lime juice
4 egg yolks
1 - 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Separate the eggs and put the yolks in the mixing bowl. Whip them until they are creamy light yellow. Add the lime juice and milk. Beat until it thickens. Pour into cooled pie shell. Bake for about ten minutes while you make meringue.

In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites until they are stiff. Add 6 T sugar. Beat until the sugar dissolves. Spread the meringue over the creamy layer of your pie. Be artistic! Bake another 10 minutes and remove pie when the meringue is nicely browned. Let the pie cool at room temperature for a couple of hours before refrigerating.

My mom made these polar bears to decorate her yard for Christmas. The bears entertained neighbors and passersby, and their photo appeared in our local newspaper. They are constructed of papier mache and painted with exterior latex (house paint.) They are nearly weather-proof. One of the bears was seen wearing a plastic bag over his head during a recent rainstorm. Thankfully, the paparazzi missed that moment.


Welcome home, Cousin Kathy! Missed you! She's on the right. I'm on the left. As you can see, my side of the family is "cheekier" than Kathy's side. My puke green sweater with fur collar was maybe the second bold fashion statement I've made in my whole life. I wore it all day and all night on Christmas Eve. I attended three different Christmas celebrations that day. Christmas Eve is my birthday, and it was a really happy one! Who needs birthday cake when there's Key Lime Pie?!