Key Lime Pie and Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

I've made key lime pie a ton of times, but have never blogged about it. It's one of the easiest desserts I've made, and this recipe makes a pie very similar to what I've eaten when I've been in Florida, the famed birthplace of the key lime pie. The recipe tells you to make your own graham cracker crust, but I just use a store-bought crust. I use bottled key lime juice (I use the Nellie and Joe's brand, which you can get at some grocery stores). I've tried making it with real key limes, but squeezing all those tiny limes made my hand hurt, and the pie didn't taste any better than it does with bottle juice. I'm all for making things from scratch if it makes things taste better, but if it doesn't, well, my mother didn't raise a fool. I've also tried making it with Persian limes (the regular limes you find at the grocery store) - do not do this. It's a totally different taste and not nearly as tart. I also just use Reddi-Wip (the generic version of course, because even though I'm a foodie, I am still cheap) instead of whipping my own whipped cream, because that's what I'm used to having on my key lime pies. This makes a nice, tart pie. Cut back on the juice if you don't want it as tart, or just add more whipped cream on top.

I had to use up all my key lime juice, so I decided to try this new ice cream recipe I found. It was great when it was right out of the ice cream maker and was still soft, and my husband immediately declared that it was the best ice cream I've ever made. However, the next day it was not nearly as stupendous. The texture was kind of icy and gritty... the flavor was good but I could not get past the texture. It was kind of a let down, as I was really looking forward to homemade key lime pie ice cream. Maybe this recipe would be better with more cream and less milk, or throwing some eggs in there. Or maybe I should just make key lime pie and just freeze it. Oh well. I will keep experimenting.