Calling all key lime pie fans, do I have the recipe for you!! This Key Lime Pie Eclair has become my new favorite dessert! (This post may contain affiliate links)
As the summer is winding down (BOO) I am still trying to hang on to it as long as I can. My garden is still going strong and it is hot as all get out, so to me summer is still hanging around. With the heat advisories we are trying not to use the oven as much for cooking and baking. So a lot of no bake desserts, crock pot recipes, and grilling out is happening at our house. ( I am not complaining one bit)
Kim from A Well-Seasoned Life has come out with her very first cookbook, Southern on a Shoestring. Kim says " With this cookbook, I hope to show readers that the spirit of Southern cooking can be captured regardless of location and without financial sacrifice. For me, the spirit of Southern cooking is defined in two ways: by the ingredients, and by the attitude in which the ingredients are used." I could not agree more!
As I thumbed through Southern on a Shoestring, I earmarked several recipes to try. All the recipes are simple, easy, and are very similar to the way I cook for my family. But the one that caught my attention the most was the very LAST recipe in the cookbook. I knew right away that the Key Lime Pie Eclair was the one to make.
This is one of the easiest no bake recipes you could make. The hardest part is just waiting for it to chill in the fridge. As it sits in the fridge, those key lime pie flavors meld together and create a flavor explosion. It's like a party in your mouth!
Boy, did she save the best for last!! It was an instant hit with the family and I am already thinking about when to make it again. Take this along to any of those potlucks or cookouts this summer and watch it disappear. You might want to carry a copy of the recipe with you though, I guarantee someone will be asking for it before the day is done.
Key Lime Pie Eclair
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup key lime juice
2 (8 oz) containers whipped topping
graham crackers
1 tsp. lime zest
In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, condensed milk, and lime juice. Gently fold in one container of whipped topping. In a serving dish, place one layer of graham crackers across the bottom of the dish. Add 1/2 of cream cheese mixture. Repeat the process with another layer of crackers, followed by the rest of the cream cheese mixture. Finish with a layer of whipped topping and sprinkle with lime zest. Cover and refrigerate until serving. (recommended overnight to soften the crackers.)
Citrus is one of my all time favorite flavors. A
splash of citrus juices or zest can lend just the right amount of zing to so many
dishes. When shopping for citrus fruits look for ones that are heavy
for their size, firm, free of wrinkles, bruises, or soft spots, and show no
signs of puffiness. Although good color can be appealing, it doesn't always
indicate quality or ripeness. You can store them in a cool, dry, dark place which will help them stay fresh for a few days or you can store them in the refrigerator. They will keep for up to two to three weeks in the fridge.
To maximize the amount of juice when juicing, roll the fruit firmly on a work surface or squeeze it
between your palms. Zest is the perfect pick-me-up for many sweet and savory dishes. You want to rinse and dry the fruit well before zesting. If you are juicing and zesting the fruit, do the zest first. Once the fruit is juiced, the zest is almost impossible to remove. (trust me, I know) Use a micro plane zester, or the smallest holes on a box grater to zest the fruit. Be careful to remove only the colored portion of the peel and not the white pith directly beneath it. It is very bitter and will ruin the flavor of your dishes.
If you find yourself throwing out way too many citrus fruits
that have spoiled like I do, freeze the juice. It can be frozen for up to 6
months. Just pour the fruit juice into ice cube trays. Once they are frozen, pop them out and store in a freezer zip top bag and have fresh citrus juice whenever you need to add a little zing to your dishes.
Of course, since I love citrus fruits so much I decided to put together a collection of great citrus recipes from my blogger friends. There is a lot of deliciousness all right here in one spot. Enjoy!!
(Click picture or recipe title to view the recipe)
Easy Orange Rolls - The Country Cook
Go ahead, spread a little sunshine!
Which recipe are you going to make first?
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One of our neighbors shared her lovely strawberries from their garden last week while we were pet sitting and of course I needed to use them in something wonderful. They were fantastic just picking them up and eating them like candy. I mean seriously, every time I walked into the kitchen they were calling out to me and I had to go and see what they wanted. They insisted that they needed a quality check. Yep, you guessed it, they were perfect. One by one they all passed and made it into my belly. Thank goodness the next day we were blessed with some more. Did I say how much I love my neighbors?
Look at these beauties.
I wish I had a strawberry patch!
Yesterday my husband and I had some errands to run and one of those was to hit the store. It is funny how a few things on your mental list change as soon as you walk into the store. We wandered to the food side of the store to get hamburger rolls for the hamburgers we were grilling for dinner. One thing led to another and all of a sudden we had a bunch of stuff in the cart.
Does this happen to anyone else besides me? I always seem to wander out of the store with more than what I had intended to buy. Sometimes leaving without the main thing I was going in for. Don't even get me started on the list. I will spend time writing "the list" before we go, to either leave it at home or never even pull it out. Drives me nuts when I do this. Somehow I guess I just think I will remember everything I put on "the list" I guess I am more of a visual person and when I see it somehow I "think" it will spark a memory. Yeah, we will go with that.
I am known for buying too many fresh ingredients and not use them up before they go bad. While in the store I asked the hubby if we should get some fruit. I was inching my way through the produce department grabbing probably every fruit there was in there. After quite a few things he says to me "we will never eat all this" but in my crazy mind I kept picking up stuff and putting it in my cart. He now knows how my mind works overtime when I am in the grocery store. When those creative juices start flowing, it is hard to stop it. Needless the say, I bought a lot of fresh fruit and the first thing I did was make a fruit salad. I can assure you this one will not last long.
Tropical Fruit Salad
1 pineapple, cut into smaller chunks
4 kiwi fruits, sliced
3 mangoes, cubed
6 mandarin oranges, peeled and separated
2 tablespoons of honey
Juice of 2 limes
zest of 1 lime
Prepare fruit and place in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine the lime zest, lime juice, and honey. Whisk until combined and pour over fruit. Toss fruit until honey mixture covers fruit. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
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