A Note on the Ripeness of Key Limes

The two dogs currently sleeping on my lap are preventing me from getting up and doing things. At least that's my official excuse for not moving. I'm simply too kind a person to disturb a sleeping creature, even if that creature sleeps 18 hours a day, at least 12 of which are in a bed that contains an unethical amount of down.

See what I mean? Note the comfortably outstretched legs in the background.

Having already spent too much time trapped on the couch by the creatures while scrutinizing how I look in my friend's wedding photos (and reluctantly accepting that I am the antithesis of the Ridiculously Photogenic Guy), I need a more positive task. And being just another food blogger, it seems like the perfect time to write a post.

Last summer, I learned the hard way that key limes are yellow when ripe. Being a bit of a know-it-all, I defiantly challenged my friend Tyler to "google it" to settle our debate about the color of key limes when they ripen. I had to eat crow after Wikipedia proved me wrong. But at least I learned why my first key lime pie was too sour. Until recently, I used regular limes for my key lime pie, so it would have been more accurately described as "lime pie" (but that doesn't sound fancy enough). Regular limes work well for pie and are easier to zest. In fact, I find key limes have too thin and soft a rind to grate easily, so I leave out the zest. I don't think the flavor is diminished by the lack of zest. In fact, a couple of people commented that the pie was a little too tart even without the zest; although, I prefer it that way. Perhaps I need a nice new grater  to test this out.

Notice in this picture the limes range in color from green to yellow.

I used the yellow limes for my two pies. The green ones I saved for another pie. Many of these green limes aren't ripening to an appetizing yellow, but rather are turning from green to brown.  I blame this on having purchased these limes at Walmart (a very unfortunate consequence of unemployment). I imagine if they were from Whole Foods, they would ripen into a lovely, rich yellow and somehow never turn brown or get blotchy.     

The limes don't last long once they turn yellow. The key seems to be to purchase the limes about a week in advance if they are green and then wait patiently until they are the right color. This will be a challenge for me, but the pie is tastier if you use yellow key limes.