This week, it would seem that we have been more or less taking it in turns to create in the kitchen.

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Himself was left home alone whilst #1 daughter, kids and I decamped down the mountain to the beautiful lakeside town of Annecy. It is in an amazing setting, with a huge lake and the whole is surrounded by mountains and hills. The downside is, as it is so beautiful, both in winter and summer is that it is a huge tourist attraction. Summer is particularly bad and more so this year because the French are also Staycationing ! ( Les Vacances en places). Consequently, there are the locals who wish to enjoy their wonderful town, lake, mountains and beaches, and the visitors who wish to do the same.

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Parking proved to be a nightmare, all Complet! The French and Belgians are very apt to do as they please in these circumstances, and that is Double Park! Which of course adds to the chaos! And then the almost extinct priorité à droite. Which is really very interesting, as in the middle of the old town there are lots of minor crossroads, all of which have to give way to each other! The end result ? GRIDLOCK !

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Abandoning our sortie into town, we headed to the beach where said daughter was interviewing and taking part in Freediving. Another first though a challenge with the French Electric charging point, in which we succeeded, before beach and diving ( not me you understand,); I was happy to ‘ Babysit’ on dry land.

Meanwhile, himself taught himself how to make crumble, which was much admired followed by Miss Tess making a Key Lime Pie and then a Pad Thai for dinner!

A true Key Lime Pie is made with what Americans call Key Limes, which are in fact more like Mexican limes, they are smaller and nowhere near as green as the limes that we find in Europe and are best used when the skin has turned a dull yellow. Beware they do contain many more pips. Another feature of the typical Key Lime Pie is the base, again traditionally made with Graham crackers crushed ( akin to Digestives) but can also be made with Speculoos, ginger nuts etc. Some recipes also say a pastry base, but this is a bit contentious to my mind. Key Lime pie is never green ( do not use green colouring) and is always made with condensed milk, as fresh milk was unavailable in the Florida Keys until about 1930. In 2006 , Key Lime Pie was made the official Pie of the State of Florida! And was winner

For a Nine inch pie/ Flan tin

Following on from Tess my 11 year old granddaughter I decided also to make a Key Lime pie. She made hers in an oblong 9×13” pan. But I opted for the more traditional pie or flan pan.

• For the Base
• 10 Oz of Speculoos, or any other biscuits such as digestives or ginger nuts, crushed
• 75 grms unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar ( optional as the biscuits are already fairly sweet)
• For the Filling
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 Oz / 3/4Cup of Lime juice, bottled is fine
• 1 large can (400 grms) of sweetened condensed milk
• Grated zest of 2 limes ( optional)

Heat the oven to 190 C.

Crush the biscuits and mix with the sugar and melted butter. Press into the pie dish including the sides. ( a pan with a loose bottom is good and an easy way to extract the pie from the pan when ready to serve.)

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Bake the crust for about 12 minutes only and in the meantime prepare the filling, by beating together the Lime Juice, condensed milk and the egg yolks, along with the lime zest if using. Pour into the crumb case and bake on the middle shelf for about another 20-25 minutes. It should be set round the edges and have a slight wobble in the middle.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool before refrigerating, and serve with whipped cream and lime zest or thin slices of lime.

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I just saw a recipe for Key Lime pie that needed no cooking whatsoever! Firstly it used a shop bought base and secondly the condensed milk was then incorporated with Cool Whip. For the uninitiated, cool whip is an American product that to my mind is just awful, but Hey Ho, who am I to judge .

Kraft Cool Whip’s first ingredient is water, followed by hydrogenated vegetable oil, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, and — finally — skim milk. From its name, you would think that the cream part of this “whipped topping” would appear higher on the list. Alas, Cool Whip is mostly just syrupy oil.

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