I immodestly report that I am "The Pie Lady" of my community. It's really probably because hardly anyone except me makes pie anymore at all. I do, because I am not good at making pretty cakes, so that's always been my signature dessert. But Grandma Frieda, whose secret is my trick, was a sensational baker, right down to REAL, stretch-it-out-over-the-table-and-read-the-paper-through-it, strudel -- and pie was still one of her most-requested items. And they are good. I had one sell for $50 at an auction about 15 years ago, and a friend who is a restaurant critic asked me to make 3 blueberry pies for the dessert table at his wedding. So I have my pie cred. (Just don't ask me to make a gorgeous birthday cake or a photo-op tart, let alone strudel.) My crust recipe couldn't be simpler; it's based on the old Joy of Cooking one. I don't like butter for pie crust, and I can't use lard, so mine is all Crisco. Don't skimp on the salt, especially if your filling is sweet. The secret trick, though, is from my grandmother. I think the purpose is to soak up the extra juices to keep the bottom crust just right. So this is for fruit (and I guess rhubarb) pies, not cream pies or pie shells that are baked and then filled with something you cooked separately. By the way, don't bother cutting crust recipes in half. Pie dough freezes GREAT, either already rolled and formed or in a ball. Gellchom's two-crust fruit pie crust 2 cups flour (I use unbleached white) 1 t salt 2/3 cup solid shortening (don't tell your cardiologist), divided.* about 5 T water Mix flour and salt in a big bowl. Cut in half of the Crisco with a pastry blender. Then cut in the other half. Sprinkle on the water and mix gently with a fork until it can be gathered into a neat ball. Try to handle as little as possible. You may need a bit more or less depending on the weather. Wrap in wax paper or something. If you have time, refrigerate the dough for at least an hour, or up to a few days. Take it out to let it come to room temperature before rolling. Divide dough into two slightly uneven "halves." Roll out the larger and line a greased Pyrex pan. Here comes Grandma Frieda's secret: Crumble (very coarsely) 8-10 crackers, saltines or Ritz-type, into the bottom crust. Then add your fruit filling right on top of it. I absolutely promise you that even you, who know they are in there, will not be able to detect the slightest trace of those crackers when you serve it. Roll out and affix the top crust. Make 6 Vs for vents. Trim and crimp the edges and re-roll the scraps to make pretty or amusing shapes to "glue" onto the top with a bit of milk or water.** *I used to use Crisco or "I Can't Believe It's Not Crisco!" (i.e., store brand equivalent), but the Crisco sticks are SO much more convenient, I use them now, even though they are more expensive. I make pie so rarely -- that's how I justify the extravagance as well as the cholesterol. **On Thanksgiving, I got tired of pictures of a turkey or an apple, so now I do stuff like the letter Pi and a map of Turkey. One year we did a skull and crossbones!

I love the Keys, I have been going down there since we worked as bartender hoppers one spring back in 76', well at least 20 years ago I did. I hadn't been down through there for about 15 years and took a road trip from our place in Charlotte Harbor about 5 years and was very disappointed. Back in the early 90's as soon as you went below Key Largo it was like getting off the airplane on the islands. No chain restaurants, really not commercialized at all. It was actually hard to believe we were in North America. Since then McDonald's and everything that goes with it. Sad to see. I wish everyone that visits for the first time could have experienced the Conch Republic how it was meant to be enjoyed. The place Jimmy sang about doesn't resemble the place you are going to visit. Don't get me wrong it is still beautiful just different now. If you don't enjoy seafood save yourselves the trip. You must get off the beaten path. Key West is the tourist trap. Be prepared to pay for it as well. Look at prices online. A small room for $300.00 a night downtown is normal. We stay in Little Deer Key for an efficiency and one bed, pool, for $275.00 a night 5 years ago, it is actually a fishing camp, a 5 minute walk to a canal and one can catch fish all day or cast from the boat dock. But you must beware of gators and poisonous snakes, this is there home, we are visitors. As for fishing you don't just get in a boat and go fishing, this is serious water for serious boaters, there are seadoo and small boat rentals but I would recommend small boating on the Gulf side vs. The Atlantic unless on a small bay. Licenses are required for fishing and regulations are strictly enforced. You must know what is in season as well as the sizes you may keep or not. Equipment and bait is available on charters which is your best bet and can be had for half day outings. You don't just throw off your shoes and socks and wade into the water to fish like we do up north here. Stepping on a Stingray can have serious and sometimes fatal results. The best deep sea fishing is in Islamorada, it is the best in the entire world including Cabo in Mexico. Some of the best beaches are in KW. You must go to the KW aquarium where you can pick up a baby nurse shark, if you would enjoy that type of thing. I was going to recommend a oyster place that has been there for 80 years but I read no oysters. They have 2 things on the menu oysters and cold beer. This is the place that Hemingway would have spent more time in than the house they say was his. Everyone says their hotel is where he ate, slept, drank, wrote so they can charge you for it. On the way down don't be afraid to get off to the small keys. I have been to so many over the years that you can't see them all in one month, so I'll keep it to one can't miss place. Little Deer Key and Deer key. There is a restaurant hole in the wall kind of place we love. It was a stop over spot for fishing boats to load up on ice at the turn of the century. A favorite place of Dwight D. Eisenhower I believe. Ask for the place with the dollar bill wallpaper. The best burger I have had in the states. On Little Key there is a State Park that has walkways into the mangroves where you can observe big gators in the wild, keep a close eye on them if they are anywhere near an egret. And have your camera ready, the teens will think it's a blast. The best beach is Bahia Honda State park. As for Key West being a destination for gays, yes it is. That shouldn't deter any mature person. I love Provincetown as well, very educational when your 18 years old to say the least. As for going down to the Keys in the summer, you had better enjoy wet heat. Yes forget makeup and bring a hat. I have been to Cuba for work in July, and Finland in December. I wouldn't go to either place during those extreme climates unless paid to do so, and paid well I must add. My goodness I just wrote a travel blog, time to give it a rest. Enjoy, I just wish everyone could have enjoyed the way it was meant to be without the Walgreens and Wallmart, and in January. This post was edited by SouthernCanuck on Sat, May 4, 13 at 4:08

I have a lot of containerized Citrus which like you, keep outside most of the year then protect over the colder months. I do grow both Meyer's and Key Lime. I would not say one is more fragile than the other or more or less productive but there are differences. Key Limes are more compact but much thornier compared to a lot of Citrus (though there is a thornless variety I believe). They are also somewhat more cold sensitive. Their tart flavor is unique in recipes, but I do prefer the Persian Lime (a bigger tree even when immature). A nice thing about the Meyer's is the incredible fragrance of flowers (not as intense on Key Limes). As a containerized grower, I do prefer the relatively dwarf Kumquats. They offer good to excellent cold resistance, are thornless and productive. There is even a lime X Kumquat hybrid. If do go with a Key Lime, just be sure to avoid frost it. Good luck!

Parker T - > just FYI - in my particular yards, I had conflicting scenarios (after dips to 18-19F) but have a different preference. I've "soured" on any cultivar with 'quat in its name; they are not as cold hardy as I had hoped. In Napa, the Eustis Limequat (on Volk) was killed to just about the graft - regrew and is now 10 ft. tall - took over a year. The Bearss lime just lost its leaves and refoliated, produced a huge crop right away. In Danville, the Bearrs lime was completely destroyed, the Volk rootstock lived. While the Eustis in my neighbor's yard was defoliated and came back. From what I've seen since, the Eustis fruit gets destroyed quickly when the temps go below freezing. The Bearss lime fruit can and has survived to 29/30F. So my vote is for the Bearss or Persian lime -because I want fruit! - far better for my climate's fall/winter dips below freezing. - George