Phillip was a little down heading into the weekend since he knew he had to start a month of night shifts on Sunday. I couldn’t work his shifts for him, but I could make some of his favorites on Friday night. I decided to have a second go at Chicken & Broccoli Crepes, a recipe from the Garland House cookbook (one of his favorite restaurants from home, although it is no longer open). I was intimidated at first by making my own crepes, but they aren’t really all that difficult – just time-consuming.
First I made the crepe batter and made the crepes (this is the time-consuming part).
I’d cooked some chicken earlier in the day. Phillip cubed it and also chopped some steamed broccoli while I made the cheese sauce.
The beginnings of a cheese sauce that has just a little bit of Worcestershire to give it a distinct flavor.
Then, it was time to assemble and bake.
We have this ritual we go through on the weekends, which goes something like this:
Me: I’m making the grocery list. Is there anything in particular you want this week?
Phillip: No, I don’t think so.
Me: Are you sure? No requests?
Phillip: Nope.
And so it goes every week. But once, quite unexpectedly, he asked me when I was going to make him a Key Lime Pie. Well, it was finally pie-making day. So, I consulted my trusty America’s Test Kitchens cookbook, got real key limes, and set to work. It was actually a relatively easy pie to make.
First I made a graham cracker crust. I love graham cracker crusts, especially homemade ones. I think they are the best kind and they always remind me of cooking with my grandmother. She has this old grinder with a crank that she uses to make graham cracker crumbs that have just the right texture – not too fine and with just enough chunky pieces to make it interesting. Grandmother would let me make mounds and mounds of graham cracker crumbs and then we would pull out all sorts of tiny little bowls and make tiny graham cracker crust after tiny graham cracker crust. We didn’t put anything in them, we just made the crusts and ate them together. It’s funny how you still think about these things years later when you’re patting graham crackers into a pie plate. It’s the little things.
Anyway, I made a graham cracker crust.
Then, after zesting a few, I squeezed a whole bunch of limes (they are tiny!) for fresh juice.
The juice and the zest were mixed with some egg yolks and a can of Eagle Brand to make the filling. 
I baked it for just a few minutes, let it cool, and then put it in the fridge to chill.
Just before we were ready to cut the first slice, I made some fresh whipped cream to top it with. The recipe said to apply the whipped cream “attractively”, but who has time to figure out what that means? I just spread it evenly over the top. It was pretty enough for us.
Happy Friday to Phillip!
