Saturday, August 25, 2007

Pass the vodka.

This is a Key Lime.


They are native to the Florida Keys (that little trail of small islands that seems to drift away to the west from the bottom of the Florida peninsula), though apparently they are not grown commercially there. This one came from Texas. The juice is milder and sweeter than that of a regular lime. (It is also very murky, and yellow instead of green.) A dozen limes will produce, maybe, a cup of juice.

This week, I juiced between ten and twelve dozen of them.

I'm not sure how many, because I was afraid to keep track. But at one point the husbeast went out and bought me an electric juicer, and at another point, my father-in-law came in with two bags and reported that there were no more left at the grocery store. What were we doing with all these limes?

Making drinks, of course.

I have named it the Key-tini, and as far as I know, it's my own invention:
One part key lime juice
One part sugar syrup (boil equal parts sugar and water together until dissolved)
Two parts vodka

Shake with ice and pour into a martini glass.

After a while I gave up and started mixing them by the pitcher; figuring backward from how much vodka we used, I estimate I mixed up about a gallon of them, a quart at a time. The most pitiful thing of all? Thanks to my medication, I couldn't drink. Closest I came all week to joining in the party was eating cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Creme icing.

The husbeast is drinking up the last of them, tonight. I'm still medicated.

It makes this seem oddly appropriate, though:

(Knitting merit badge from Cast On; further discussion tomorrow.)

5 comments:

amy said...

It sounds really good. Except I'm not allowed to drink vodka. Seriously. It turns me into a puddle of mush, and Bad Things Happen. I haven't tested this for over a decade, but I'm pretty sure it will still hold true.

However. I'm betting those limes would be good with gin and tonic.

Bells said...

One day when I can drink vodka again, this sounds RIGHT up my alley.

I've got a recipe for key lime tart but as we're not able to get key limes here (to my knowledge) I've just used regular lime. One day if I get my hands on imported key limes, I'm so there.

We have native (or 'bush') limes here - they're a little thumb sized fruit with billions of tiny juice sacks in them. I've never tried one but I've got a feeling the description is not unlike the key lime. Might make a good substitute.

Amy Lane said...

But watching other people slosh around is the best part! (And it sounds YUMMY!)

Donna Lee said...

I am not a drinker (I fall asleep with just a little alcohol) but the key-tini sounds really good. I love key limes but we almost never see them up here in NJ. Have you tried it with regular limes, or would they be too sour?

Alwen said...

Gosh, I've landed in the fabled Land of My Fellow Mostly Non-Drinkers!

I was going to say my husband buys "Nellie & Joe's Famous Key Lime Juice" by the 16-ounce bottle, but I see by the price tag that we actually bought this bottle at Mars' Famous Cheese Castle. In Wisconsin.

www.keylimejuice.com
If you could buy it bottled, that would be way easier on your hands, although I realize fresh is lovely.

Anyway, I use key lime juice, water, sugar & ice and make myself key lime-ade by the glassful. If you whirl up the ice in the blender it's even chillier. Yum.