Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I was up late last night making a huge batch of guacamole for my coworkers today in honor of Cinco de Mayo.   I was also running late this morning and forgot it in the fridge....  Go figure.  My coworkers seem to love mexican themed foods.  When we have pot luck lunches it always winds up centering around tacos, fajitas, salsas, etc.  And every time we have said pot luck, I always get voted to bring one of two things, my guac or my key lime pie.  I can't tell you how many times I've made these two items for my coworkers as I've truly lost count.  Here are the recipes for those of you looking for some Cinco de Mayo inspiration:

The guac is really easy.  I mash up about 5-6 ripe avocados with a fork (gives it better texture than a food processor), then add in about 1/2 a chopped red onion, 2 chopped vine ripened tomatoes, 1-2 seeded and chopped jalepenos (if you like spicier guac, feel free to leave in some of the seeds), a handful of chopped cilantro, juice of one lime, a heaping spoonful of sour cream, and salt to taste.  I do a bite-sized chop on the onion and tomato, a small dice on the jalepeno, a rough chop on the cilantro, and I taste test with corn chips as they contribute more salt to the overall taste.

Key Lime Pie

Crust:

½ cup ground pretzels

½ cup graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

Set oven to 350 degrees.  Combine ingredients in a bowl until crumbs are all moist.  Then pat into a buttered pie tin to form an even crust along the bottom and sides.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until crust starts to brown slightly around the edges.

Filling:

3 egg yolks

1 ½ tsp fresh lime zest

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup lime juice (I use about 5-6 fresh squeezed regular limes and top it off with store bought lime juice if needed)

Whisk egg yolks with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy and lighter in color (about 2-3 minutes).  Add the lime zest and the can of sweetened condensed milk.  Beat until mixture gets slightly thicker.  Add 2/3 cup of fresh lime juice and mix until just blended.  If green color is desired, add 1-2 drops of green food coloring as well.  Add the filling into the crust and bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until the filling is set (jiggle the pan to test for filling movement). 

Let pie cool and serve with whipped cream.  I usually top with extra lime zest for garnish.

Whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 Tbs powdered sugar

Mix in electric mixer until stiff peaks form.