my wish come true

she longboards
she plays the ukulele
she is confident and brave
she writes spoken word poetry
she is strong
she has a witty sense of humor
she wears skate shoes

she is pretty much everything i want to be. she is my little sister. my little sister who i've grown (or rather not grown) to look up to. my little sister that i spent four years of my life hoping for. my little sister who has become my friend and my escapade accomplice. we've seen the whole united states from the back seat of the van, we've climbed mountain tops, and we've been half way around the world together.

she turned seventeen last week. seventeen years sounds so long ago, but feels like just yesterday. i can still remember the ride to the hospital. the whole way there my three older brothers were trying to convince me that our new sibling was going to be another brother. i loved having brothers, but inside i was desperately hoping for a sister. i still remembering rounding the corner and walking into my mom's hospital room hearing, you have a sister. "i knew it, i knew it, i knew it was going to be a sister." she was my wish come true. happy birthday Rachel! here's to many more years of memories and exciting adventures.

she asked for a key lime pie for her birthday. i found this old recipe from Taste & Home. i've never made key lime pie before, but figured with fresh limes and hand whipped cream how could it go wrong? it went very, very right. it had great taste and texture. the recipe is a bit time consuming, but fairly simple. two of the best factors for a cooking adventure

Key Lime Pie

Yields: 8 Servings

Ingredients:  

Crust:

1 ¼ cup graham cracker crumbs

2 Tablespoons sugar

5 Tablespoons butter

Filling:

2 14oz. cans sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 8 small limes)

1/3 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons grated lime peel

Topping:

½ pint heavy whipping cream

¼ cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.      Heat oven to 325°F. Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add melted butter and stir until evenly moistened. Press mixture into bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate to form crust. Bake 10 minutes or until crust begins to brown. Cool 15 minutes on wire rack.

2.      Whisk sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and sour cream in large bowl until blended. Stir in lime peel. Pour filling into crust. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until tiny bubbles begin to form on surface of pie. Cool completely on wire rack.

3.      Beat cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in large mixing bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until stiff. Top pie with whipped cream. Chill at least 1 hour before serving. Best served the same day.