6/25/12

Key Lime Smackdown: The Final Showdown!

The panel has spoken!  The decision has been made!  It's the final verdict!  A nail-biter for sure!

So okay.  Who said what?

Last night a distinguished panel of taste testers descended on the Three Cats Ranch for the Final Showdown of the Key Lime Smackdown event.  The evening was tense.  The panelists were on edge.


The tension in the room was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.  Clearly!

Or maybe it was the excitement of that new car Erik and Mae drove up in.


It was so bright and shiny, Erik had to close his eyes just to stand next to it.

But I digress.

Which is which?  Can you tell by looking at them?


The tasters took their tasting duties extremely seriously.  And who wouldn't on such a solemn occasion?





Whoa!  Somebody's mother must have made a trip to Ireland recently.

Erik considered his responses carefully and filled out his evaluation sheet.  The evaluation sheets were designed to be on a "goodness continuum" and the taster was to note whether s/he preferred the slice on the left to the slice on the right.  It was all very scientific and statistically accurate. 


Erik preferred the appearance of the slice on the right, but clearly preferred the taste of the slice on the left.


The head of the household concurred.



Mae's preferences were clear.  The slice on the left was her fave, although interestingly, she interpreted its flavor as more sweet, while the other testers thought it was more tart.  



So which slice is which?  In all cases, the Key limes won over the regular limes.

KEY LIMES WIN!!

The decision of the distinguished panel is in!  Key limes win the Key Lime Smackdown.  Key limes . . . please take your place on the podium for the awarding of the prestigious Lime Cup for excellence in limeyness.


(Insert audio here of Queen singing "We Are the Champions")

And with that, the distinguished panel rode off into the sunset, because clearly, they were way more interested in joy-riding around in that new car.  And who could blame them?


Seriously, now, in the final analysis, we all agreed that the Key limes were preferable in taste and texture.  HowEVER, we did not believe that the difference in the two was enough to warrant the extra expense and squeezing elbow grease of the Key limes.  For future tarts, we'll stick with regular limes.

16 comments:

Junebug613 said...

HA HA HA!!! I love your reporting! As a native Floridian, I have only ever had Key Lime pie. I've never had one with just regular limes. I enjoyed reading your Smackdown! I would have enjoyed participating even more!

Junebug613 said...

Ha ha ha!! I love the play by play on the Smackdown! As a native Floridian, I've only ever had Key Lime pie. I've never had regular lime desserts... I really enjoyed your smackdown reporting. I only wish I could have participated! YUM!

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

I go with the easier one, every time. Woohoo!

Anonymous said...

very good reporting there, maybe you should write editorials for the area newspaper! Wish I could have had a slice!

Debbie said...

LOL.....great reporting on the smackdown....love the new car too. I knew the taste of the real key limes would win!

Dirt Road Quilter said...

What a hoot! Looks as if a good 'lime' was had by all! Sorry,could not resist. :)

Dana Gaffney said...

Woo-hoo, I'm so glad we won, but I'm also glad it wasn't a slam dunk after seeing your fingers when you squeezed all of those limes. Just remember if you start needing them, I can get you the goods (very back alley sounding there).

Sand and Sunshine said...

You know you can just buy Key Lime Juice. Saves the arm and keeps the flavor. Maybe next time a test of Key Lime bottled juice to Limes? I'm a firm believe Key Limes will win every time.

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

You are too funny and you did cut it with a knife....the pie that is. Now I can exhale!

gpc said...

Just as I predicted! Key limes gotta make the best key lime pie, it's in their genes! But any lime is a good lime in my world, and if I'm not putting it in gin, I'm all for putting it in a pie!

Teresa in Music City said...

Finally! Those tenterhooks were really giving me a fit :*) I'm so glad that we now have a definitive decision on this most weighty issue! Key Lime Pie is one of my husband's favorites, but he lived in Florida for years, so I'm pretty sure he would agree with your panel.

By the way, love your new profile pic! =^..^=

kc said...

Whooooohoooo! A big thank you to the judges, who clearly know a thing or two about good taste!! I knew the Keys would win the smackdown, hands down, but I loved the play-by-play commentary you added!

Great car, btw!

Needled Mom said...

I loved reading the results. I have always heard that you could sustitute limes for the Key limes, but we now know the official results!!!!

Snoodles said...

Haha! This is a killer post....love it! I was laughing all the way through. I'm glad to know that I will be just fine using regular limes! And congratulations to the Key Limes....I bet the regular ones are green with envy. Arrrrggghhh.
I just had to write that.
Seriously.

quiltzyx said...

Ssssorry! Laaaughinggg toooo harddd to ttyypppeeeeee!!!!

Brenda said...

This was a very entertaining post for sure! I have never made a key lime pie but have ate it at others homes. I may have to try making one soon!