Cooking: No-bake Key Lime Pie

I love to teach my kids to think creatively when it comes to cooking.  Sometimes with delicious results, others with a bit more disastrous effects.  But the more creative cooks they are, the more likely they'll want to cook throughout their lives.  So when I saw the cute key lime pie-in-a-jar recipe in Pinterest, I was intrigued.  However, I prefer no-bake key lime pie and I thought the serving size of a pint jar was a bit large.  So here's my variation:

No-bake Key Lime Pie-in-a-half-pint:

Makes 10-12 half-pint jars, or one generously filled pie

Ingredients:

Graham cracker crust ingredients for one pie
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cold water
1 envelope gelatin (Knox)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup (or more) key lime juice
2-4 drops green food coloring

Crust:

Regular graham cracker crust recipe for one pie - (see http://nutritiousintent.blogspot.com/2013/05/graham-cracker-crust-boosting-nutrition.html for my nutritionally boosted variation)
Divide evenly between 10-12 half-pint, wide-mouth jars.

Filling:

Whip 1 1/2 cups whipping cream with 1/4 cup powdered sugar until stiff.  Put half in a pastry bag with a large star tip and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Fill small bowl with 1/4 cup cold water.  Add 1 envelope gelatin (Knox) and let soften for a couple minutes.  Then microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute until completely dissolved.  Pour this liquid gelatin over cream, add 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1/4 cup (or more to taste) key lime juice, and a couple drops green food coloring.  Beat until soft peaks form.

Using an ice-cream scoop - divide the filling among the jars.
Pipe whipped cream on top and refrigerate 1 hour or more until ready to serve. 

Entertaining: Guest Baskets

My oldest sister is a very gracious hostess.  Every time someone stays at her home (even her little sister), she prepares not only a guest room for them, but a basket of goodies.  She always provides items to facilitate the comfort of your stay and lets you know that she's thinking of you.
So when we had guests planned this past weekend, I set up a guest room and prepped my guest basket.

In my basket I usually include:

• hand towel and washcloths
• reading material (magazines)
• water bottles
• granola bars (for those nights they get in late, or leave early before breakfast)
• small bathroom cups
• kleenex (tissue) packs
• chocolate
• hand sanitizer

Our guests were going to include some good friends of my daughter that were going to stay in her room.  Much to my amusement, my 10 year old daughter disappeared into her room for about 20 minutes or so, then called me in to see her handiwork.  She had prepped blankets, cushions and pillows for their beds on the floor, and on top was placed a small guest basket that she'd modeled after mine.  

In my daughter's basket she included:

• reading material (American girl catalog and Highlights magazine)
• bathroom cups
• kleenex (tissue) packs
• gum
• hand sanitizer
• bath gels
• yo-yo (don't ask me why a yo-yo - but it fit well in the basket

Does offering a guest basket automatically make you a great hostess?  Heavens no, but it does start you thinking about how to accommodate your guests and how best to meet their comfort needs.  So never underestimate your example -- I learned it from my sister, now my daughter seems to be learning it as well.