Gather your Tribe & Gird your Loins...

Navigating the current Wild Ride with Bees, Birds and Pie

Like you, I’m sure, I’ve been trying to reconcile feeling frivolous, or worse, oblivious when sharing or discussing “soft” topics I love: cooking, happy moments with my family, optimism in general. It’s no secret. Our country is, excuse my language, fucked. Currently. I am a realist with a determined vision of optimism. But yeah, currently, fucked. I don’t need to beat this incredibly brutalized horse…you’ve seen it all.

Heather Cox Richardson

,

Dan Rather

and others have written so eloquently about our current circumstances. God help us. Today’s writing is about bringing together the food, the friends, and our respites (and recipes) to find a way to navigate it. So grab a coffee or a cocktail, and sit with me a minute.

When I am feeling down, I think of trees. Being in the woods and looking up. The immediate, and scientifically proven, lowering of the blood pressure and anxiety that currently cripples us. Raising my eyes, the gauzy, green maze of leaves and canopy, the sunshine peeking through tentatively and the sound of the birds. I heard on a podcast the other day that there is science to support the calming effect of birdsong. In a truly primal situation, when birds sense danger, they are silent. Our brains actually respond to the sound of birds by releasing dopamine.

Bring on the Birdsong, please.

Coco in the “Vine” Tree. Rota, Guam

I sit on the deck my boys built, in my charming backyard, (Ok, I can’t keep grass growing in the middle because Spencer & Toot LOVE to make it a raceway), but that aside…..old growth magnolias, azaleas, camellias, oaks… The oldest registered Live Oak in our town hangs over the back fence (and periodically I must replace the bit it leans on, but who cares? It’s history.) 450+ years of living through this life. Still alive…. I suppose it’s a metaphor for us. Humanity has faced many challenges, assaults, beatings, but we somehow survive. We will survive. (Yes, Gloria, we will.)

Roux & Choux Spring Garden

So it’s time to plant here in Louisiana. The boys have a lot of work right now (they work with my husband in his business) so the garden prepping and planning will be brief this year, unfortunately. The debating (till or no-till, rows, cover crop mulch, regen or just organic) may still surface. The result, honestly, is based on the person who forges ahead to take the lead this season. 🤣 If it’s my husband, who respects their hippie ways but is more comfortable tilling the soil and making neat, symmetrical rows like his father before him…it will be more conventional.

He has conceded the organic requirement after years of being beat over the head with it by me, and then my off-spring. But my sons take it to a new level with their love of permaculture, regenerative agriculture (Shalako’s degree) and clean initiatives.

It’s an absolute joy to be a spectator. I say this with love. No sarcasm whatsoever.

The Farm

It warms my heart to see my husband stand back and allow them to try their ideas, some which have raised his respect for their methods, and others that have been a “lesson learned.” They work together and respect each other’s ideas and perspectives. They have open minds and a voracious curiosity and the result is always some level of bodacious ingredients to add to my kitchen pantry. Win-Win.

In the Kitchen

I recently started my YouTube channel (Roux & Choux Entertaining). Uploading my first two videos, my version of Houston’s Restaurant’s Key Lime Pie and Mixed Berry Hand-Pies. Favorites at Roux & Choux events! This pie is a tangy, cheeky little number, whose edges are smoothed by the addition of fresh lemon juice and homemade whipping cream folded into the filling. She is wrapped in a buttery, pecan and graham cracker crust that I could eat empty and alone. 😉

Find the recipe and video below. I’d love to know if you like it (that’s what we all live for here, right? People to share with and correspond about our passions…) Thanks for allowing me to share mine. Cheers! (please be gentle re the video, there’s a learning curve for sure.🥰)

Key Lime Pie, Jennifer Sharp. 2025.

(Almost) Houston’s Key Lime Pie

Tools:

Food Processor

Mixer (Whisk Attachment if possible)

Rubber Spatula

Pie Pan or Tart Pan

Baking Sheet

Juicer (optional)

Zester

For the Crust:

• 9 Graham Crackers

• 1/2 C. Pecans, Roasted

• 2 TBSP Sugar

• 1.5 Tsp. Cinnamon

• Dash of Nutmeg

• Dash of Salt

• 10 TBSP of Salted Butter, Melted

For the Filling and Topping:

• 1-14 oz. Sweetened Condensed Milk

• 4 Lg. Egg Yolks

• 5 TBSP FRESH Lime Juice

• 3 TBSP FRESH Lemon Juice

• 1/2 tsp. Zest (Orange, Lemon &/or Lime)

• 2 C. Cold Heavy Whipping Cream, divided

• 2 TBSP Confection’s Sugar

• Slices of Lemon, Lime, Orange, mint, citrus foliage, etc for Garnish

Steps (with notes for best practices)

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350° F. Move shelf to middle of oven. Put stand mixer bowl and whisk in freezer to chill.

In a food processor, blend graham crackers and pecans to a semi-fine texture. Add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg & salt and pulse a couple of times. Add butter gradually to the FP and mix on low until blended thoroughly. (If you do not have a food processor, crush crackers manually and blend in a bowl by hand.)

Step 2

Press crust into pie pan and Bake at 350° F for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and chill completely in the refrigerator or freezer before adding filling.

While crust is baking, whip cold heavy whipping cream and confection’s sugar in chilled bowl with chilled whisk. Be careful to cover bowl of mixer, and/or gradually increase speed, to avoid splashing. If you do not have multiple bowls for your mixer, scoop whipped cream into a separate container and pop in the fridge.

When removing crust from oven, REDUCE temp to 325° F.

Step 3

With a mixer, blend sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, juices and zest. Increase speed and whip thoroughly for approximately 1 minute. Once fully blended, with a rubber spatula, gently FOLD in 1 C. of heavy whipping cream. Try to deflate the cream as little as possible.

Step 4

Pour filling into pie crust, place on a baking sheet, and bake at 325° F for 20-25 minutes until pie, when nudged, gives a gentle wobble in the middle. (This point is always tough to explain) If the pie is over-baked it will be “dry” so the “jiggle” in the center, with firm sides, is the key.

Remove from oven. Cool completely. Top, or pipe decoratively, with remaining heavy whipping cream and garnish with zest, fruit slices and culinary leaves such as citrus or mint.

I hope you enjoy my version of Houston’s Key Lime pie. It’s been an evolution. Let me know if you try it and if you have any questions, reach out!

Next YT Episode:

Sour Dough Bread with Philip Robert (R&C Charter Member)

Philip has been coming to our parties, hosting our children for college accommodation, and just being an overall good egg to the Sharp clan for years! And to add to all that, he brings his homemade sour dough to the events… Delicious! We are shooting an episode this week (my first with a guest) so keep a look out. His many years of baking bread have made him a master and he will be sharing everything with us!

Philip Robert, Sour Dough Boule

The Written Word

Right now I’m reading Rich Cohen’s, the Fish that Ate the Whale, the Life and Times of America’s Banana King. The story is about the rags to riches life of a “kingmaker and capitalist revolutionary” who is loosely related to my husband. I’ve meant to read it for years, and finally took the plunge. Perusing the shelves at Garden District Bookshop in New Orleans last week, and there it was, beckoning. So far it has me captivated.

Because this is a forum of writers, creatives and dreamers, I can relate, somewhat timidly, that I’ve always wanted to write a book. I do not consider myself a writer AT ALL, but I have passion for my craft and a desire to leave breadcrumbs for my family…a path of memories and methods that help them keep the legacy alive. So my girls, Alex and Bailey, and I decided to start the long, arduous process of recording the life and times, rogues and rituals, recipes and culture of Roux & Choux Entertaining. Apparently, 2025 is the year of the dinner party…😉

Of course it is in its infancy, so may never come to pass. But if my determined, amazing daughters have anything to do with it, it shall be. ❤️

Thank you so much for giving me a space to share and create. I’d like to get to know each and every one of you. My mission is bringing back in-person experiences and helping others to achieve that in their own lives. Peace, my friends.