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From Dr. Ray McAllister of South Florida:

"My friends all agree that my pie is the best they have tasted, It is also simple enough for a bachelor to make on the spur of the moment.  How could you have missed it?"

Easily.  I knew both the original "Conch Republic" key lime pie recipe (I don't think the early settlers had Cool Whip) and several variations.  I searched the web a little and found so many abominations that I just stopped short before I found yours.  It's great.  I've made it twice with a slight alteration, using a lowered-calorie home-made graham cracker crust and "lite" cool whip.   It still sabotaged my diet a little, but it's so good!    It's also full of nutrition, unlike most junk food desserts, but it is higher in both cholesterol and sugar, in case those are your personal concerns.

Key limes are little and yellow, and absolutely full of flavorful juice.   If you don't have them, and hardly anyone does anymore since the Citrus Gestapo came through, you can use regular limes.  Note that the pie will be yellow, in any case, not green.  The only time I ever colored it with food coloring was for St. Patrick's day, and hey!  They even dye beer green for that one.

Easy Key Lime Pie

1/2 cup key lime juice (fresh is much preferable)
1 can Magnolia or La Leche condensed milk
1 12 oz. Cool Whip --generic is just as good
1 graham cracker pie crust

Whip all together with a rotary beater (definitely not a blender or food processor). Pour into crust, place in freezer till ready to serve.

Note from Dr. McAllister:  "I make two variants; add a handful of ripe mango to the mix or same amount of strawberry.  Probably would work well with most strong flavored fruit, but not peaches, figs, etc."

Note from Bess:  I whipped the lime juice into the condensed milk first to make it a little more liquid, and then folded that into the Lite Cool Whip, so as to make a fluffier pie.  Expect it to be a little on the runny side if you don't leave it in the freezer for a while, but it's still perfectly edible, just a little messy.