During my exhaustive banana-cream-pie investigation, I learned that some pies are made with graham-cracker crusts, while others rely on pastry dough.

The last word on graham-cracker crust, in a European-style lunch spot.

Baked in a graham-cracker crust, the cakes are not overly sweet.

Key-lime pie is the staple, its citrus tang wonderfully matched against a graham-cracker crust, for which Sarah Buck is said to make her own graham crackers to pound to smithereens.

The pie was first-class and traditional, with a graham-cracker crust and a hint of whipped cream.

And, yes, I tried a slice of Kermit's pie - a classic with a graham-cracker crust.

And a graham-cracker crust has fewer calories than a regular pastry crust.

By 9 p.m. I had progressed to the cooking phase of the evening, and baked a cheesecake with graham-cracker crust from scratch.

And a lime pie with graham-cracker crust (a Key lime pie recipe but made with regular Persian limes) was indistinguishable from what comes out of the big oven.

They replaced the graham-cracker crust with homemade graham crackers, turned the mousse into ice cream and elevated it with a modern, abstemious dose of Cognac.