did I mention there was a dessert too?

Not the best photo...oh wells....

This is sliver #3 in case you were wondering.

This pregnancy is killing me with the sweet tooth. See, I was never a sweets eater. That's M's department. I'm more of a savory kind of girl. Tart, salty, savory, garlicky, yum!

But during the pregnancy even the mere mention of something sweet will get me going. If I see someone eating cake on tv, I suddenly have to have cake. M said something about peanut butter last week and so I had to bake peanut butter cookies. See how that works?

So during Thanksgiving this year (only the second one that I've spent with my in-laws), I learned that chocolate pudding pie is one of their dessert traditions. It gets made once a year and that's at Thanksgiving. And M loves chocolate pudding pie. And once you say pie enough times I really need to eat a pie.

So I found a nice looking chocolate pudding pie recipe, gathered all the ingredients and made myself a chocolate pudding pie the other night.

Wow. Homemade pudding is so awesome! I don't think m will ever go back to the jello pudding packs (the ones that don't need to be refridgerated?? Hello??) after this.

I used this recipe with some minor changes. I didn't have a fine mesh strainer (note to self: buy a fine mesh strainer!) but used a regular strainer instead. I was worried about lumpiness but it turned out okay taste/texture-wise. I think the fine mesh strainer would make it look smoother which I'd prefer. I thought the chocolate pudding+chocolate cookie crust was a bit too much chocolate so I substituted with a graham cracker crust instead. Of course I should have looked up a graham cracker crust recipe. Say like the one used for this recipe? But instead I substituted graham crackers for chocolate crackers and used the pudding pie measurements. Not one of my smarter moments. Also, I didn't have unsweetened chocolate on hand so I measured out just under 2 ounces of Green+Black's chocolate powder (which I use for making hot chocolates) and added a splash more of the milk.

And lastly, when we were done with dinner M was ready for dessert. But the chocolate pudding hadn't cooled yet. He argued that it wouldn't matter. The man has no patience when it comes to his chocolate. So I spooned the just chilled pudding into the pie crust and tried to cut it up into neat triangular wedges. Not so pretty. But damn, that's a fine tasting chocolate pudding pie! We ate our mounds of chocolate pudding sprinkled with graham crackers in that quiet sort of way one does when one is wholly absorbed in an activity.

I put the rest of the pie in the fridge to let it chill to its proper potential (at least 6 hours) and it's held up its shape for cutting a lot better. I had just enough heavy cream to make whipped cream for each pie slice mound. But as pretty as the whipped cream looks in the photo (see the recipe link) I don't think the pie needed it. It's already so creamy, dreamy delicious the addition of another creamy layer is unnecessary. Unless of course you love whipped cream. It's your call.

I'm thinking the pudding portion of this recipe could be revisited as just plain chocolate pudding (what an understatement) or the pudding portion of Death By Chocolate. M and I agreed that I should not go down the road of making a Death By Chocolate. Not for just the two of us. We agreed to save that kind of decadence for a day when a crowd was present to save us from our own weaknesses and impending folly. You heard it here first folks. Now I will stop saying Death By Chocolate so I won't feel compelled to break this pact.