One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. --Virginia Woolf

More than a year ago, Tim and I were introduced to the movie "The Waitress" starring Keri Russell. Although the movie did not end up on our favorite list, the quotes did. We quoted the movie for months. Even today we quote it. Our favorite quote is "Dang baby." If you haven't seen, I don't know if I should recommend it. Most people we tell to watch it hate it. But it isn't a bad movie. It's actually very funny. However, the reason I am telling you about this movie is because it inspired me to want to bake pies. I am not a huge cake eater. I will eat it if it is given to me, but if I had to choose between cake and pie...I would choose pie. It's like choosing between ice cream and gelato...I would choose gelato. I have become a pie maker. I have successfully made a banana cream pie, french silk pie, Boston apple pie and sour cream peach pie. All of which have been crowd pleasers. So I thought I would at least share my recipe for the chocolate "french silk" pie you see pictured below. I do not claim any of the recipes yet. I am not at a point in my life where I can just make things up yet. I do modify and add things when needed, but most my base recipes come from somewhere. This one came from the web.

French Silk Pie

3/4 c. butter, softened
1 c. white sugar
3 ounce squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
2 tsp. pure vanilla
3 large eggs

Directions:
Part 1

1. Melt chocolate in a small bowl over hot water. Do not let the chocolate hardened up.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter at medium to high speed about 1 minute.
3. Add sugar. 1/4 cup at a time and continue to beat until light and fluffy. (This took a little while--at least 3-5 minutes.) Scrape bowl often. It must be mixed long enough so it is no longer gritty.
4. Slowly add the melted chocolate to the butter mixture, beating on low to medium speed until the chocolate is well blended and mixture is smooth and creamy.
5. On medium speed, add eggs one at a time, beating after each one before adding the next egg. Scrape bowl.
6. Add vanilla and mix again.
7. Spread into pie crust. (We just make the pie crust from any cookbook recipe.)

Directions:
Part 2
1 c. whipping cream
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Chocolate curls for garnish

1. In a large bowl, beat cream until it sets up.
2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy and stiff. Do not overbeat.
3. Put whipped cream on pie
4. Sprinkle with chocolate curls.
5. Refrigerate pie

I did not have chocolate curls. I don't know how to do that yet. So if you do...let me know. I just shaved some semi-sweet chocolate onto the top.

Need something for dinner before the pie? Well, here is one of my favorite crock pot recipes.

Thai Chicken
4 chicken breasts
1 c. medium-hot salsa
1/3 c. peanut butter
2 1/2 Tbsp. lime juice
1 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. grated fresh gingerroot
1/4 c. chopped peanuts
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1. Cut slits in thawed chicken. Place in crockpot. Mix remaining ingredients except peanuts and cilantro. Pour over chicken.
2. Cover and cook on low heat for 8-9 hours.
3. Remove fat from sauce. Pour sauce over chicken.
4. Sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro.

(I never measure anything on this recipe. I just throw stuff in. I have never had fresh gingerroot on hand when making the sauce so I skip it. It still tastes delicious. Tim started adding a little cilantro to the sauce. I love the way it tastes when cilantro is in the sauce. We put some sauce on the bottom of the crock pot before putting the chicken in. Then we pour the remaining on top. The chicken will soak up the sauce if you put a few slits in the chicken. We serve this over rice.)