As most of you know, I was gone for a decent chunk of last summer. I tried my best to keep up with blogging–I even became a travel blog for a short while but I did not keep up with the outside world worth a hoot. Major League Baseball passed me by as did the excitement that comes before college football season starts. I did not have a garden and did not freeze any blueberries or tomatoes (thank goodness I did extra the year before). I missed my family’s annual pig roast. I can’t even tell you what big scandals or news I was oblivious to–since I was oblivious.
So it was with great sadness when I learned–long after the fact–that fellow blogger Jennie of In Jennie’s Kitchen had unexpectedly lost her husband Mikey. Fast forward to John’s birthday, when he requested something peanut butter. A few years ago (excuse the pictures–I had been blogging for about 1 month!) I made him a fantastic peanut butter pie, but it was labor intensive and I wanted to try something new. Every search online for a peanut butter mousse or pie type recipe turned up the same recipe. Jennie had asked people who wanted to do something for her to bake her husband’s favorite peanut butter pie for someone they loved. It is a testament to the supportive nature of the food blogging community that I literally could not find a recipe that was not based on Jennie’s original recipe. It helped that it was a fantastic recipe, but even more so the message of making something wonderful for your loved ones now, while you can, is impossible to ignore in the face of someone else’s tragedy. Had I been aware of the request when it was originally made, we would have had peanut butter pie that night.
As I mentioned, the recipe is an excellent one easily adapted into a variety of presentations. I chose to make 4 individual peanut butter mousse pies, with the rest of the recipe dumped into a plastic bowl trifle-style (i.e., the leftovers). I used Jennie’s chocolate cookie crust baked in a pan that I then used a round biscuit cutter to cut out and press into the bottom of the individual trifle bowls. The next layer is Jennie’s peanut butter filling, followed by a layer of chocolate ganache, whipped cream, and chocolate cookie crumbles leftover from the pan of crust. Super simple and a great presentation. As you can see the kids definitely enjoyed it–and so did John, but he just isn’t quite as cute when he eats peanut butter pie as Sammy is. Plus I think his was gone by the time I got my camera out!
So don’t wait for a birthday or any other special occasion. Make something special–and delicious–for your loved ones now. And give them a hug too.
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