t's Food Friday!

We have to keep it simple today since some of the Gentle Readers will be gearing up for the scrum at the H&M opening in Palm Beach. (Charles and Camilla are going,too. I'm on deadline, so I hope they bring me something nice!)

I have raised a family of renegades. They do not like pumpkin pie. They do not like pecan pie. They do not like apple pie. At birthdays they demand Boston Cream Pie, and at Thanksgiving they expect Chocolate Pudding Pie á la Ken. It is a secret family recipe, rather like Rice Krispies Treats. Be sure to sigh, and dust yourself with flour so people realize the extent of your efforts.

1 store-bought pie shell (bake according to package instructions)
1 large box chocolate pudding mix - not instant please - we do have some standards
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon sugar

Cook the chocolate pudding - it is very important that you take your time and stir, stir, stir. It does make a difference in the texture. Charles uses his favorite OXO whisk and reads a book about organic crop rotation when it is his turn to stir. Camilla leans over the molten mixture, beating it hysterically with an old wooden spoon, which explains a lot.

Pour the pudding into the baked pie shell, and allow it to cool in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Whip the cream with an electric blender. You are in no hurry, so be sure to take your time and admire the patterns made by the beaters and think of the genius who invented whipped cream! What a concept! And then to add sugar! (Do not add the sugar until the cream is almost stiff. Just a smidge, please, the pudding is plenty sweet.)
Twirl the cream nicely into many little peaks and valleys, and return to the fridge to chill and set.

Miss Morning Glory brought us some homemade Key Lime Pie this week, which got me to thinking about the glories of baking for Thanksgiving. It is not a complicated recipe, and it is something you can do ahead of time. It leaves Charles more time to string the organic Duchy beans. You and Camilla can have a nice glass of wine out on the back porch, watching the goldfinches go to town.

“He has no more backbone than a chocolate eclair.”
- Theodore Roosevelt

Visit me on Facebook: Fine Art Daily