As many of you know already, I am doing Christmas Eve dinner at my house.  Now, last time I did this, I catered it.  This year we are making dinner.  I have never ever ever made a turkey in my life.  I have never made real mashed potatoes either (I am great at instant though!  LOL).  Needless to say, I am a tad worried about Christmas Eve dinner especially now that my husband has informed me that he didn’t take off (if looks could kill . . .).  However, in this insanity I call my life, there is one thing I can count on.  Dessert.

I have to thank Pillsbury for making dessert so much easier for me.  I’m all about easy cooking, and once again, they have come through for me.  Did you know that Pillsbury has pie crusts?  All you need to do is roll them out in your pie pans!  How much easier does it get than that?  Now, they also save you when you are looking for an easy pie to make for dessert too.  By checking out Pillsbury’s website, you can find a ton more pie recipes.  How does this one sound?

Candy Bar Pie

Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Start to Finish: 3 Hours 40 Minutes

Crust
1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz box), softened as directed on box

Filling
5 bars (2.07 oz each) chocolate-covered peanut, caramel and nougat candy
4 packages (3 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

Topping
3 tablespoons whipping cream
2/3 cup milk chocolate chips

Heat oven to 450°F. Place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie plate as directed on box for One-Crust Filled Pie. Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until very light golden brown. Cool while preparing filling. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

Cut candy bars in half lengthwise; cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Place candy bar pieces over bottom of partially baked crust. In small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in 1 egg at a time until well blended. Add sour cream and peanut butter, beating until mixture is smooth. Pour over candy bar pieces. Bake at 325°F for 30 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 2 hours.

In 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream until very warm. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Spread over top of pie. Refrigerate 2 to 3 hours before serving. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

Do you have any tricks that you use for your pies?  Any time saving tips like using Pillsbury Pie Crusts?

Alfredo sauce is a rich Italian sauce that is made with butter, parmesan, whipping cream, and ground black pepper.

You know you are about to eat some good chocolate when you see the following warnings:

• This chocolate has plenty of texture. It is not slippery smooth like processed chocolate.
• This chocolate is full of complex flavors that explode in your mouth. The flavor profile has not been muted by a commercial process.
• This chocolate has a natural look, of course. It is not shiny.
• Sorry, but our experience is that after indulging in some of our chocolates, you might never be able to fully enjoy a traditional candy bar again.

What chocolate am I talking about? IgnaFire Chocolates are some of the best chocolate you will ever eat.  If you are craving chocolate, one piece of this will solve your craving, because it is that good.  IgnaFire chocolates are made straight from the cacao bean.  There is no commercial processing and no added cacao butter.  They don’t use the extensive heating and industrial processing that a lot of other chocolate placs do.  This keeps all the healthful flavanols and antioxidants that occur naturally in the bean along with all its natural flavor.  I am not kidding when I say one on these pieces of chocolate will curve any sugar you have.  Since I am lactose intolerant, my favorite part of this chocolate is that no dairy products are added!  This also works well for vegans too!  When you first bite into a piece of this chocolate, it does have a different texture.  However, the chocolate really does seem to melt in your mouth.

Besides having awesome chocolates, the company that makes IgnaFire Chocolates is concerned about the environment.  What better gift than one that is environmentally friendly to the planet?  The packaging is completely compostable.  The boxes the chocolate comes in are handmade paper with no glue.  This allows the boxes to be used over and over again.  The boxes also are compostable.  The printed information that is included with your chocolate is printed on dissolvable potato paper.  That literally just washes down your kitchen sink.  Lastly, the cellulose bag that the chocolate is in will compost in 45-60 days.  I have never seen a company so carrying about the environment.

Ignafire Chocolates will be some of the best chocolates you will ever eat.  I highly recommend picking up box for yourself (if not others) and enjoy!  Great chocolate, saving the environment, how can you go wrong?

I just recently had my first experience with Ghirardelli chocolate.  I had always heard it was good, but had never tried it myself till now.  Now that I have tried it, I am impressed.  It is very good chocolate.  It is some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had actually!  I got several different varities, but I have to say my favorite is crisp. The chocolate is rich but not too rich.  It was also filling, so it took two sitting for me to finish one bar off.  My husband, who isn’t even a chocolate fan, loved these too.  You can buy these candy bars at your local Wal-Marts, Walgreens, Borders, and Linens N Things.  They will be in Target, Blockbuster, and Cost Plus stores soon.  Now, I didn’t get any of their brand new kind of candy bar, but I’d love to try those too!  They look like they are filled.  The one I shall be trying shortly is the peanut butter filled one.  I have a feeling that I will have another new favorite kind of candy bar afterwards.  I wish I could say that I am giving these out for Halloween, but I am keeping them all for myself.  What is your favorite chocolate?

Image via Wikipedia

When using melted butter, make sure to add all the butter to the batter.  Leaving even a tablespoon behind can change the recipe.