Grasshopper Pie

Due to the overwhelming amount of winter weather we've seen here recently, I decided to fill you guys in on one of my FAVORITE frozen desserts...besides Coldstone's birthday cake remix...but that's beside the point. I'm talking about Grasshopper Pie. MMMMMM! I am in LOVE with anything mint/chocolate and this has the best of both worlds. And obviously, it doesn't hurt that it is so easy to make!

Ingredients
-1 Oreo pie shell
-1/2 gallon mint chocolate chip ice cream (softened)
-crushed oreos (the mint kind is good)
-1 (8 oz) tub whipped cream
-Magic Shell chocolate sauce

Directions
1) Once the ice cream has softened, spoon it into the 9 in Oreo Pie shell and spread flat
2) Top with whipped cream and drizzle with magic shell
3) Put pie in the freezer until the ice cream hardens...usually about 30-45 minutes
4) Garnish with crushed oreos

Amber Alert Chocolate Pecan Pie

This pie has a story behind it...one Sunday afternoon, I was contemplating what to make for the potluck supper at church that night. I soon decided on Paula Deen's chocolate pecan pie. 1) because it's from Paula Deen 2) because it's pecan pie 3) because there's chocolate in it. I don't know, it sounded like a pretty easy decision to me. I was told that we needed to be there by 6:30. So I took my time and was quite pleased with the amount of time I had left over after I had put it in the oven (plenty of time to set!). Until my dad came in (at 10 to 6) and said it was time to go because it started at 6:00! I had to pull the pie out prematurely and take it "as-is". I was hoping that it would set as it cooled so I hid it in the church kitchen until it was time for dessert. When I went back to the kitchen to put it out...IT WAS GONE!!! THE WHOLE STINKIN' THING! GONE! Apparently, someone took the whole pie out to their car! When I found out who took it, I asked them about it and then never asked for it back because I felt bad. Obviously, my dad didn't feel as sympathetic toward the man because he made him give it back (hee-hee) and I'm glad he did because this thing was the BOMB! It still hadn't set but it was still good (all gooey...mmmm). So that's why this pie is called what it is. :)

Ingredients
-1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell
-2 cups pecan halves
-3 large eggs, beaten
-3 tablespoons butter, melted
-1/2 cup dark corn syrup
-1 cup sugar
-3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
2) Cover bottom of pie crust with pecans
3) In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and melted butter
4) Add the corn syrup, sugar, bourbon and the chopped chocolate
5) Stir until all ingredients are combined
6) Pour mixture into the pie shell over the pecans and place on a heavy-duty cookie sheet
7) Bake for 10 minutes
8) Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes or until pie is set
9) Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack

Common Grill Peanut Butter Pie

I'm going to try to make a long story short. OK, my mom is from Michigan and now, my grandma lives right down the road from Jeff Daniels (Dumb & Dumber, 101 Dalmatians, Michigan commercials, etc.). Jeff Daniels owns a really fancy restaurant in Chelsea called the "Common Grill". My mom came across this recipe for Common Grill's peanut butter pie and she and I decided to make it for Thanksgiving and it was splendiferous!!! With a little help from our "Paula Deen" springform pan, it came out wonderfully!

Ingredients
-1/2 cup melted butter
-9 oz crushed chocolate wafer cookies (we used chocolate graham crackers)
-20 oz softened cream cheese
-1 cup sugar
-20 oz creamy peanut butter
-2 cups heavy cream
-1 cup powdered sugar
-1 and 1/2 cups honey roasted peanuts
-optional hot fudge to drizzle over the top (we didn't do that...whew! rich!)

Directions
1) Combine crushed cookies and butter until well-mixed then press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan and up the sides 2 inches
2) Beat cream cheese and sugar. Add in the peanut butter and beat until smooth. Set aside
3) Beat the heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form
4) Fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture 1/3 at a time
5) Pour into springform pan and top with honey roasted peanuts
6) Freeze the pie for 3-5 hours or until firm
7) Remove pie from springform to serve

Key Lime Pie...mmm

I was craving Key Lime Pie one night when we were having Tacos at our house! I don't know, it just seemed like it went together. But anyway, not really knowing how exactly to make a Key Lime Pie, I turned to the experts....allrecipes.com. I decided to go with the one with the highest rating (which happened to be 5 stars with 478 ratings). Needless to say, these people were right. It was perfect! Here's the recipe...

Ingredients

-1 (9 in) graham cracker pie crust

-3 cups sweetened condensed milk

-1/2 cup sour cream

-3/4 cup key lime juice

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350

2) In a medium bowl, combine all the wet ingredients

3) Bake for 5-8 minutes until tiny pinhole bubbles begin to form

4) Do not brown!

5) Chill pie before serving

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

This is a recipe I used for Thanksgiving and it was like the very best that Thanksgiving has to offer in a pie shell. Ahh! So good. Pretty much, if you like Thanksgiving, you'll love this pie.

Ingredients
-1 cup apple butter (I used HONEY apple butter...yum)
-1 cup canned pumpkin
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
-3 beaten eggs
-3/4 cup evaporated milk
-1 unbaked pie shell (9 inches)

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 425
2) Combine all ingredients
3) Bake for 40 minutes or until well set