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So much has happened since my last post. How much, you ask? Well, it’s been two months since my last post so that should give you a pretty good idea!

First things first: I got a new job! Woooooooooo!

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I am finally free of the arts college that mistook me for a yo-yo. But since I switched, I took a little time to get my bearings at the new place. Hence no posting in the month of October.

Next, there was the trip to Texas. One of my cousins thought it was a great idea to get married the Sunday before Thanksgiving…

Yeah. Not the best possible timing, but not the worst. And I did get this adorable shot:

Watch out world; Izzy is on the move!

And then came the travel insanity (no trip is complete without it). We were flying Southwest out of LAX both ways. First, the plane’s data link was being ridiculous and not wanting to connect and we couldn’t take off until it did. Not a big deal; better a delay than a disaster, right? By the time it was working, the wind had shifted so we had to drive to the other side of the airport!

Have I ever mentioned that I don’t particularly like to fly? I’m claustrophobic and being stuck in a metal tube with no way out is my version of hell. When it is in the air, I’m ok. But when it’s sitting/moving on the ground I’m like:

So just imagine my delight, nay, my sheer freaking joy when we got to the other side of the airport and the wind had shifted again! So we had to drive back again!

So after that lovely ordeal, we were finally on our way! 2 hours late! To a time zone that was two hours ahead of ours! Which meant that we would be landing at 7PM instead of 5PM! Yay!

So we finally get to Texas, get our rental cars, install the stupid car seat, drive the 40 minutes to the house we have rented (there were 7 of us), get out Izzy’s suitcase to get her some toys and only to discover that everything in her suitcase (including diapers) is soaked!

And it wasn’t just her stuff, no no. Everyone had wet clothes; me, my parents, my grandmother, everyone. My brother-in-law’s suit was soaked. And it is 10 o’clock at night. And no one has eaten since before we got on the plane at noon California time…basically everyone was having a fantastic night.

After getting some food in everyone (Whataburger for the win), we dealt with drying all the clothes. Thankfully we were in a house which had a large dryer. I don’t even want to think what would have happened in a hotel since we were up until 2AM drying everything!

The rest of the trip went well enough: we spent lots of time with family we don’t get to see very often, my cousin gave us a tour of the Texas State Capitol building, my dress broke as I was putting it on to go to the wedding, I freaked out, my sister gave me clothes to wear so I wore freaking jeans to a wedding, the wedding was lovely, and the flight home was uneventful.

I also had the best BBQ of my life at Franklin Barbeque. There is no BBQ like Texas BBQ and Franklin’s is the best of the best. Just look at that brisket!

In case you are skeptical at just how good that brisket is, allow me to tell you are why are wrong:

That brisket was just as juicy and delicious two days later AFTER it had been reheated. That brisket defied the laws of food!

We got home the Monday before Thanksgiving. My Mom did the rest of Thanksgiving grocery shopping and picked up the basics I needed to make pies. This year’s offerings included pie crust roses and fall leaves.

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Which finally brings us up to date!

Now we can get down to the business of Chocolate Chess Pie with Pecan Crust. With a filling akin to an undercooked brownie, and a sweet, nutty crust, this is easily one of my favorite pies to make and eat.

The crust is made the same way as a graham cracker crust: crush everything to dust, stir in some melted butter, press into pan. But instead of graham crackers, you use pecans, brown sugar, and these:

Good ol’ Nilla wafers. The first time you make the pie, I highly recommend pulsing the wafers, then adding the nuts, and then the brown sugar. But this is not the first time I have made this pie and I am supremely lazy so…

In it all went to the food processor.

Get that nice and ground together, add your butter and mix until it looks like wet sand. But if you are like me and hate that description; it should look like this:

See? Wet, holding together a bit, but not a big powdery mess.

Now it is time to bust out that pie plate. Use your hands or the bottom of a cup to press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of your pie dish. I highly recommend using 9-10″ or 9″ deep dish plate. I, of course, could not find mine so I had to use an 8″ (I used a little less of my crust mixture and it turned out ok). Then it is baked for 15-20 minutes on 350 so the crust can set.

While your crust cools a bit, it’s time to make your filling!

In a medium bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt your chocolate and butter together until smooth and shiny. How shiny you ask?

So shiny you can see yourself reflected in it!

Whisk in your sugar, flour, salt, and vanilla until combined. Don’t worry that it looks grainy and unappetizing. It will smooth out once you start adding your eggs. Which you will do ONE AT A TIME!!!!! Don’t try to save time. You will not like the outcome.

So do it one at a time and everything will turn out great!

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Now you poor that into your slightly cooled crust and bake for 35-45 minutes until you get a giant puff monster.

Oh no! It cracked all over! The horror!!!!

Chill out. It settles as it cools and leaves you with this:

Yeeeeeeaaaahhhh. No cracks, no crags, just chocolatey goodness ready for decoration.

That’s right, you decorate this sucker with some pretty powdered sugar. A fine mesh strainer is your friend, but if you don’t have one…I got nothing. If you have a strainer of any kind you can try that. Or say screw it and not bother with decorations at all, but this was for the blog so I had to do something. Which means I had to get a little crafty!

What? You thought I just had a bunch of stencils somewhere? Ain’t nobody got time for that!

But once you get your stencil placed and gently sprinkle the powdered sugar you end up with this lovely pie!

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And just look at the inside!

If you plan to take this to any holiday parties, do yourself a favor and print this recipe. I guarantee you will be asked.