S'mores Pie and 5 Things I'm Loving Lately

Well, hello! I know, I know... it's been a while. I always say I'm going to be better about updating this blog, but it just never happens. Well at least I'm updating now!

I decided that I might feel more inclined to post if I changed up my posts a little bit. I still plan on posting the recipes of things I've made, but there's a lot of things besides cooking and baking that I would like to post about... beauty products, new restaurants, shopping finds, other blogs I like.... I'm getting excited just thinking about it!

So let's start this now. I'm going to list five things that I'm loving right now. First, let me give you a sneak peek of what's at the end of this post.

More on that in a little bit!

5 Things I'm Loving Lately

1.  Jergen's Natural Glow Lotion for Body & Face: This isn't a new product by any means and this isn't the first time I've purchased it, but there's something new about it this year. It doesn't smell weird anymore! Instead of smelling like you bathed in fake tanner, now it has a really fresh and pleasant smell. I actually really like the quality of the lotion too. My skin always feels super soft after I use it. This little miracle really helps this pale gal look like she got some sun!

2.  Starbucks Iced Green Tea: I love me some Starbucks iced green tea. It's so fresh and minty! However, I don't love how expensive it is. I could slurp down a venti in 2 minutes flat. Well you can now buy a box of the tea and make it at home. The bags in the box conveniently come in pitcher sized bags, so you just pop one in a pot of boiling water, let it steep, and add cold water. Ta-da! This box cost $3.99 and will make you endless amounts of tea for a fraction of what you'd pay at Starbucks. So do yourself a favor and pick this up next time you're at the store! I got mine at Target and they also offer this in the passion tea (my other favorite) and the black tea.

3.  Kendra Scott Danielle Earrings: Y'all.... I love these earrings. I bought my first pair last summer in white and I've worn them a million times since then. They go with absolutely everything! The shape is classic, yet trendy and I love the big pop of color they offer. They're a little more expensive then your average earrings, but I'm telling you- they're worth it. The pair in the picture below is of the Danielle earrings in Chaceldony. I got them for my birthday this year and I love them just as much as my white ones! An added bonus is that Kendra Scott is a Texas girl. Her company is based out of Austin and has expanded tremendously in the last year. I never hesitate when it comes to supporting a fellow Texas girl. Check out her website and I'm sure you'll find something you can't live without!

4. Vintage Salt & Pepper Shakers: I found these cuties at the junky/flea part of Canton and I'm obsessed with them. They're pretty big for salt & pepper shakers so they'll hold a lot... and they're pink! They're adorable and I love how old they are. Perfect for my future kitchen :)

5.  My best friend, Rachel: I saved the best for last! Rachel and I have been best friends since high school and I don't think I could live without her. Lately she's also been my personal trainer and I hope she knows how much I appreciate it! I'm sure she's sick of me whining when she comes up with a hard workout for us to do, but I really do appreciate the work she puts into it. Plus I get to hang with my best friend at the gym! Here we are at the Grand Ole Opry from our trip to Nashville in February.

Let's get down to the cooking! I made S'mores Pie a while back for my friend Laura's last day at our company. At Christmas time she had this gigantic 5 lb. Hershey's milk chocolate bar and decided I was the chosen one to do something with it. I found this recipe and knew it was meant to be!

S'mores Pie
Recipe from B. on a Whim (found on Pinterest)
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 stick of melted butter
7 oz. milk chocolate, chopped
1 c. heavy cream
1 egg
pinch of salt
mini marshmallows

First things's first... we need to make the crust. This is an easy, 2-ingredient crust: graham cracker crumbs and butter. You could grind up your own graham crackers if that's what you have on hand or you could do yourself a BIG favor and look for them already crushed up.

I want to hug whoever thought of this. Melt your butter and stir it into the graham cracker crumbs. Then you'll want to press that mixture into a pie pan to form the crust. Don't stress if it's not perfect. You just want it to reach up to the rim of the pan and be generally flat. We're going to cover it up with chocolate anyways!

Put the crust in the freezer to help it set up. (This also helps to prevent the crust from crumbling when you serve it.) While it's chilling, we need to make the chocolate filling. Oh! Don't forget to preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Now, since the chocolate I was using came in 5-lb. form and I don't have a fancy food scale, I basically broke off a chunk and chopped it until it looked like it was a little less than a cup. Chopping it will help it to melt a little quicker when we combine it with the cream.

Here's the HUGE bag of chocolate from Laura! It's a lot of chocolate, y'all. If anyone is sincerely interested in making this pie, you just let me know. I will personally provide the chocolate you need for this recipe. I swear I could make 12 pies with all this chocolate and probably still have some left over!

Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat. We don't want the cream to boil; we just want it to be warm enough to melt the chocolate. You'll start to see a teeny bit of steam rise up when it's warm enough. Once it's warm, turn off the stove and dump in the chocolate and whisk constantly until it's all melted. You don't want the chocolate to stick to the bottom of the pan. You want everything to be smooth and combined.

We're already almost done with the filling! Toss in a pinch of salt and add the egg, whisking immediately to combine it with the chocolate and to make sure it doesn't turn into scrambled eggs. The egg is what will help the chocolate set up when we cut it into slices. Once that's all done, you're ready to pour!

Pull out the crust from the freezer and carefully pour in the chocolate mixture.

To help with the putting it in/taking it out of the oven task, I put the pie on a baking sheet. Place the pie in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until the filling is set. The center can still be a little wiggly! You also want to make sure the crust doesn't burn. Mine started to get a little toasty around the edges so watch for that. Remove the pie from the oven when it's done and let it cool completely. (I know, that takes patience. It'll be worth it.)

Once the pie is cool, it's time for the fun part. Toasting the marshmallows!! I'm not exactly sure how many mini marshmallows I used. I would guess about 2 1/2 cups. You want enough to cover the chocolate and be about 2 mini marshmallows deep. Does that make sense? You want an even layer and enough marshmallows to make a kind of thick layer of marshmallows. I mean, we all know the marshmallows are the star of the show in s'mores.

Once you get the marshmallows situated, move your oven rack closer to the top of the oven. This will help them toast a little faster. Turn your oven to "Broil" and stand back. This makes the oven super hot and you definitely need to be careful and keep a close eye on it. Once it has preheated to broil, slide the pie under the broiler and crack the oven door. Keep a close eye on it! You want them to brown and melt a little bit. I had to turn mine a couple times to get it to brown more evenly. This whole process probably took about 5 minutes.

Not perfectly brown, but it will do! What I like about this is that the lower layer of marshmallows all melt together and the top layer keeps its shape and gets toasty. YUM!

Let the pie come back to room temperature and then you're ready to serve! I was worried the chocolate filling would end up like thick ganache and not be very creamy, but this was like a really thick pudding. It was delish! If you think about it, this pie is pretty easy, just a little high maintenance. The S'mores Pie got rave reviews when I took it to work for Laura's last day. Most importantly, Laura loved it and it was a great way to send her off!

Here's Laura enjoying her slice of S'mores Pie!