Food Blogger I Am NOT: Chocolate Chip Pie

I was looking through the photos on my computer recently and I came across a couple of shots I caught on my iPhone and ran through Instagram. 

I am fairly certain that my intention was to share the photos and recipes on this very blog.

However, as the title of this post indicates, I am not a food blogger (not really sure what kind of blogger I am) for so many reasons. So forgive me for the less than stellar photos of my kitchen creations.

I did get a shot of my After-Easter Trifle before I took it into work to share with my cellmates coworkers.

I just adapted the double chocolate trifle recipe on my blog and used some left over chocolate cake (icing and all) and Easter Reese's Cups instead of strawberries and brownies. That's what I love about trifles...as long as you have pudding and whipped topping, you can make a trifle with just about any fillings.

As for the next photo, I did indeed want to share this recipe with you but forgot to even get a photo of the Chocolate Chip Pies before I took them to my family to share. So, I had to call my sister and ask her to get a shot on her iPhone and send it to me.

This recipe is a favorite of my family and members of said family have been known to request this pie instead of birthday cake.

It's rich. It's gooey. It's really easy to make.

Chocolate Chip Pie

1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. margarine or butter, softened
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 t. vanilla
1 c. nuts (we use pecans)
1 c. chocolate chips
1 unbaked 8-9 inch pie shell

Beat together flour, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 325 degrees F for one hour.

I put my pie shell on a cookie sheet just in case of spillovers.

If you don't like nuts, leave them out and add some more chocolate chips! It's good either way.

Easy Double Chocolate Trifle

Ever need an easy, kid-friendly - yet delicious - dessert?

I was heading to my sister's to celebrate Mom's Day on Sunday evening and I knew three out of four nephews would be there. You know what that meant, right?

This was needed...

My lil' sister is usually the trifle maker in the family but she wasn't going to be there so it was up to me!

Now a co-worker of mine makes a killer trifle with angel food cake, vanilla pudding and strawberries but I was in the mood for some chocolate - lots of chocolate.

Here are the main ingredients.

Bake a pan of brownies - either a 9x9 or 9x13 pan. Maybe add a couple handfuls of chocolate chips. Let them cool and cut them into 1x1 pieces. Put a layer of brownies in a trifle bowl (or any old bowl).

Slice up a clamshell of strawberries and set aside.

Add 3 cups of COLD milk - I used 2 percent - to 2 packages of chocolate pudding (3.9 oz. each) and whisk for 2 minutes.

Stir in 1 cup of whipped topping (Cool Whip or store brand, your choice). Add half of the pudding mix on top of the brownie layer.

Here's where the "double chocolate" comes in to play. Add half a tub of the Cool Whip Chocolate Dips on top of the pudding layer.

Then add half the strawberries. I actually added most of the berries, just because I could.

Isn't that pretty? Now repeat the process until you get this...

Doesn't that look AWESOME? It tasted just as good.

Now, I may have made this trifle so I could use my cool new Pampered Chef trifle bowl (not sure that's the real name, but oh well).

It is very cool. The bowl comes with a lid AND a detached stand to it's easy to transport.

I have to admit that I didn't even take the stand to my sister's. It was just family...they didn't care!

I'm hooking up to Two Maids a Baking. Head over and check out Liz's yummy yeast rolls!