You never forget your firsts

This is my very first post. Ever. I am excited and nervous. Like a first date. You never forget. I wanted it to be something memorable. I started remembering all of my firsts. My first day of school, my first car, my first husband (I can't be the only one). And I thought about a first recipe and I can't remember the first thing I ever made. Unusual for me because my husband says I remember my own birth. He is just a hater.

I do remember the first recipe I was given however. It was our neighbor, Mrs. Baldwin, and she was my grandparents age. She grew rhubarb and I remember eating it raw dipped in sugar. THAT was not my first recipe, but now you understand my sugar addiction started at a young age. No, that first recipe was for Frozen Peanut Butter Pie and it is only appropriate that I start my new adventure with that recipe. I know it is not "spicy", we will get to those! It is cool and creamy, full of peanut flavor and extremely adaptable.

I thought long and hard about this first post. Much like choosing an outfit for a particular occasion--Your first day on the job, a first date, hosting your first family gathering. Everything has to be right for that occasion. Now, I own one pair of dress pants(black and white) and one dress (It has dinosaurs all over it), otherwise I wear jeans or sweats. Yes, this is important to my narrative. Just as our clothes change to meet purpose, although they are just clothes, so can a recipe adapt for it's purpose.

On a day to day basis, I wear jeans to work and change into sweats when I get home. It's all about comfort. AHA! Peanut butter pie here we come!

For the every day dessert, nothing fancy, just reliable and comforting:

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

In a mixing bowl, beat until fluffy (you can do it by hand but you would need Popeye muscles)

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 c powdered sugar

1/2 c peanut butter (I am a Jif girl, but the choice is yours)

Turn mixer to low (or you will be sorry!) and slowly add:

1/2 c milk

Scrape the bowl as needed to make sure there are no lumps

Fold in:

Small carton of Cool whip OR 2 c whipped cream (if you are whipping your own cream, you do not need to add anything to it as the peanut butter mixture already ahs sugar added)

Pour the mixture into:

A graham cracker crust

Freeze 4 hours or more. When ready to serve, take pie out of the freezer about 15 minutes ahead of time. It will soften slightly and you will be able to cut into it easier.

Now back to our story.

The pie alone is great! Like comfy sweats when you get home from work.

But we can't wear sweats every where...can we?? So throw some metaphorical jeans on that pie!

Add some extra whipped cream and some crushed peanuts to the top! It is amazing how changing "clothes" just a little can change an entire attitude! You can cover the entire top of the pie with whipped cream (or Cool Whip) or practice some spicy dance moves by swirling it on all

Are the neighbors coming over for dinner and you want them judging your dessert skills not your house keeping skills? You have to leave those jeans on but you change into a clean shirt (this would be the "spilling" portion of our name)? Keep those whipped cream swirls but let's swish this up a notch by plating individual slices with a little swoosh of that Hershey's syrup or hot fudge we all have handy and tossing on a few chocolate sprinkles!

Dinner party? Throw on that pair of dress pants that you only keep around for funerals, graduations and parent teacher conferences (that's not a joke, that's why I have them) and kick that pie into individual servings in pretty glass dishes. Sprinkle the crust on the bottom, pour in the filling, swirl on a rose of whipped cream and shave some chocolate bar over the top. Or make it into individual parfaits--layering crumbs, peanut butter filling, whipped cream, repeat, until each glass is full. Let the ooh's and aah's commence!

Romantic dinner for two? Dinosaur dress!!! Grab a mold (I love the half rounds that you can also make cocoa bombs etc with), or even lined cupcake tins if you aren't a kitchen gadget hoarder like me) and fill them, freeze them, unmold them on a pretty plate or in a crystal dish. Make some ganache (fancy word for melted chocolate thinned with cream) and pour it over the top of frozen filling, covering completely or just on the top so it runs down the side. pop it back into t he freezer. A little POOF of whipped cream on the top and $15 dessert for pennies.

The options are numerous, like your wardrobe, and depend on the occasion and your preferences.

Allergic to peanuts but you can have other nuts? Try almond butter, or the trendy pistachio paste, If you are allergic to all nuts, please don't make this recipe.

Chocolate is always an option and you can go wrong with adding it (unless you have those aforementioned allergies) Change the graham cracker crust to chocolate, add a handful of shaved chocolate or mini chocolate chips to the filling, Add a layer of hot fudge on the crust before adding the filling. Add a couple of tablespoons of cocoa to the cream cheese as you mix it. Peanut butter and chocolate are like ramma lamma lamma ka dingity da dinga dong, they just go together. (anyone else actually singing the song from Grease when they read that?)

Remember that, as with any cooking you do, make it how YOU want it, not necessarily how the recipe has it written. You CAN do this recipe and any other one you come across!