a birthday & peppermint icecream pie

we've had several things to celebrate lately.

one of which was dan's birthday.

first of all, i sure am glad that boy was born.

(i tell him all the time that he walks on water)

the girls love to hear about our slight, very slight, age difference ~

especially caroline.

for example....i was in the 4th grade the year he graduated from highschool

that one freaks her out!

anyway~ we celebrated at home by allowing him to grill his own steaks

while we served some yummy veggies

& a peppermint pie for dessert

it's obviously super simple

but i felt all pioneer womanish

as i photographed the creation.

honestly, i realize it would have been even simpler to just

pour some melted pre-made peppermint icecream

into a pre-made crust

but where's the fun in that?

so here you go~

 for the crust~

1 package chocolate wafer cookies

3 hard peppermint candies

2 Tbl sugar

1 stick unsalted melted butter

for the filling~

1 cup hard peppermint candies

& save a few for garnish

1 1/2 pints vanilla icecream , softened

whir together cookies, candy & sugar in food processor until mixture has a sandy texture and is very fine. add butter & process to combine

transfer crumb mixture to 9 inch pie dish

& press down evenly to sides

set aside

process peppermints until fine

round up your now softened icecream

& mix in the candies

transfer to the chocolate pie crust

& smooth

allow 4 hours

( actually mine required more)

to freeze

which if you are living in atlanta

you could simply place outside in the frigid temps we're having!

now mix up some shiny chocolate glaze

which despite the picture

does not call for vanilla

1/2 c heavy cream

1 Tbl light corn syrup

5 ounces semisweet chocolate roughly chopped

bring corn syrup & cream to a boil over high heat

whisking continually

remove from heat & add chocolate

whisk until smooth

let sit until warm

( do not pour over pie while hot)

if needed reheat glaze in microwave for 30 seconds.

i think i love celebrating birthdays at home

even more than eating out

&

i LOVE to eat out

brinkley usually sits beside our table

with his manners of course.

cracks me up

one of these days

i will remember to change my white balance

before shooting

& maybe focus a little better.

ugh.

a few of caroline's friends made dan some birthday cards.

how sweet is that?

caroline worked for hours & hours on the gift for her daddy.

she has actually talked about creating this for the last year.

she loves board games & decided to make him a custom Sorry game

complete with sports & trivia.

& when i say she worked for hours, i mean she worked for hours!

she cut out little people

researched various sports trivia

hot glued

colored

& made him a priceless treasure!

happy birthday sweet man

all 5 knudsen women love you big as the sky!!

allofmylove2you tiger

alirghty, i'll be back soon to share more of our celebrations

now i need to finalize that christmas card creation!