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Aunt Susan’s Chocolate Pie

Filed Under: Recipes

Nov232015

I thought I’d pop in with a quick blog post before Thanksgiving to help y’all out! I received a few comments on Instagram from friends saying they had pinned my family’s chocolate pie recipe from the old Every Day Cheer blog, and now that the blog is no longer up and running, they were bummed that they didn’t have access to the recipe.

So! I thought I’d post my Aunt Susan’s Chocolate Pie recipe here on my personal blog. This recipe is my all-time favorite dessert. It’s super simple, but I can remember absolutely loving it as a kid and no chocolate pie matching up to the goodness of this pie! The little index card that my mom wrote the recipe on says “Susan’s Chocolate Pie” because my Aunt Susan always made it for Christmas.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Aunt Susan's Chocolate Pie

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

1 refrigerated pie crust
1½ cups sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 large can of evaporated milk
5 tablespoons flour
3 egg yolks
¼ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1 square of bittersweet chocolate

Instructions

Roll out pie crust and place in a pie plate
Cook the pie crust according to package directions
Combine sugar, cocoa and flour in a medium size pot and stir
Add the evaporated milk, vanilla, egg yolks and chocolate and put over medium heat
Mix and stir constantly until the pie filling thickens (keep the egg yolks from scrambling)
Pour pie filling into the cooked pie crust
Refrigerate for two hours
Top with real whipped cream

We’ll have it for Thanksgiving this week and then I’ll probably make it again at Christmas. I hope you all enjoy! And don’t forget the real whipped cream!

Seven Layer Salad for Easter

Filed Under: Holidays, Home, Recipes

Apr42015

seven layer salad

A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to make a seven layer salad for Easter dinner. I played around with a few recipes to get the dressing the way I wanted it and to put my favorite ingredients into the salad. And now it has become one of our Easter traditions. I never knew I could love seven layer salad so much!

It’s so pretty on the table. Each little layer adds something new, and it’s just plain delicious! I really only make this for Easter Sunday and think it’s the perfect addition to our traditional Easter menu.

Seven Layer Salad

Author: Erin Carroll

Recipe type: Salad

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 15

Ingredients

Head of iceberg lettuce
8 eggs, boiled
Real bacon bits (I like Hormel)
Green onions, chopped
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Frozen green peas, thawed
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

Chop the iceberg lettuce and put in a good layer on the bottom of your clear dish; I like to use a trifle dish.
Chop the hard boiled eggs. I'm not a neat chopper, so I just chop them up so they fit nicely in the dish.
Add the eggs on top of the lettuce.
Add the bacon bits on top of the eggs.
Add the layer of chopped green onions.
Add enough shredded Cheddar to cover the top.
Add the peas to the top.
In a separately bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, and lemon juice.
Pour the mayonnaise mixture on top of the trifle dish for the seventh layer.
Refrigerate the salad until ready to serve.

*This post was originally posted on Every Day Cheer last Easter, but I wanted to share it with my readers here.

Our Home: James Walker’s Nursery

Filed Under: Baby, Family, Home, Home Tour, James Walker

Apr22015

I had so much fun nesting and preparing for James Walker. We moved into our house in December 2013 and this room was Hayes’s room. We never decorated it, though, because he was still in a crib and we knew he’d transition to a big boy bed soon anyway. And then I got pregnant with James Walker, so Hudson and Hayes moved in to a shared brother room and this room became the nursery.

We had all of the furniture, so it was great that we didn’t have to make any big purchases. I chose a simple, soft color scheme because I just love blues and wanted a soothing nursery. I wanted a lot of linen and pale blue with some fun pattern mixed in. The rocking chair was the same chair we had for Hudson and Hayes, but I got some great fabric from Fabric 101 here in Columbia for $8 a yard during an after-Christmas sale and had the chair and ottoman recovered.

A local friend of mine recently moved and was selling some of her home accessories, and she gave me the table skirt and I bought the table lamp and trumeau mirror from her for a steal!

The shelf on the wall was in Hudson’s room and before that it was in our study before Hudson was born. I bought a set of three of those from Ballard Designs right after Todd and I got married.

I did get all new crib bedding. My dear friend, Nina, was selling her white linen bumpers and crib skirt and it was exactly what I wanted for the bumpers, so I bought those from her. And I had the buffalo check crib skirt made from beautiful fabric from Calico Corners.

The “little boys” sign is from Aedriel and House of Belonging. I originally bought that to go in the playroom, but the more I looked at it, I knew it had to go in James Walker’s nursery. Maybe someday all three boys will share a bunk room and it can go in there!

The You Are My Sunshine sign was in our guest room in our old house and it is from Sugarboo Designs. I love seeing those lyrics on the wall. It’s impossible not to sing along!

The nest painting was something I’ve wanted forever and it was a gift to James Walker from my mom. The artist is Deann out of Nashville- she’s incredible!

On the shelves, we used a lot of things that were mine or Todd’s from our childhood. Books, Bibles, Beatrix Potter plates and piggy banks.

It was fun to take things we already had and move things around to create his nursery. I absolutely love sitting in this room and feeding and rocking my sweet boy. I hope he has many sweet dreams (and good sleep!) in this room!

Sources:

Crib: Newport Cottages

Changing Table/Dresser: Newport Cottages

Giraffe: Melissa and Doug

Rug: Overstock

Elephant Hamper: Home Decorators

Bookshelf: Pottery Barn Kids

Cafe Shelf: Ballard Designs

Nest Painting: Deann Designs

Little Boys Sign: House of Belonging

You Are My Sunshine Sign: Sugarboo Designs

Buffalo Check Fabric: Calico Corners

Bumpers: Cottage and Cabin on Etsy

Bunny Pillow and Blanket: Pom Pom at Home

Celebrating James Walker

Filed Under: Family, Home, hospitality, James Walker

Feb32015

As soon as we found out we were having our third baby, my dear friend Megan started talking to me about throwing a party to celebrate. I didn’t want to do a baby shower because we have plenty of baby stuff and clothes and just don’t need a thing. Over the years I’ve been careful not to get rid of anything because I just kind of knew we’d have another baby.

But I did want to have a fun night with my friends! So Megan, Andrea, and Ainsley hosted a sweet dinner and time of prayer for James Walker and me. We had a delicious meal and laughed and laughed and then they prayed over me.

It was so special and so humbling and just meant the absolute world to me.

I looked around the room that night. Most of the girls knew each other in some way. But I started thinking about how I’d met them all. Through preschool or our newlywed Sunday school class or through the choir at church. Or I’d kept their children at church or we volunteered together in some way. But God brought them all into my life each for a specific purpose and they’ve each loved me, loved my children, loved Todd and me as a couple. They’ve kept my kids when I’ve been in a jam. They’ve prayed for my mom. We’ve had girls nights and fun dinners and tears and celebrations.

And it was just one of those big life moments. The kind where you look around the room and are so overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity to have such special people all in a room together at the same time.

When I moved to Columbia eleven years ago, I never imagined I’d meet my husband and fall in love and get married and stay here. And I never imagined that, through our church, we’d meet so many precious friends who would support us through so many life events.

We all need community. And I’ve been incredibly blessed to find such a sweet, open, welcoming community of women. Women who are always looking for more friends and new friends and people to invite. Because we all want to be known and loved, and finding those people who are always so willing to listen and invite has made my life so full.

It’s hard. It doesn’t come quickly for everyone and it doesn’t come easily for everyone. I’m an introvert and it doesn’t come easily for me. But it has been so worth it. Friday night was incredibly special, and I know that this sweet “village” of women is going to be there to love on our family as we adjust to our new normal as a family of five.